A trio of Canadian provinces sticking with daylight saving time is about to give the NHL schedule a little extra bite in Western Canada.
Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia have chosen not to turn the clocks back in November or forward in March, and that decision is already creating some unusual start times for the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks. Because NHL game times are set around media-rights considerations, the league is now working around a time shift that complicates things for teams and fans alike.
Calgary president and chief executive officer Robert Hayes said the situation is simply out of the club’s hands.
“It’s out of our control,” Calgary president and chief executive officer Robert Hayes told The Canadian Press.
“I’ve always said in my business career, ‘Let’s focus on the things we can control,’ and we can’t control that. A decision was made by the province … and decisions were made by others that this is the time we’re going to start hockey games.”
For the Flames, that means eight games will begin at 9 p.m. local time, including two home dates on Dec. 26 and Jan. 16. Captain Mikael Backlund said the players will just have to be ready.
“Professional athletes got to do what we got to do to get ready,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund.
Edmonton will also see late nights, with seven games scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Defenseman Jake Walman said he expects the new slate to cut into the number of family members watching from home, while Trent Frederic is already thinking about a different routine.
“The naps are big, or at least they are for myself,” Frederic said. “A lot of times after games, the later games, you’re going to bed late, you’re still wired, so it’s just important to kind of stick with getting the good naps.”
In Manitoba, the shift came on Sept. 17, the same day players reported for NHL training camps. The following day, the league adjusted a dozen Jets home games, moving them back an hour, though none of those games will start later than 7:30 p.m. local time.
Manitoba will be on the same time as Toronto on Nov. 1.
Vancouver’s schedule has its own oddities, especially on the road. One January trip features five different start times, stretching from noon to 6 p.m. Winger Brendan Gallagher said the adjustment will take some getting used to.
“It’s going to be different,” winger Brendan Gallagher said. “It’s something that we’ve never really been through. Even having an 8 p.m. game to start the season, a little bit different, but we’ll get used to it.
Commissioner Gary Bettman joked about the whole thing at the Stanley Cup Final in June, saying the league hadn’t been consulted.
“Not that they should have, but we’ll deal with it,” Bettman said, and now the NHL has to do exactly that as the time changes ripple through start times for Western Canada’s teams.
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