Red Wings alumni love great outdoors

TORONTO -- Putting on the jersey and the winged wheel logo never loses its charge for retired members of the Detroit Red Wings.
A group of them were back on the ice again on Friday, working off some rust in preparation for the 2017 Rogers NHL Centennial Classic Alumni Game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Exhibition Stadium on Saturday (Noon ET; NHL Network, SN).

Alumni for both teams skated at Maple Leaf Gardens, which is now part of Ryerson University's Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto.
"It'll be fun playing outdoors again," said defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who won the Stanley Cup four times and the Norris Trophy seven times with the Red Wings. "We've done a couple of these, playing with the alumni team and it's always fun to get together and it makes it even more special when you're doing it outdoors.
"I'm looking forward to this game tomorrow. And when you get a chance to skate with your old team, it's fun."
Lidstrom, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015, played all of his 1,564 NHL games for Detroit and will be joined on the Red Wings alumni defense for the game by fellow Hall of Fame member Paul Coffey.

Coffey, who retired in 2001 after winning the Stanley Cup four times and the Norris Trophy three times, said he can't wait to play outdoors again because it was part of growing up.
"Played outside all the time," said Coffey, who retired in 2001 after playing 1,409 career games for the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. "It's what we did. Even now there's a huge appetite for all the kids. Everybody loves playing outdoors. It's where the fun is.
"Hopefully we'll have a day that's cold and little bit of snow."
Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan played 716 of his 1,524 NHL games for the Red Wings and will suit up for Detroit on Saturday.
"For me, it's twice as good because I get to see all my old teammates and friends from Detroit and play for a lot of our Detroit fans. … and on the flip side I've gotten to know all the Leafs alumni really well," Shanahan, also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, said on Friday. "For me, it's been vitally important since I arrived that the Leafs alumni feels very much a part of our future. So this is twice as good as it typically would be."

The oldest player in the Centennial Classic Alumni Game will be Red Wings forward Mickey Redmond, 69.
Redmond, now a Red Wings broadcaster, said the feat wasn't important.
"Paul Coffey just said, 'It's hard to play this game if you can't breathe,'" Redmond said. "And I said, 'You don't have to tell me because I've had lung cancer twice and I've lost chunks of lung.' I'm tickled pink anytime I can get on the ice and skate. It's as good as it gets."
Redmond, who played 538 NHL games for the Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens, said his memories in Maple Leaf Gardens are numerous.
"I played junior hockey in this building when St. Mike's and the Marlies had doubleheaders on Sunday afternoon," he said. "I remember the nets being so white. It was white net, black puck, red light, goalies embarrassed.
"And the bell that used to go off (to end the period). I remember that very fondly in this building. When we come to Toronto and talk about Toronto, I refer to Toronto's rink as Maple Leaf Gardens half the time."