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In an inspired move, the National Hockey League today staged two games outdoors in Edmonton. The temperature was -19 Celsius, and over 57,000 crammed into Commonwealth stadium for the Heritage Classic.

The first game, a 30 minute affair, featured players from the great 1980s Edmonton Oilers teams and the 1970s Montreal Canadiens teams. Edmonton won 2-0. The regular season game between the current versions of those two clubs had Montreal ekeing out a 4-3 win with goalie Jose Theordore looking cooler than anyone in his mask and touque.

There is not a pro hockey player in the world that did not learn a significant amount of his or her game on outdoor rinks in countries like Canada, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Russia or the Czech Republic. Returning hockey to its roots is a fantastic way to re-inject the spirit of the game into the professional league. Suddenly egos go out the window, and the players become kids again and actually play.