The NHL Heritage Classic is an annual regular season outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and held in Canada, generally in a football or baseball stadium in an area with a resident NHL team. The 2022 Heritage Classic is set to take place on 13 March at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres. Secondary ticket sellers are offering tickets already - starting from USD $188.75 (£142.85) - but the official sale will be at 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT) today!
Both the Sabres and the Maple Leafs are in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Established in 1970 when the NHL was expanded to 14 teams, the Buffalo Sabres have progressed to the Stanley Cups Finals twice, but are one of the longest continuously running active NHL franchises to have never won the big prize. They’ll be hoping to win the NHL Heritage Classic to establish a firmer position in the division.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the “Original 6” NHL teams and the club has won 13 Stanley Cup championships, second only to the 24 championships of the Montreal Canadiens. They are currently hovering around the top of the division with the Florida Panthers who have had a dominant start to the season.
The inaugural Heritage Classic, hosted by Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium in 2003, was the first outdoor regular season game in NHL history and its success served as the precursor to outdoor hockey games played around the world. Since then, the event has grown in terms of sponsorship and attendance and viewing figures. Unlike the NHL's other 2 series of outdoor games - the NHL Winter Classic and the NHL Stadium Series (both also on sale) - the Heritage Classic has been held infrequently and the match-ups have been exclusively between Canadian teams.
With the regular season ending in April, there’s still plenty of time to get along to a game before the playoffs.
Get your skates on and check out schedules and tickets here: