Scott Radley: For some Hamilton hockey fans still feeling stung, NHL Winter Classic is conciliation on ice
Some of you reading this will still have your ticket stub from that March evening in 1994. The night the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers skated to a 1-1 tie in front of a full house at Copps Coliseum.
It was the last regular-season NHL game played in Hamilton. Until now.
On Sunday, the bright lights will be back on and some of the best players in the world will once again perform here for the Heritage Classic. For one afternoon, the league's travelling outdoor road show will be in town and this city will have its name atop the NHL's marquee. Tim Hortons Field will be the centre of the hockey-playing world.
Whether the game on the ice lives up to the Classic label is to be determined. And secondary. It's going to look great. It's going to be fun. It's going to be an experience.
What does all this mean to Hamilton?
How you answer may depend on how long you've lived here.
If you've been around for 30 or 40 years or more, you might find yourself a tad reluctant to buy into the hoopla. After all, there may not be another city that has as complicated a relationship with the NHL as this one does.
Since the Tigers left for New York in 1925 - yes, we once had a team - our love for the NHL has been unrequited.
We built an arena for it to call its own and it said no thanks. We found potential owners who offered millions for a team and again, it said no thanks.
Had things gone differently, we might today be the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators or the Arizona Coyotes. Or an expansion team. Or a number of other franchises that were rumoured to be looking this way at one time or another. Alas, over and over and over, it didn't happen.
And of course, this game has to feature the Sabres and the Leafs. The two franchises many believe are most responsible for us being boxed out. Them, and commissioner Gary Bettman, of course.
Yet, somehow, in spite of the thick callouses that built up over the years, there isn't widespread local spite toward the league. Or these teams. People here don't boycott their games by turning the channel. When the Leafs win a playoff series again someday - we didn't say when that would happen - you can be sure the streets will be filled with honking cars decked out in team window flags.
We're still fans even if a little of the suspicion that's now burned into our DNA causes some to cock an eye any time the league whispers sweet nothings in our ear and woos us again.
But that's not everyone. Hamilton isn't the same city it was three or four decades ago. Or even a decade ago. So many people who now call this place home weren't around then. Fresh blood and new perspectives have arrived with them. That history isn't their history. Those frustrations aren't their frustrations.
The new Hamiltonians aren't clinging to some long-held dream of us getting a team. Which is good because we're not getting one. That ship has long sailed. With expansion franchises now selling for $650 million US and swanky new arenas carrying billion-dollar price tags, we're out of the picture.
To them, an outdoor game comes with nothing but positives. It's something lots of places want and we have. Something good for the city. Even if you're not attending or have no interest in going, what could be wrong with other people in town having a fun afternoon? Or coming here to enjoy the place. Who wouldn't want that?
They have it right.
Hamilton is riding a sports wave right now. The Grey Cup was a huge hit even if the outcome of the game was (locally) gut wrenching. The World Cup soccer qualifier at the stadium was a tremendous show even if the stands couldn't be completely full.
Now this.
And unlike those previous two events, there's no even if" in the sentence. The place will be full, it'll be loud, it'll be a party and it'll be a day to remember. Best of all, it looks like it'll be played in perfect conditions.
Adding to the mix, three local women who just won a gold medal in Beijing as members of our national team will be there. And the first-place-in-the-entire-OHL Hamilton Bulldogs will be playing an outdoor game the next night.
Some will talk about how this will give great exposure for the city. They're not wrong. Others will talk about millions of dollars in economic spinoff for local businesses. There's surely something to that, too. Still others will rave about this being a further sales pitch for Hamilton as the place to hold big events. Again, why not?
What it's really going to be is a memorable experience that may not come again. At least not for a long, long, long time. A celebration. A jolt of happiness after a long COVID-19 winter. For many, a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Perhaps even a bit of a palate cleanser for some who've felt stung in the past but are finally ready to move on.
Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com