The 2014 NHL Heritage Classic was an outdoor regular season
National Hockey League (NHL) game held indoor, part of the
Heritage Classic series of outdoor NHL
ice hockey games in Canada. It took place on March 2, 2014, in
BC Place in
Vancouver, with the
Ottawa Senators facing off against the home team
Canucks.[1] It is the first "outdoor" game to be played in what technically is an indoor stadium, albeit one of a larger capacity than a typical NHL arena; BC Place is a
retractable roof venue, and it is unknown if the stadium has the capabilities to keep its roof open during inclement weather (several stadiums of the type explicitly cannot be kept open in such an environment due to drainage concerns). The game was televised nationally in Canada on
CBC and nationally in the United States on
NBCSN.
It was announced hours before the game that the roof of BC Place would be closed for the duration of the game due to weather concerns.
The 2014 NHL Heritage Classic was also the last game to feature
Roberto Luongo as a player for Vancouver.
The Canucks built a 2–0 lead in the first period with goals by
Jason Garrison and
Zack Kassian. The Senators then scored four unanswered goals by
Clarke MacArthur,
Erik Karlsson,
Cody Ceci, and
Colin Greening to win the game. The loss left Vancouver head coach
John Tortorella answering questions during the post game press conference about why he started
Eddie Lack in goal instead of regular starter
Roberto Luongo.[2] Tortorella's decision was also unpopular with the crowd during the game as they booed Lack, while Luongo was also unhappy as he had been looking forward to that game all season.[3][4][5] Two days later on March 4, a day before the NHL trade deadline, Luongo was traded to the Florida Panthers.[6]