Since being traded from the WHL’s Tri-City Americans to the Regina Pats on Dec. 10, Nils Moser hadn’t had the chance to play in too many important games for his new club.
But his 14th game with the Pats was a different story.
The Canmore native, and former Airdrie Xtreme Bantam AAA forward, was part of the Pats’ 3-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen in the CHL’s first outdoor game held in Canada at McMahon Stadium on Feb. 21.
Not only did the win provide a unique experience for the 18-year-old, but it also gave his club a much-needed two points in the tightly contested WHL Eastern Conference playoff race.
“It’s been a little bit of an up-and-down here the last couple of games and it’s good to get a win, as we’re still battling for a playoff spot,” Moser said. “Lots of friends and family came out in support and it was great to have this experience so close to home. Couldn’t have had it any better.”
Because the WHL was using the infrastructure set up by the NHL for the Heritage Classic a day before, the Pats and Hitmen didn’t have a chance to skate on the McMahon Stadium ice until the pregame warmup. The closest those teams got was a Sunday skate at Springbank’s outdoor ice at the Park for All Seasons.
“It was a big change,” Moser said. “Everyone was kind of looking around and a little anxious, but after the first, everyone settled down. There was a little bit of glare there for about five minutes (when the sun came out in the third period). Other than that, the ice was a lot better than I thought it would be.”
The teams were tied 2-2 late in third, in a game that looked destined for overtime, before Regina’s Chandler Stephenson scored the game-winning goal with 36.5 seconds left to lift the Pats to victory.
“It was great to get a good bounce there with 30 seconds left, but it was close at the end as they were pushing hard,” Moser said.
The Spokane Chiefs hosted the Kootenay ice last month in the CHL’s first-ever outdoor game in front of 7,000 fans. But the Hitmen-Pats game, dubbed Calgary 2011 WHL Outdoors, brought in a crowd of 20,888 – setting both a new CHL and a new junior hockey attendance record, besting the 2009 World Junior gold medal game in Ottawa.
“An outdoor game is almost a once-in-a-lifetime thing so you’ve really got to cherish it and I did,” Moser said. “It was a great atmosphere. It’s great for the sport and great for the organization – the Pats have been around for a long time – and just to get the fans into it.”
