"Their songs are great": McDavid reveals he's a huge Nickelback fan
Connor McDavid has more than one reason to be excited about this month’s Heritage Classic.
The Battle of Alberta is heading outdoors on October 29, with the Edmonton Oilers taking on the Calgary Flames at the 56,400-seat Commonwealth Stadium. Both teams will even be wearing special vintage uniforms for the game.
However, for the Oilers captain, it’s the second-intermission entertainment that he has his eye on as Alberta’s own Nickelback is set to perform. He’s apparently a diehard fan.
“I was a fan before I met them,” McDavid said in an interview with NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest. “I know in Canada sometimes it’s trendy not to like Nickelback, but I was never on that [anti-Nickelback] bandwagon.
“Their songs are great, and I had a number of great childhood memories driving to the rink with my dad, my mom or my brother in the car and listening to them. I have great memories of listening to Nickelback.”
“Connor is a huge Nickelback fan,” Darnell Nurse confirmed to NHL.com.
McDavid’s history with the band can be traced to a few different moments. The most recent was back in March when he was on stage at the 2023 Juno Awards in Edmonton and inducted Nickelback into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
McDavid is surely not the only person excited about the band performing at the game. Oilers fans of a certain age might remember the Nickelback song “Savin Me” being featured in CBC’s intro to Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Heritage Classic is expected to envelop the city of Edmonton with tons of things for fans to take in both at the game and in the days prior. A massive festival celebrating the event will go in the Fan Park at the Ice District and Canadian rock group The Beaches will be hosting a free pre-game concert at the neighbouring Clarke Stadium.
As for tickets to the game itself, you can still find some on the Ticketmaster website.