Mario Lemieux at the 2010 Winter Classic Alumni Game (Bloomberg)
Remember when the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton drew 57,ooo people (including yours truly) to watch the Edmonton Oilers play the Montreal Canadiens? It was the first ever regular-season National Hockey League game played outdoors.
It was such a magical event that it drew the likes of Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky and a still-active Mark Messier to an alumni game played a few hours before the regular-season game.
The whole event was broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada – Don Cherry even showed up wearing a cowboy hat. There was fanfare, fun and the feeling that just maybe, the alumni game was a little bit more exciting than the regular-season game.
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