Calgary Flames Shutout Montreal Canadiens in Heritage Classic
Calgary surely didn’t disappoint their fans at the much awaited Tim Horton’s NHL Heritage Classic 2011, after waiting for 8 years now the event has finally returned to Canada after the last time when it was in Edmonton; over 41,000 fans saw a match that
would be remembered for years to come. The Flames shutout the Canadiens 4-0, in their specially organized outdoor McMahon stadium which belongs to the local football team where crowds supported their favorite teams by wearing retro jerseys of the respective
franchises.
Weather conditions seemed perfect for the both Canadian teams; it was -8.6 degrees Celsius, as most people play hockey best in these sorts of situations.
"I expected some people to go home," Calgary's captain Jarome Iginla said. "I can imagine how cold they were. They didn't get to warm up the way we do, but they were there to the end having a great time."
The Heritage Classic is sometimes regarded as a fun and not meaningful game, but it’s totally the opposite. As fun as the event is, both teams look for a win, as this is part of their scheduled regulation game season. Calgary rose to 5th place
in the Western Conference from the 9th spot just a few days ago, while the Canadiens still standing at 6th in the Eastern Conference have lost six of their past seven games.
"I thought we played well. It's a real compliment to the guys for holding the focus the way they have the last few days," said Flames head coach Brent Sutter
Miikka Kiprusoff took advantage of the playing environment, making perfect 39 saves, a record in any of the outdoor games he has played. Rene Bourque played exceptionally well, scoring two goals. His first came when Calgary got the power-play advantage during
the mid of the first period, where he re-directed a strike by Alex Tanguay through Carey Price.
Coming into the second period, Montreal had over 21 chances at the net, but were blocked by Kiprusoff’s marvelous blocking. They had the added man advantage during the 11:00 mark when Jay Bouwmeester was sent to the benches for interference but Anton Babchuk
short-handed his ninth goal of the season through Price by a narrow pass from Curtis Glencross. Bourque made it 3-0 nearly 2 minutes later, with a back-hander to close off the second period.
Winners of the 2003 Heritage Classic realized their defeat when Alex Tanguay’s contribution made it 4-0 with nearly 9 minutes remaining, making Calgary only the second team out of six to have won an outdoor event at home.
Carey Price blamed it on the ice conditions, saying that they were much different from the day before when both teams practiced in front of fans for the very first time together.
As everything must come to an end, the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic remained a spectacular event throughout. The Flames worked hard to bring the event home, and it turned out to be extremely successful.
"We made a big investment in doing it in Calgary and we think it paid off tremendously," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said
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