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HAMILTON — The outdoor elements on Sunday in the Heritage Classic shouldn’t be an issue for Dylan Cozens, no matter what the weather brings.
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The Buffalo Sabers forward and native of Whitehorse have lived through it all.
“It did feel a little cold out there, but I guess I’m used to that, growing up in the Yukon,” Cozens said after the Sabers practiced at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday afternoon.
“I had a rink in my backyard that my dad (Mike) built. I spent lots of late nights and lots of days out there, and I’m hoping that I can use some of the skills I learned back then.
“My dad is here, so this is special. He’s the one that got it all started for me, building that rink every year. For him to be here, it’s awesome.”
Conditions for practices on Saturday were windy and cold, but it could be a bit better for the game on Sunday. The forecast calls for temperatures to be minus-1 Celsius, though it likely will be colder with the wind chill.
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Sabers goalie Craig Anderson will get the start, and the 40-year-old will play in his third outdoor game in the National Hockey League.
“It’s a great experience,” Anderson said. “It brings it up, the mundane (nature) of the day-to-day grind of the NHL that it can be sometimes.
“It gives you a fresh look, this can really lighten the mood and brighten things up for you.”
One difference in playing outside for Anderson, and we can assume it will be the same for Leafs starter Petr Mrazek: Tracking the puck in natural light, rather than inside an arena.
“You get a lot of reflection off the sun, but as it goes down, you do get the artificial light,” Anderson said. “The biggest visual change is no stands along the glass. You’ve got a big range between the glass to where the stands are, and you get that gray or white area, which can be tricky at times. You get used to it pretty quickly.”
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Anderson won both of his previous starts in outdoor games with the Ottawa Senators, in Vancouver and in Ottawa.
“The energy of the fans, I think everyone was 25 beers deep, was epic,” Anderson said with a chuckle. “I’m expecting the same with this group that is coming to the game. There will be a lot of energy.
“It makes you feel special in a certain way that makes you get up from the game more than any other game.”
As for the game itself, the Sabers will attempt to win for the fourth time in six games, a spurt that started with a 5-1 victory against the Leafs on March 2 in Toronto. That Buffalo is 33 points behind Toronto in the standings won’t matter to the Sabers players.
“We have been playing pretty good hockey,” forward Casey Mittelstadt said. “It’s going to be on a big stage, on national television.
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“We’re going to be ready to go. We’re going to be hungry. It’s going to be a big game for us.”
By Lance Hornby
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (37-16-5) at BUFFALO SABRES (19-32-8)
Sunday 4 p.m., Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton
TV: Sportsnet; Radio: FAN 590
WHY WATCH? Rivals take it outside
A new chapter in the 52-year-old QEW clash, 24,000 fans at a football stadium with a forecast temperature around the freezing mark and maybe a few flurries to dress it up. Other variables will come into play, the unfamiliar ice, late afternoon lighting and the sight lines, one end wide open with residential houses. It could complicate matters for both teams, but mostly a Toronto team trying to clean up issues with defense and goaltending. But the Leafs will have the edge in fan support and motivation after Buffalo beat them 5-1 at home on March 2.
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LEADER POINTS
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
GP GA PTS +/-
Auston Matthews 52 44 32 76 +12
Mitch Marner 46 23 39 62 +14
John Tavares 54 19 35 54 -4
BUFFALO SABERS
Tag Thompson 55 23 19 42 -12
Jeff Skinner 57 23 18 41 -8
Rasmus Dahlin 57 8 29 37 -15
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power play: Toronto: 29.9% (1st), Buffalo: 19.9% (19th)
Penalty kill: Toronto: 83.9% (5th), Buffalo: 76.3% (22nd)
THREE THINGS ABOUT THE GAME
1. Quite a month for the Sabers, who ended a six-game losing streak by shocking the Leafs in Toronto and moved on from Jack Eichel by defeating Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights in front of one of their loudest home crowds. They could improve their March record to 4-2. It’s also their home game, so they get last line change.
2. Craig Anderson, just shy of his 41st birthday, starts for Buffalo after a 29-save win in Toronto. Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe ignored the fans who thought Erik Kallgren should start this one after a small sample size of saves Thursday night. That said, Petr Mrazek must stay square, make some routine saves and get some early goal support.
3. There is lots of Ras-a-ma-taz to this game; Sabers defenseman Rasmus Dahlin bringing his game up as the team improves and Toronto’s Rasmus Sandin, hoping to return after missing three games games with a lingering illness. Both are first rounders from the 2018 draft, Dahlin that year’s top pick.
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