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Outdoor Classic a crowd-pleaser

Perry Lefko, Sportsnet.ca, January 21, 2012

HAMILTON – Usually it's the Tiger-Cats and the Argonauts engaging in a bitter rivalry at Ivor Wynne Stadium, but on Saturday afternoon on a glorious sunshine-filled day in the Steel City the gridiron battle gave way to some shinny shenanigans.

The hometown Hamilton Bulldogs and the Toronto Marlies began with a brouhaha only 27 seconds into the game following a goal by the visitors and concluded with a bout inside the final minute.

Yes, people came to a hockey game played on a makeshift rink constructed over a field used for football and a few fights broke out. The first-ever Outdoor Classic, subtitled the Steeltown Showdown, had a little bit of everything. It even had an appearance by Ticats' legend Angelo Mosca, who attended the game with the walking cane he used famously — or is it infamously? — to whack Joe Kapp over the head in November at a Canadian Football League alumni luncheon.

"It's pretty good," Mosca said of the outdoor hockey game. "Every one of these games have been good-luck charms."

Mosca came to the game having just attended a 90th birthday party for Lincoln Alexander, the onetime Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and prominent citizen of Hamilton, and viewed part of the game from the press box with former Hamilton alderman Paul Cowell.

"He's been a friend of mine for an hour and an a half," Mosca said jokingly, then added: "Actually, I've known him for 50 years."

"This seems strange, but not in a bad way, just big and open," Cowell said viewing the panorama. "It's amazing how they can put it together."

In the simplest of terms, this was just a hockey game, not any different than what you would see at Copps Coliseum where the Bulldogs play, but outside it represented the roots of Canadian hockey.

"This is different. It brings back memories of when I was a kid playing hockey outdoors all weekend," said 52-year-old Hamilton resident Carlos Duchesne.

A Sherbrooke, Que., native who moved to Hamilton from Toronto six years ago, Duchesne had never been to Ivor Wynne, a stadium built in 1928 and scheduled to be demolished at the end of the year and rebuilt for the Tiger-Cats' 2014 season and for the 2015 Pan Am Games. Duchesne, an admitted baseball fan, suggested the new Ivor Wynne Stadium should be built elsewhere, perhaps unaware of all the politics between Ticats owner Bob Young, who wanted the edifice constructed closer to a highway for better accessibility and optimum optics for a sponsor. Hamilton council persuaded Billionaire Bob to stay put and take advantage of the public funding offered by the city and the province.

"They should have put (the new stadium) someplace else with better real estate," Duchesne said. "This is not the best part of the city."

Maybe so, but there's a certain charm about Ivor Wynne, nestled in a neighborhood where the citizens will offer up their lawns for parking for a mere $10.

Duchesne attended Friday night's Alumni/Celebrity Classic featuring retired players from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. One ticket for both games could be had for $51.

"I asked a couple of clients; one guy from Toronto who said no, and one guy from Hamilton and he said no, so I said, 'Okay, I'll go alone.'

"This is great for Hamilton," Duchesne added. "This gives us a reputation as a hockey city. Maybe one day the NHL will give us a pro hockey team."

Reminded that the Bulldogs are a pro hockey team, he said: "This is the triple-A compared to going to the Majors in baseball. It is pro, but not like the NHL."

As a link to the NHL, onetime Boston Bruins winger Kris Nienhaus, who fronts a band called 9House, entertained the crowd at various points with a variety of songs that included The Hockey Song, American Pie and Sweet Caroline, the anthem of all crowd anthems, regardless of the sport.

Nienhaus played in Friday's game, scored a couple of goals and then took to the stage in full equipment and belted out some tunes.

Now that's earning your pay!

The Marlies-Bulldogs game attracted an announced attendance of 20,565, about 8,000 or so shy of a sellout.

The vendors did brisk business, including one booth that offered Winters Warmers consisting of either hot chocolate or coffee mixed with one ounce of liquer, whiskey or rum, or a Cold One that was a classic caesar cocktail with premium vodka. For those who wanted to imbibe in a good old-fashioned Canadian beverage, beer could be had.

The Marlies took control of the game late in the third period, but with 54.6 seconds remaining Toronto's Kyle Neuber and Hamilton's Ian Schultz squared off in a bout that had the kind of proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence that would please Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke.

The game ended 7-2 in favour of the visitors.

The Outdoor Classic was a not a classic, but for a first-time event it had a little bit of everything to satisfy everyone.