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The 2014 Heritage Classic will feature the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators at BC Place on March 2. The game will be a tribute to a 1915 game between the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators and Pacific Coast Hockey Association's Vancouver Millioniares, which helped propel the Millionaires to the Stanley Cup later that year.
The Heritage Classic was first played in 2003 when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Edmonton Oilers in front of 57,167 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. In 2011, the Heritage Classic made a comeback when the Calgary Flames took down the Canadiens before 41,022 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. This will mark the third edition of the event and a sellout crowd of 54,000 is expected at the retractable roof stadium on the Vancouver waterfront.
There will be outdoor games aplenty next season with six games on the docket as part of the NHL's Stadium Series. The Winter Classic is still the headliner and this year will feature the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium on New Year's Day. The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks will play on January 25 at Dodger Stadium and the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils will play the following day at Yankee Stadium. The Rangers will be back at Yankee Stadium three days later against the New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins will play on March 1 at Soldier Field with the Heritage Classic in Vancouver the next day.
Outdoor games have been very successful for the NHL and that will continue again this year, but with a distinctly Canadian flavor. While five of the outdoor games will still be played in the U.S., the Maple Leafs will be the first Canadian team to play in the Winter Classic and the Heritage Classic makes a return as Canada gets in on the spectacle.