Curtis Glencross tells us what he really thinks of signing Raitis Ivanans (Sun Media)

Yes, I know, all the hullabaloo is about the Flames and Habs playing the Heritage Classic on the 20^th, complete with Ronald McDonald-inspired jerseys¹, but really, the most exciting news of the day for me is that the Hitmen will be following it up with a game against Jordan Eberle’s alma mater, the Regina Pats, the next night. I believe this will be the first outdoor game in WHL history, so I’m incredibly excited that I could be a part of that. I mean, there’s every possibility that the weather could be crappy, because either a) it’s 15 C out and Chinooking or b) it’s -20 C out like it was in Edmonton seven-plus years earlier, and hey, it’s Alberta, so why not have both? But I digress. Outdoor hockey. Not every day you get to be a part of that kind of spectacle or atmosphere. I wonder if the Hitmen will reach back into Calgary’s WHL/WCHL past and play with the sweaters of the Calgary Buffaloes or something like that; goodness knows the Pats have the history to bring to bear for this thing. I also wonder how well-attended it will be, especially by people without the money or interest in going to the NHL event.

Speaking of, what’s even more exciting is that there might be a possibility I could go to both games. I mean, I’m purely speculating here, so don’t go running off saying this is a done deal, but it sure would be nice if there were some sort of package for Hitmen season ticket holders to get good seats to the Monday game and shitty high seats to the Sunday game. Again, I’ll get to be part of a once-in-lifetime event, seeing an outdoor Habs game with my Montreal-born-and-raised mom, and furthermore, I’ll get to laugh when the Habs beat the Clownshoes Flames while non-ironically wearing that Godawful barberpole the Habs put out a couple of years back when the Centennial celebration began. (As an aside, thank God the Habs went conservative and settled for bringing back the late Forum-era numbering as their only “throwback.” I liked some of those designs, but the barberpole across from the McDonald’s jerseys would’ve been too much. Though if you’re going to recall ’24, why not go all out and bring back the globe jersey?)

Regardless of how it turns out, though, this is a very exciting time to be a hockey fan here in Calgary. I’m already anxious for February.

¹ – Yes, yes, I know that they’re based on the 1924 Calgary Tigers, who played in the city’s first Stanley Cup Final against the Canadiens. I figured this would happen, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Flames for actually reaching that far back into the city’s hockey heritage, which most people probably didn’t even know existed. Note, however, that hockey sweaters used to have a million stripes, whereas now they don’t, because they look awful in new materials with more vibrant dyes and lighting and white ice. So it was with the Habs, so it is with the Flames.