Winnipeg will stage the NHL’s 46th outdoor game Sunday when the Montreal Canadiens meet the Jets in the 2026 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, with TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV and HBO Max carrying the game.
The event returns the League to the series that started it all. Montreal beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Nov. 22, 2003, launching the NHL’s outdoor-game era in bitterly cold conditions.
Quick facts
- Sunday’s game will be the eighth Heritage Classic and the NHL’s 46th outdoor contest.
- Seven previous Heritage Classics have produced 37 goals.
- Montreal won the first Heritage Classic, 4-3 over Edmonton, in 2003.
- The only overtime Heritage Classic ended with Winnipeg beating Calgary 2-1 in Regina in 2019.
- Princess Auto Stadium previously hosted Edmonton’s 3-0 win over Winnipeg in 2016, when it was called Investors Group Field.
The Heritage Classic has supplied more than frozen-breath snapshots and alumni festivities. It has also taken NHL outdoor hockey beyond the usual markets, with stops in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Hamilton, Ontario, while producing a handful of goals that still stand out in the event’s history.
Rene Bourque’s airborne milestone
Calgary’s Rene Bourque delivered one of the lasting images in the 2011 Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium. Already holding a 2-0 lead over Montreal and with one goal in hand, Bourque collected a bouncing puck on the left side, settled it and drove through the circle toward Carey Price.
He shifted to the backhand and tucked the puck home with 5:14 left in the second period. His momentum carried him over Price, leaving Bourque briefly airborne in a celebration that recalled Bobby Orr’s famous Cup-winning flight—if not on quite that scale.
The goal made it 3-0 and marked Bourque’s 100th in the NHL. His earlier marker had been No. 99.
Richard Zednik breaks new ground
The original outdoor game opened with a scoreless first period as Edmonton and Montreal fought through a 0-degree Fahrenheit faceoff temperature that continued to fall. Thirty-nine seconds into the second, Richard Zednik put the first outdoor NHL goal on the board.
Zednik’s attempt from the left circle missed wide but traveled around the net to Patrice Brisebois at the right point. Brisebois sent the puck back toward the crease, where Michael Ryder appeared to steer it across to Zednik at the left post for the finish.
Zednik added another at 14:18 of the third, the eventual winner in Montreal’s 4-3 victory.
Little’s overtime finish in Regina
Winnipeg and Calgary supplied the only Heritage Classic that required overtime when they met at Mosaic Stadium on Oct. 26, 2019. The game was even at 1-1 after regulation before Kyle Connor created a 2-on-1 just past the three-minute mark of 3-on-3.
Connor charged down the left boards with Bryan Little driving the opposite lane. As Flames defenseman TJ Brodie dropped to block the passing lane, Connor threaded a firm feed beneath Brodie’s legs, and Little redirected it past David Rittich at 3:04 for a 2-1 Jets win.
Letestu’s hometown-style breakaway
Mark Letestu grew up in Elk Point, Alberta, learning the game on a backyard outdoor rink. In 2016, he scored the first goal in Edmonton’s 3-0 shutout of Winnipeg at the same stadium that will host Sunday’s matchup.
Letestu was short-handed when he disrupted Blake Wheeler’s pass from the left corner. The puck slid toward Dustin Byfuglien, who missed it with both a swing and a kick, allowing Letestu to get free from the Winnipeg blue line.
On the breakaway, Letestu moved left on his forehand and beat Connor Hellebuyck’s glove at 9:24 of the second. It remains one of three short-handed goals in Heritage Classic play.
Anton Babchuk recorded the first short-handed Heritage Classic goal for Calgary in 2011. Tage Thompson later scored one into an empty net as Buffalo defeated Toronto 5-2 in Hamilton on March 13, 2022.
Bouchard finishes Edmonton’s star sequence
The 2023 Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium featured the kind of three-player execution Edmonton expects from Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. At 16:06 of the opening period against Calgary, Draisaitl worked the puck from behind the net to McDavid entering the left circle.
McDavid curled into the corner, changed from backhand to forehand, then fired a pass through the slot to Draisaitl low on the right side. Draisaitl found Bouchard at the left point, and Bouchard hammered a one-timer through Zach Hyman’s screen past Jacob Markstrom.
Bouchard’s shot stood as the winner in a 5-2 Oilers victory. Now the Heritage Classic heads back to Winnipeg, where the Canadiens and Jets will add another chapter to the outdoor ledger.
