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To borrow a line from Field of Dreams, if you build it, they will come.

While the people of Ottawa are still recovering from Grey Cup hangovers after the Toronto Argonauts knocked off the Calgary Stampeders in a thriller Sunday night at TD Place stadium, there will be no rest for the weary as the work gets under way this weekend for the NHL 100 Classic between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.

Not long after the cleanup from Grey Cup festivities is completed this week, NHL officials will move in Sunday to start work on the outdoor rink the Senators will call home against the Habs on Saturday, Dec. 16, to celebrate the league’s Centennial.

The Senators and Canadiens, two of the first franchises in the NHL when it was formed in November 1917, played the first game in league history on Dec. 19, 1917, at Dey’s Arena before 6,000 fans. That night, Joe Malone scored five goals in Montreal’s 7-4 victory over Ottawa, beginning a new chapter in hockey history.

That’s why this event will be special even though the league has done a lot of other outdoor games over the years. The NHL event truck will roll onto the grounds Sunday with all the equipment necessary to build an outdoor rink.

Yes, the stands are already built to expand TD Place stadium capacity to 36,000, but that doesn’t mean any less work for those building the rink.

“It’s a typical setup for us, specifically with the rink build, and it’s going to be the typical build,” Derek King, the NHL’s senior manager of facility operations, said this week from his Winnipeg home. “With the seating in place, it’s going to be easier for other groups involved, but, for us, it’s the same setup.