"Together with our partners, we're in the business of making memories, creating joy. And there's no better way to do that than the Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic," Kepron said Friday. "You celebrate the passion, you celebrate the heritage, you celebrate what has brought us together as Canadians and, also, for the first time a U.S. team participating. So, it's celebrating what we all love, which is really this fantastic game in its original setting, playing in an outdoor environment."
An NHL partner since 2010, Tim Hortons has been involved with five of the six Heritage Classic games to date, including the one Sunday. As part of their association, there will be Timbits hockey players skating on an auxiliary rink, a Tim Hortons Coffee Truck where fans can get a free coffee or hot chocolate, and the opportunity for fans to receive their own personalized Tim Hortons Upper Deck hockey card.
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"Their mandate is to, with us, bring Canada's sport, the NHL, with Canada's coffee to the masses, and it's really been exceptional," Kepron said. "Every year, they continue to grow the business with us, with this being really sort of our jewel event with them."
With outdoor games now regularly featured on the NHL calendar each season, the League is always looking for new and unique experiences from its partners. For this season's Heritage Classic, they delivered with a 55 percent increase in partnership activations compared to the 2019 event.
"I want to think that it's a function of people being excited now," Kepron said. "Coming through the pandemic, really excited about live sport, which is such a wonderful way to deliver an experience to fans in person. We're always looking for greater investment by our partners, and they really have come to the table. While I wouldn't say I'm surprised, I would say I'm delighted with it."
Among those investments is the OLG PROLINE+ NHL PreGame, a festival that will feature a plethora of attractions and hockey interactives for fans to enjoy. Nearly every attraction at the PreGame will give fans the opportunity to win numerous prizes from more than a dozen partners. The festival runs Sunday, from 12 p.m. ET through the second intermission.
"They'll create a memory that I think will stick with them forever," Kepron said. "But they'll also take away giveaways such as the free coffee and making your own trading cards. They'll take away meeting gold medalists from Canada's National Women's Hockey Team. They'll take away a community event where they come together and they just celebrate the sport of our game, the NHL. … Our fans will have just such a moment of joy as they come in and experience this game."
