NHL to hold its first outdoor game today

EDMONTON, Alberta -- For the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, their game today will be just like old times -- a throwback to when the players were kids and raced from school to a frozen pond.

And they never cared how cold it was.

So, with no concern for the thermometer, the league is throwing an 86th birthday party for the NHL. The Oilers and Canadiens will play at 55,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the first outdoor game in league history.

The Heritage Classic will be the second half of a hockey doubleheader with teams of Edmonton and Montreal alumni, including Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur, playing the first game.

Forecasts Friday called for a temperature of about 15 degrees with possible snow flurries when the puck drops at 5 p.m. local time, two hours after the alumni game starts.

The first practice Friday looked like a pickup game, with players in wool caps passing and shooting with the enthusiasm of kids.

The event is a sellout and Oilers officials said they could have sold 500,000 tickets priced from $45 to $101.

Workers spent two weeks building the regulation-size rink with ice 2 inches thick in a stadium that normally hosts football and other events.