Hockey Night in Canada, live from Tim Hortons Field
It's as Canadian as a friendly snowball fight between a moose and a beaver, staged on the robotic arm of a space orbiter with Chris Hadfield singing the national anthem to the tune of Major Tom."
Hockey Night in Canada! But wait. This Sunday, it's going to be Hockey Day in Hamilton, as the Leafs and the Sabres square off in a QEW rivalry edition of the NHL's outdoor frozen pond" Heritage Classic series.
The game, at a rink-filled Tim Hortons Field, will be broadcast live, from right here in Hamilton, by the HNIC team, headed up by the inimitable and Hamilton-friendly host, Ron MacLean.
With him will be commentators Kevin Bieksa, Kelly Hrudey and Jennifer Botterill, with David Amber and Elliotte Friedman on the bench, and Chris Cuthbert calling with game alongside analyst Craig Simpson and reporter Kyle Bukauskas.
For perennially beleaguered (or should we say de-league-red?), NHL hockey-starved Hamiltonians, this is a true late-winter pick-me-up, bringing all these TV familiars to the city, along with our first ever outdoor classic in a regular season scheduled NHL game.
Not only will the HNIC gang set up shop for the broadcast, but a host of other sports media and hockey personalities (TNT is covering it for the United States viewers with Wayne Gretzky on the crew) will descend on the city for the game.
For MacLean, there's somewhat of a homecoming or rather second home"-coming feel to the weekend extravaganza - the team will also be televising the Saturday HNIC roster of NHL games from the cast and crew's booth/tent at Tim Hortons Field.
When I think about my young career, especially, all the memories and influences were Hamilton-based," says MacLean, who lived here with his wife, Cari, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I think about the city and the way that it adopts you and takes care of you. Cari and I were in (our) 20s, and I was coming from little Red Deer Alberta and I was so out of my depth at Hockey Night in Canada."
He singles out esteemed Hamilton writer/author/reporter Stephen Brunt as journalistic influence and recalls sitting next to Pat Quinn's mom at (then called) Copps Coliseum at the 1990 Memorial Cup, taking note for Pat about Eric Lindros the other juniors.
We've done two (hometown hockey shows) in Hamilton, one at Pier 8, the other at Ancaster, and one (this year) in Grimsby," says MacLean.
Steve Staios helped me with Ancaster; Hamilton guy and he's now my neighbour in Oakville. Brad Delgarno, (of Hamilton, former NHLer) and I play hockey with him once or twice a week. And now Kevin Bieksa (from Grimsby, and now a great colour commentator) is an influence in my life."
Jennifer Botterill, HNIC play analyst and multiple women's hockey Olympic gold medallist, says there's a special excitement surrounding Sunday's game, not only it being an outdoor classic but now that full capacities are back in swing, after years of COVID restrictions, a sellout crowd is expected.
And, she adds, it's Hamilton.
It's my first experience broadcasting from Hamilton but we know Hamilton has such great sporting fans, and there's such an anticipation of the energy that will be coming from the crowd."
She knows from experience what the outdoor environment does to the energy level coming from the players.
We (the Canadian national women's hockey squad) played team-building games outdoors on frozen lakes in places like Jasper, and those are special moments, when memories of playing as a kid come back to you - frozen toes and frozen faces and that's part of the joy, the resilience."
It likely won't be frozen-toes-cold Sunday, but the old feelings can't help but come rushing back.
Joel Darling, executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada, says the team has already begun its work for the weekend, bringing in trailers and TV mobile, working on the setup.
It's difficult taking hockey into a football environment, knowing where to place the cameras, what the angles are," says Darling.
The biggest issue as always is sunshine (too much can be the enemy of a good ice surface) and it looks like it's going to be cloudy, so that's good. We are really looking forward to being in Hamilton."
Aside from the big outdoor game, there will be a family skate/practice for the teams and their guests (closed to the public) on the Sunday and also, from Tim Hortons Field, a typical HNIC broadcast (pre-game, intermissions, postgame) for Saturday night (March 12) games (also closed to the public).
Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jmahoney@thespec.com