Misc Hockey News

Canadian hockey fans take it outside to celebrate end of COVID restrictions

HAMILTON, Ontario, March 13 (Reuters) – Canadian hockey fans celebrated the end of most COVID-19 restrictions in predictable fashion on Sunday, packed into a football stadium in a raging blizzard to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres faceoff in the Heritage Classic.

It would be hard to imagine something more Canadian than 26,119 mostly Leafs supporters gathered in a stadium in a gritty steeltown hard on the shores of a windswept Lake Ontario for a party that started with the ‘Great One’ Wayne Gretzky headlining the ceremonial puck drop.

Situated midway between Toronto and Buffalo, the Hammer, as locals call Hamilton, provided ideal neutral ice for a contest that featured the Maple Leafs, battling for top spot in the Eastern Conference standings and the Sabres fighting to stay out of the basement.

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