The NHL unveiled all four of the locations for outdoor games in the 2016-17 season. Among them were new cities like Winnipeg and Toronto but once again, not Ottawa.
Although Ottawa has missed out on hosting one of next year’s games, the dream isn’t dead yet. With Ottawa being one of the country’s best teams, and Canada celebrating its 150th birthday in 2017, the perfect storm has been set for Ottawa to host a game of its own outdoors.
Since the Heritage Classic in 2003 between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, the NHL has made it a winter tradition of playing several games outdoors per season, including three this year alone. They’ve played in places as unique as Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles with temperatures as high as 21 C, but not once in Ottawa.
As it stands, 2017 figures to be a big year in the nation’s capital, as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday. Ottawa is already slated to host the 2017 CFL Grey Cup as well as the Red Bull Crashed Ice event that will take place near the Rideau Canal locks. Adding an outdoor game would be the icing on the cake for the city.
Although the Sens missed out on hosting an outdoor game for the 2016-17 season, the following season presents a better opportunity to remember more than Canada’s birthday. If the NHL were to hold the game in December, it would commemorate a 100-year anniversary of the first ever NHL game, played downtown between the first rendition of Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. This historical tidbit would make the Canadiens the perfect candidate as the hypothetical visiting team.
Regardless of the season, the Sens deserve to host an outdoor game in 2017, being arguably Canada’s top team. Currently, the Senators own the best record of any Canadian team in the Eastern Conference with a 31-29-8 mark. With the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Canadiens all struggling to find their identity, while Winnipeg, Toronto and Edmonton vie for last place in the league, the Sens figure to be atop the Canadian totem pole well into the foreseeable future.
On the condition that Ottawa were to get the nod to host in 2017, city officials would have to work with the league to determine the best location for such a game. An obvious option would be TD Place, the home of the Ottawa Redblacks, which seats 24,000 people.
However, an interesting and apparently feasible location could be in the heart of Canada’s democracy, Parliament Hill.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has gone on the record welcoming the idea of holding the game on the Hill. The previous Conservative government even contacted NHL officials to investigate the possibility of the idea. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, the league hasn’t ruled out the venue either, despite the uncertainty associated with a game in a non-stadium environment. There is still a long way to go, but the idea of using a 30,000-40,000 seat pop-up venue (similar to a U2 concert held in Montreal last summer) is definitely in the realm of possibility.
But before anything happens, the league would need to announce Ottawa as the location of an NHL outdoor game. For that, the city, and the fan base, will have to be patient, hoping to become the next city to take hockey outdoors.
Without a doubt, hosting an NHL outdoor game would be one the biggest events in the history of the city. Depending on where it’s played, it could also be one of the biggest events in the history of the NHL.