Winnipeg Jets defenseman Mario Ferraro kept his own blog through the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday.
In his final entry, the defenseman discusses the pomp and circumstance of the game, including the team’s Top Gun-themed walk-in costumes. He also discussed the game, a 2-1 win for the Canadiens.
Tonight was a really cool experience. Obviously, a lot of emotions running through your mind and I'm extremely grateful to have had that opportunity. You never know when that's going to come around again.
The game was sold out and it looked and sounded sold out. When the fly-by of jets happened that was really cool. The vibrations, you could feel them in the ground. It was crazy.
The opportunity to play in this game was special, the environment's definitely really fun.
The loss, that's the part that stings the most, because it's two big points. We've struggled in our past five games now to close out one-goal games. It's five in a row where we have lost by a goal. That stinks a lot.
I wish we could have gotten the win because I got a lot of family here and I'm excited to see them now and share some of this with them, but I'm grateful to have gotten the opportunity to play in this game. It's a rare opportunity.
I thought we deserved a little better tonight, but we’ve got to keep pushing. I think we did a lot of good things despite it being an outdoor game and it was maybe a little funky at times. Pucks were kind of bouncing, the boards are a little bit different than the normal rink, but that’s the way it is. I think we did a lot of good things and we had a lot of chances at the net. We just couldn't find a way to bury it at the end.
Going back to the pregame, the flyover for sure was the coolest part for me. The thump, you can feel it in the ground when they fly over. It was sick. I've never seen that before. That was pretty wild. I think that is the kid in me.
The warmup before the game playing soccer on the field was pretty fun, too. I don't usually take part, but I joined today because it was so nice out there. The weather was great. Everything kind of worked out, fireworks, everything.
We had the fans cheering us on and stuff as we started to walk in and that was kind of nice, but again, it was obvious the result wasn't there, but a lot of good things to remember.
Walking into the stadium before the game in our “Top Gun” outfits, that was sick. I really liked our style. You know, the leaders on the team came up with a good one there, so shout out to them. I think it was one of the better outfits ever for an outdoor game.
We get to keep a lot of that stuff. The jacket is legit. It's got our name stitched on it and our logo and stuff like that. Those cowboy boots, too. A lot of stuff.
Coming off the bus was electric. Three hours before the game and still a lot of people cheering and chanting.
The whole day and night except for the result was awesome. It’s something I will always remember. I’m grateful I had this opportunity.
