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The dream of an outdoor NHL game on Parliament Hill next year has evaporated.
In a statement Friday, a spokesman for Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said the government has rejected the idea of staging the Heritage Classic game on the Hill as part of Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
Pierre-Olivier Herbert, Joly’s press secretary, said the Liberal government had been working closely with public and private sector partners for 18 months to determine the feasibility of staging the outdoor game on Parliament Hill to mark the NHL’s 100th anniversary in the context of Canada 150 celebrations.
However, he said, “In the highly complex environment regarding events on Parliament Hill, including the need for uninterrupted operations of parliamentary business, public access and security, a full-stadium NHL game was deemed not feasible and is no longer one of the options being considered.”
The idea was to stage the game on Parliament Hill in December 2017 as a memorable exclamation point to the year-long celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday.
Instead, Herbert said the department is exploring other options to close the celebrations, “including a variety of free public events to celebrate Canadians’ love of winter” on Parliament Hill and across Canada.
In a statement released to Postmedia Friday, the Ottawa Senators expressed dismay at the government’s decision.
“Despite the hard work of the NHL and the government of Canada over the past 18 months, the Ottawa Senators are disappointed for all Canadian hockey fans that we will not have the opportunity to witness an NHL outdoor game on Parliament Hill,” the club said.
“To host a game on Parliament Hill would have been iconic and historic and, in our view, the best way to cap off the year-long celebrations in 2017 to honour both the league’s centennial and Canada’s 150.”
The Senators had been pushing hard for the game on Parliament Hill. Team president Cyril Leeder said in September the Hill was the only location the team and the league were studying.
“That would be a fantastic way to really highlight for (the Senators 25th anniversary season) and to have a national celebration of the game on Parliament Hill would be really exciting,” Leeder said at the time.
While the NHL supported the idea, league commissioner Gary Bettman admitted earlier this year that making it happen would be “complicated and expensive.”
The former Conservative government first approached the NHL and the Senators about staging the Heritage Classic on the Hill, but wanted limited temporary stands with fewer than 10,000 seats.
For the idea to be financially viable, however, the league and the team said a pop-up stadium accommodating 30,000-to-40,000 fans would be required.
Another possible venue in Ottawa for the NHL game is TD Place at Lansdowne Park. The stadium will be will be prepped for the Grey Cup, able to accommodate more than 30,000 fans, in November 2017 — weeks before an outdoor hockey game would take place.
While Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson strongly supported the idea of staging the game on Parliament Hill, he said earlier this year that Lansdowne Park “is the next obvious choice” if the Hill option didn’t work out.
But until now, the Senators have shown little interest in staging the game there. In September said TD Place “is not an option we’ve looked at, at all in any detail, and we’ve been really focused on the Hill.”
dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
In a statement Friday, a spokesman for Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said the government has rejected the idea of staging the Heritage Classic game on the Hill as part of Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
Pierre-Olivier Herbert, Joly’s press secretary, said the Liberal government had been working closely with public and private sector partners for 18 months to determine the feasibility of staging the outdoor game on Parliament Hill to mark the NHL’s 100th anniversary in the context of Canada 150 celebrations.
However, he said, “In the highly complex environment regarding events on Parliament Hill, including the need for uninterrupted operations of parliamentary business, public access and security, a full-stadium NHL game was deemed not feasible and is no longer one of the options being considered.”
The idea was to stage the game on Parliament Hill in December 2017 as a memorable exclamation point to the year-long celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday.
Instead, Herbert said the department is exploring other options to close the celebrations, “including a variety of free public events to celebrate Canadians’ love of winter” on Parliament Hill and across Canada.
In a statement released to Postmedia Friday, the Ottawa Senators expressed dismay at the government’s decision.
“Despite the hard work of the NHL and the government of Canada over the past 18 months, the Ottawa Senators are disappointed for all Canadian hockey fans that we will not have the opportunity to witness an NHL outdoor game on Parliament Hill,” the club said.
“To host a game on Parliament Hill would have been iconic and historic and, in our view, the best way to cap off the year-long celebrations in 2017 to honour both the league’s centennial and Canada’s 150.”
The Senators had been pushing hard for the game on Parliament Hill. Team president Cyril Leeder said in September the Hill was the only location the team and the league were studying.
“That would be a fantastic way to really highlight for (the Senators 25th anniversary season) and to have a national celebration of the game on Parliament Hill would be really exciting,” Leeder said at the time.
While the NHL supported the idea, league commissioner Gary Bettman admitted earlier this year that making it happen would be “complicated and expensive.”
The former Conservative government first approached the NHL and the Senators about staging the Heritage Classic on the Hill, but wanted limited temporary stands with fewer than 10,000 seats.
For the idea to be financially viable, however, the league and the team said a pop-up stadium accommodating 30,000-to-40,000 fans would be required.
Another possible venue in Ottawa for the NHL game is TD Place at Lansdowne Park. The stadium will be will be prepped for the Grey Cup, able to accommodate more than 30,000 fans, in November 2017 — weeks before an outdoor hockey game would take place.
While Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson strongly supported the idea of staging the game on Parliament Hill, he said earlier this year that Lansdowne Park “is the next obvious choice” if the Hill option didn’t work out.
But until now, the Senators have shown little interest in staging the game there. In September said TD Place “is not an option we’ve looked at, at all in any detail, and we’ve been really focused on the Hill.”
dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
