As North American soon pauses to celebrate Christmas on Thursday, it would have been the perfect opportunity for the NHL to offer games to fans who don’t have many sports viewing options other than the NBA.
Millions of sports fans looking for a game to watch would seem to be in the mood for the “ultimate winter sport” on the ultimate winter holiday. And yet, the NHL offers nothing under the Christmas tree for loyal fans. Instead, the NHL offers the white flag of surrender and gives the entire day to the NBA. The NHL once again cannot get out of its own way.
A Tradition of the Past
The NHL used to play on Christmas, believe it or not. The last time was in 1971 when six games were played on that day. The NHL also used to play on Christmas Eve which was a practice that ended the following year. Ebenezer Scrooge would have been particularly impressed with the 1966-67 New York Rangers who had to play back-to-back road games on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The perfect paring of Christmas and hockey ended due to players wanting to be home for the holidays with their families. Christmas is far less strictly observed than it was in 1971 and the opportunity to grab the spotlight with a new tradition of Christmas hockey makes great business sense.
Imagine the Possible
Imagination is never a strong suit of NHL management so let’s do the dreaming for them. You could begin with a Christmas Eve doubleheader with an east coast game followed by a matchup out west. Most everyone is home or at family gatherings on Christmas Eve with huge television audience potential. Better still have the west coast game be played outdoors for maximum exposure. Play the Ducks and Kings at Dodger Stadium or the LA Memorial Coliseum to capture the maximum sports audience that will be starving for content.
A Christmas Tradition
Imagine waking up to the greatest Christmas gift of them all; A new tradition of Christmas Day NHL Hockey. How about a lineup that starts with the New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins? Follow that up with the Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs. Then we could have the Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks to complete the slate of Original Six matchups.
The evening could offer the St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild followed by the Battle of Alberta with the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers and then a nightcap of the Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks. Start in the morning and run all the way to midnight. The one day when most of North America is off and lacking for sports viewing options could be maximized for its full potential.
A Big Boy Business
Spare us the potential player whining about being home at Christmas with the family. When you sign up for duty in the NHL for millions of dollars part of the deal is performing when told. There are easy solutions to work around a Christmas Day of action with potential extra time off before or after the Christmas Day games, etc. The NHL is a big boy business and crying about having to help grow the game and start a new tradition over Christmas with the family is simply nonsense. The NBA is laughing all the way to the bank. Again you can have Christmas with the family in the days after December 25th.
An Instant Tradition that would Catch on Fast
The merger of hockey and Christmas is a match made in heaven. It would exceed the Winter Classic in appeal and viewership and would be a natural draw for fans both hard core and casual. Having a hockey game on the TV on Christmas Day is so perfect, even if it is just for winter wonderland ambiance.
An Entitled Mindset
One has to wonder just how “hungry” the NHL is at truly growing the game. Going dark on Christmas comes off as spoiled and entitled as the Toronto Maple Leaf of your choice.
