EAST RUTHERFORD | Outdoor games have become commonplace in the NHL and if the main players have their way, they're here to stay.
• Also read: NHL: After two operations, Sean Couturier is enjoying every moment
• Also read: NHL: Alexis Lafrenière goes at his own pace
• Also read: “Things have changed a lot”: Patrick Roy and the Islanders’ newfound intensity
• Also read: Enjoying the intensity of the islanders
The players have fun playing them and it is an opportunity for them to experience special moments with their families, since the training sessions that preceded the two weekend meetings were mainly excuses to have fun on the ice. . The players practiced for about twenty minutes, then the children and spouses joined in skating, their tuques flying in the wind.
“Families go through a lot over the course of a season,” notes Cal Clutterbuck of the New York Islanders. “For my part, I was on the ice with my 11-year-old daughter ten years ago and this time there is another one-year-old child with me. It gives you an idea of how time passes.”
“I’m really happy to be able to experience this with them, to take photos and look at these photos and remember these precious memories.”
Getty Images via AFP
Most importantly
Quebecer Nicolas Deslauriers of the Philadelphia Flyers gives a similar speech.
“Such moments are almost more important than the game. The kids want to see what it’s like to go on the ice.”
Deslauriers is well placed to talk about this because he has four children, ages 3, 5, 7 and 9.
This is not a first experience for him as he took part in the Heritage Classic against the Ottawa Senators while wearing the Canadian colors.
“A game like this is fun for the players and they've managed to make it fun for the family and the kids,” added Islanders' Jean-Gabriel Pageau. “Everyone was looking forward to the training, but they were even more looking forward to the skating afterwards, and we will remember it for a long time.”
Getty Images via AFP
Like in the park
Alexis Lafrenière is making his first such experience in the NHL, but also experienced the Winter Classic in the QMJHL when he wore the colors of the Rimouski Océanic. They faced the Shawinigan Cataracts in Saint-Tite in 2019.
“It was very cold in Shawinigan, but it was cool. Here it is still intimidating to stand on the ice because the stadium is large and it will be cool when the stands are full.
Lafrenière took full advantage and was one of the last New York Rangers players to leave the ice on Friday afternoon.
“When I was young, I played outside quite a bit. It’s similar to when I played with my friends, only the stage is bigger.”
Getty Images via AFP
Roy would have liked that
Patrick Roy, who now leads the Islanders, also experienced the Winter Classic against the Cataractes in 2019 when he was head coach of the Quebec Remparts.
He doesn't hide it, he belongs to the camp of those who like such events.
“I wish we had games like this in my time. I had the opportunity to experience one in Colorado seven years ago when I attended the alumni game against Detroit, and it was fun.”
“The next day we played and I was sitting behind the bench and I was really enjoying the great response from the fans at Coors Field.”
When we think that a man like Patrick Roy has seen and experienced it all, we realize that he can still amaze.
“It's impressive, when you walk up to the ice you see how big it is and imagine what it will be like with 70,000 spectators. It’s like a waking dream.”
Getty Images via AFP