It was back in September 2008 that we first heard the rumor that the Montreal Canadiens were planning on holding an outdoor game in Olympic Stadium as part of the franchise's centennial celebration. ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun, appearing first on Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment and then in a blog post on Sunday, confirmed that the team has asked the league to host that game on November 28, 2009, two days after American Thanksgiving.In isolation, it's easy to see the appeal. The last outdoor game held in Canada, 2003's Heritage Classic in Edmonton, was a true celebration of the game in every sense of the word. Given that nobody does hockey history quite like the Habs -- the closing of the Montreal Forum in 1996 was the showstopper to end all showstoppers -- there's every reason to believe that any event that they host be just as compelling.
And that's exactly why the league will probably say no.
