Gretzky, Robitaille to captain NHL Alumni-Celebrity outdoor game

Kings legends Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille will captain the NHL Alumni-Celebrity teams on Jan. 6 in Bakersfield, a day before the Reign take on the Condors in the Outdoor Classic, the Bakersfield Condors announced on Tuesday.

More names of who will be playing in the game, which will take place at Bakersfield College’s Memorial Stadium, will be named on Dec. 21.

According to the press release, the NHL Alumni-Celebrity game does not have a scheduled time yet. The Reign will play Bakersfield on Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. PT.

A ticket to the Outdoor Classic will also include a ticket to the NHL Alumni-Celebrity game. Click here to purchase tickets.

The Hockey Hall of Famers who in their NHL careers helped popularize the sport in California said the following about the event:

Gretzky: “The success of the (California) NHL clubs has been very positive, but the minor league teams in cities like Bakersfield and Ontario have elevated the sport that much higher and made it even more popular. It’s great to see a city like Bakersfield with people who are excited about watching hockey and have gravitated to these players that one day will play in the National Hockey League.”

Robitaille: “This will bring new fans who may have seen only one or two hockey games, or maybe have never seen a hockey game. They’ll go see it (the Alumni Game and the Outdoor Classic) and it is a lot of fun to be part of it. That’s why we do this. To bring new people and give them an opportunity to enjoy the game that we love.

Here’s a video of Robitaille talking about the game:

And another video the Condors made on the announcement:

Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.