WHL PRAIRIE CLASSIC
Pats to face Hitmen in outdoor game
An NHL outdoor game at Fenway Park is among John Paddock’s wealth of experiences in hockey.
Now he is looking forward to enjoying the fresh air once again — at Regina’s green monster.
Paddock, the Regina Pats’ general manager and vice-president of hockey operations, will be at Mosaic Stadium for his team’s Oct. 27 game against the Calgary Hitmen. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m.
It will be the third outdoor game in WHL history — and the third for Paddock, who was the Philadelphia Flyers’ assistant GM when they participated in two NHL Winter Classics.
On Jan. 1, 2010, the Boston Bruins edged Philadelphia 2-1 at Fenway Park. The Flyers lamented another one-goal loss two years later, when the visiting New York Rangers won 3-2 at Citizens Bank Park.
“A lot of people thought the outdoor games were a novelty that was going to die down,” Paddock said. “It doesn’t die down. It’s a credit to the players and a credit to the sport.”
Credit has been widely dispensed to the NHL for allowing the WHL Prairie Classic to be held in Regina. The WHL contest will take place one day after the NHL Heritage Classic, between the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames, is played at Mosaic Stadium.
“We want to thank the NHL for allowing us to use their stage,” WHL commissioner Ron Robison said during a Monday morning media conference at Mosaic Stadium’s AGT Lounge. “This is an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.”
“We’re going to put on a great show after their great show,” Pats chief operating officer Stacey Cattell added.
The WHL’S first outdoor game was played Jan. 15, 2011, at Avista Stadium in Spokane, where 7,075 people watched the host Chiefs rout the Kootenay (now Winnipeg) Ice 11-2.
On Feb. 21 of that year, the Pats defeated the Hitmen 3-2 at Calgary’s Mcmahon Stadium before what was then a Chl-record crowd of 20,888. (The current record of 26,384 was set Dec. 29, 2013, when the OHL’S Plymouth Whalers defeated the London Knights 2-1 in a shootout at Comerica Park in Detroit.)
The WHL Prairie Classic will be the 12th outdoor game in CHL history.
“It doesn’t just happen because there’s an NHL game,” Paddock noted. “A lot of things have to come together.”
Hence the extensive talks involving the NHL, the Pats, the WHL and the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. REAL operates the expansive Evraz Place grounds, on which 33,350-seat Mosaic Stadium is situated.
“Nobody’s going to walk away with a ton of money from this event,” REAL president-ceo Tim Reid said. “This is about a community initiative.”
Tickets to the Hitmen-pats outdoor game will go on sale Aug. 29, 10 a.m., at ticketmaster.ca. General seating for the event will be $18.50, including all fees and taxes. Premium seats will be $33.50.
Pats season-ticket and premium-seat holders will have the Oct. 27 game incorporated into their packages. Their locations will be migrated into Mosaic Stadium before seats go on sale to the general public.
“It’s difficult to wipe the smile off my face,” Cattell said. “This is another exciting day in the 102-year existence of the Regina Pats.”
Mosaic Stadium was to be the site of two outdoor hockey games in February 2018, when the Pats held the Centennial Salute Homecoming Weekend as part of their 100th-anniversary season.
However, the two games — a WHL contest between the Pats and Moose Jaw Warriors, plus a showcase of NHL alumni — were moved indoors to the Brandt Centre due to sluggish ticket sales.
“You really can’t compare this to last time,” Cattell said. “We view this is an opportunity. It’s an experience that you don’t often get, as opposed to trying to build this from the ground up.”
Since the new Mosaic Stadium was built from the ground up, Regina has played host to a variety of major events, ranging from Saskatchewan Roughriders home games to an international soccer match to the recent Garth Brooks concerts to the upcoming outdoor hockey games.
“This is why we built the stadium — to have these kind of events happen,” Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said.
Both sides will have a Regina flavour during the Prairie Classic. Calgary’s roster includes Regina-born forward Carson Focht.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing in an outdoor game,” Focht said. “To have it in my hometown is pretty special.”