Playing outdoors nothing new for Moss

While there are plenty of NHL veterans still waiting to play in their first outdoor game, Calgary Flames forward David Moss will be skating in his third on Sunday.

The 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic completes a trifecta for the 29-year-old Moss, a five-year NHL veteran. Back in his collegiate days at the University of Michigan he was part of the famous "Cold War" game that began the outdoor hockey craze. Just last year, he was on the U.S. team that played Germany in the World Championship.

"They were both unique," Moss said. "The one in Michigan was special because it was a college atmosphere and it was a big rivalry. The one in Germany was a little bit different because I'd never seen fans that cheer the whole game like that, so it was pretty special, too."

The high temperature for Sunday is projected to be 29 degrees Fahrenheit and partly cloudy, although by the time the puck drops after 4 p.m. Mountain Time, it figures to be dropping closer toward the low of 8 degrees. Moss was asked if the players will be wearing extra clothing under their jerseys.

"I guess it depends on how cold it is. The first game I played at Michigan it was much colder than expected so I know guys had a little bit heavier stuff on underneath their equipment. I think it just depends on what the weather's like and what guys feel comfortable wearing," Moss said.

"I think most guys will change between periods. That's been my experience before, put something dry on and just go from there. Especially if you've been sitting around for a time, it gets cold."

There's also a 20 percent chance of precipitation for Sunday, so snow flurries aren't out of the question. Beyond that, issues like glare caused by the setting sun can be dealt with easily enough by the players, Moss said.

"The lighting and the sunlight, there's reflections, but there's way to deal with that, eye black and stuff like that," he said.

Moss scored a goal and added 3 assists in Calgary's 9-1 rout of Colorado on Monday and his line with Olli Jokinen and Curtis Glencross, dubbed the "OMG" line locally, has been on a tear of late.

"We've been fortunate to find the score sheet lately," Moss said. "Olli and Glennie are really playing some good hockey and Brent's kind of given us a role to play against other team's top lines. We've adjusted well to that."