Alexandre Carrier finally gets his outdoor-game moment Sunday in Winnipeg, four years after an injury kept him out of Nashville’s Stadium Series date. The Canadiens defenseman will dress against the Winnipeg Jets in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET.
Carrier was slated to play for the Predators outdoors on Feb. 26, 2022, but was hurt two days before the game. This time, the occasion comes with his daughter and other family members making the trip.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Carrier said. “With my daughter and my family, it’s going to be even more special. It brings back the kid in you, all those memories of growing up and playing outside.”
For Carrier, the connection is direct. He grew up across the street from an outdoor rink and spent countless after-school hours there with his brother.
“Outdoor hockey is still one of my best memories from playing,” he said.
After the horn
Montreal will be making its fifth appearance in an NHL outdoor game, more than any other Canadian-based club. The Canadiens carry a 2-2-0 record from their previous four outdoor dates.
Mike Matheson will make his NHL outdoor debut, although he has played one before at Boston College. The Montreal defenseman said those games bring him back to Pointe-Claire, Quebec, where finding a usable sheet of ice was part of the routine.
“We would go to whichever rink had the best ice,” Matheson said with a laugh. “After school, we’d drive around and check them. We had family and friends nearby and three rinks in our area. When one got too snowy, we’d pile into a friend’s pickup in full gear and head to the next one.”
Coach Martin St. Louis will also experience his first NHL outdoor game. He did not get that opportunity during his playing career with the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Rangers.
St. Louis said the outdoor rinks, more than organized practices, built his attachment to the game. He remembered being allowed to play under the lights as a child, sharing the rink with older players once darkness arrived in the early winter evening.
“That’s where my love for hockey came from,” St. Louis said. “I spent much more time outside than I did in organized hockey. Playing at night with the older kids made me feel like I had moved up.”
Phillip Danault is the most experienced outdoor-game hand in Montreal’s group. Sunday will mark his third NHL appearance in that setting, following Chicago’s 6-1 Stadium Series loss to Minnesota in Minneapolis in 2016 and Montreal’s 3-0 defeat against Ottawa at the 2017 NHL100 Classic.
The Canadiens forward is looking for a different result, but this one carries a family first: his 7-year-old son, Phillip-Edouard, and 4-year-old daughter, Adelia-Rose, will be there.
“My kids will see the whole experience for the first time,” Danault said. “My son is 7, so he gets to skate on the ice and be part of something unique. When you played outside as a kid, it was just fun. Now it’s work, so you have to stay locked into the game, but it always brings back those good memories.”
The ice, the family and the old neighborhood stories will all be part of the scene at Princess Auto Stadium. The points, however, will be real.
