The NHL 100 Classic (branded as the Scotiabank NHL 100 Classic for sponsorship reasons) was a regular season outdoor National Hockey League (NHL) game held on December 16, 2017. The game featured the Ottawa Senators playing the Montreal Canadiens at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa (referred to as "Lansdowne Park" due to naming rights conflicts with an official sponsor of the NHL). It was the first of the three scheduled outdoor regular season games in the 2017–18 NHL season.

As part of the NHL's centennial and local celebrations of Canada's sesquicentennial, the game was a rematch of one of the first two NHL games held on December 19, 1917, played between the Canadiens and the original Ottawa Senators. The Senators shut out the Canadiens, 3–0, with Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson making 28 saves.

It marked the first outdoor game hosted by Ottawa, and the second that Ottawa has participated in; they previously faced the Vancouver Canucks in the 2014 Heritage Classic. This was Montreal's fourth time appearing in an outdoor game.

Background The NHL 100 Classic was announced during a press conference on March 17, 2017. As part of the league's centennial celebrations, the game honoured the 100th anniversary of the first games of the NHL's inaugural season, held on December 19, 1917. Two games were played that night. In Ottawa, the original Ottawa Senators hosted the Montreal Canadiens at the Ottawa Arena. The other game was played in Montreal at the Montreal Arena where the Montreal Wanderers hosted the Toronto Arenas. The game was also part of Ottawa's festivities for the Canadian sesquicentennial. According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: "To launch our next 100 years, we believe it is only right to bring the Canadiens and the Senators back together."

Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson remarked that he had spent a significant amount of time to convince the NHL to hold an outdoor game in Ottawa, noting that "at some point I think I could be accused of harassment – borderline harassment – for the calls that went back and forth between my office and the NHL and the Senators. But it all came together." At one point, the game was proposed to be played at a temporary venue on Parliament Hill, but the proposal was denied by the Department of Canadian Heritage due to logistical concerns. The league also explored holding the outdoor game on November 26, 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the league's founding. The league also felt that the 25,000-seat Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in Montreal was too small to host such a game.

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk suggested that an outdoor game involving the Senators' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Belleville Senators (who moved from Binghamton, New York before the 2017–18 season) could be held as an undercard to the game, but this was not feasible.

Other festivities Outside in Lansdowne Park, and inside the Aberdeen Pavilion, a "Pre-Game" area was set up. The area hosted the Stanley Cup for pictures, and various sponsors and media set up interactive exhibits and games. The games involved various puck-shooting drills, such as into a washing machine and goal net targets. A rink was set up outdoors on Parliament Hill and teams of NHL alumni played an exhibition game.

A major junior game between the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) (who were celebrating their 50th anniversary; the team was established and named in honour of Canada's centennial) and the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) was held on the rink on the following day, December 17, with the Olympiques winning 4–1. It marked the first outdoor Canadian Hockey League (CHL) interleague game, and the seventh CHL outdoor game overall.

Television The NHL 100 Classic was scheduled as the main 7 p.m. (Eastern Time) Hockey Night in Canada game, simulcast on both CBC Television and Sportsnet, as well as the French-language La super soirée LNH game on TVA Sports. NBCSN simulcast the HNIC feed in the United States.

Game summary

Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson stopped all 28 Montreal shots, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Bobby Ryan and Nate Thompson each scored a goal. For the Canadiens, Carey Price made 35 saves in the loss. The temperature at the stadium was .

Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1stNo scoring plays 2nd OTT Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4) Erik Karlsson (19), Tom Pyatt (9) 14:55 1–0 OTT 3rd OTT Bobby Ryan (3) Unassisted 17:02 2–0 OTT OTT Nate Thompson (4) – en Mark Stone (14) 19:49 3–0 OTT Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTL Byron Froese Slashing 16:09 2:00 2nd MTL Phillip Danault High-sticking 00:21 2:00 3rd MTL Max Pacioretty Tripping 00:32 2:00 OTT Thomas Chabot Holding 05:50 2:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Montreal 8 8 12 28 Ottawa 14 15 9 38

Power play opportunities Team Goals/Opportunities Montreal 0/1 Ottawa 0/3

Three star selectionsTeamPlayerStatistics 1st OTT Erik Karlsson 1 assist 2nd MTL Carey Price 35 saves 3rd OTT Jean-Gabriel Pageau 1 goal

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens # Player Position 6 Shea Weber D 8 Jordie Benn D 11 Brendan Gallagher (A) RW 14 Tomas Plekanec (A) C 20 Nicolas Deslauriers LW 21 David Schlemko D 22 Karl Alzner D 24 Phillip Danault C 26 Jeff Petry D 27 Alex Galchenyuk LW 28 Jakub Jerabek D 31 Carey Price G 37 Antti Niemi G 41 Paul Byron LW 42 Byron Froese C 43 Daniel Carr LW 54 Charles Hudon LW 65 Andrew Shaw C 67 Max Pacioretty (C) LW 92 Jonathan Drouin CHead coach: Claude Julien

Ottawa Senators # Player Position 1 Mike Condon G 2 Dion Phaneuf (A) D 5 Cody Ceci D 9 Bobby Ryan RW 10 Tom Pyatt C 14 Alexandre Burrows RW 15 Zack Smith C 17 Nate Thompson C 18 Ryan Dzingel LW 19 Derick Brassard C 29 Johnny Oduya D 33 Fredrik Claesson D 40 Gabriel Dumont C 41 Craig Anderson G 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau C 61 Mark Stone (A) RW 65 Erik Karlsson (C) D 68 Mike Hoffman LW 72 Thomas Chabot D 95 Matt Duchene CHead coach: Guy Boucher

Scratches Montreal Canadiens: Jacob de la Rose, Joe Morrow Ottawa Senators: Nick Paul

Officials Referees – Brad Watson, Marc Joannette Linesmen – Steve Barton, Derek Nansen

National anthem The Canadian national anthem was sung by singer-songwriter Serena Ryder.

See also NHL Heritage Classic

References