Michael’s Musings is brought to you by Rude Hockey. Rude Hockey celebrates chirps, old-school toughness, a Philly attitude and saying out loud what everyone else is thinking. Because if you lose your edge, you lose the game. Visit RudeHockey.com today for your official Rude Hockey merchandise.
Musings: Frozen Frenzy Fix
It’s that time of year already when after the NHL season begins that ESPN does its annual Frozen Frenzy, and look, I love the idea of the Frozen Frenzy. All 32 teams in action on a single day, and with the games staggered so everyone can watch a little bit of every game. But there’s just one big problem that ESPN and the NHL keeps doing. It’s on aTuesday night.
This is what the schedule looked like for this past Tuesday’s Frozen Frenzy.
- NJ v. DET – 6p ET
- FLA v. CLB – 615p ET
- BUF v. MON – 630p ET
- WAS v. CAR – 645p ET
- SEA v. PHI – 7p ET
- TB v. NYR – 715p ET
- STL v. OTT – 730p ET
- VAN v. NYI – 745p ET
- PIT v. CHI – 8p ET
- MIN v. WIN – 815p ET
- COL v. DAL – 830p ET
- VGK v. NAS – 845p ET
- TOR v. UTH – 9p ET
- CAL v. ANA – 945p ET
- EDM v. LA – 1030p ET
- BOS v. SJ – 11p ET
On the surface this looks great because there are 16 action packed games being played, but in reality, it’s a real pain. Having games start at 6p ET on a Tuesday when people are still trying to get out of work or have to go home to pick up their kids from home to then take them to the game on a Tuesday can be burdensome.
But then look at the last game of the night. The Boston Bruins are taking on the San Jose Sharks at 11p ET. How is that fair to all of the Bruins fans back home in Boston? Given how it’s a work and school night, most people will be in bed before the game even starts. So that doesn’t make sense from a scheduling standpoint.
My solution to this, and which has been echoed by many on social media, is that the Frozen Frenzy needs to happen on a Saturday. And before anyone goes “BuT CoLLege FooTBAll” I really don’t care. With the way the TV/streaming landscape is today, it is 100 percent doable. But let’s say the NHL doesn’t want to deal with the noise of college football, then there is a perfect day to do it. The Saturday after the Super Bowl. The NFL and college football seasons are over, and the NHL can use that day as an opportunity to showcase the league and some of its top rivalries too. Also with it being on a Saturday, you can have the first game start at 12p ET and have a new game start every 30 minutes.
Here is the schedule I would do with the setup I just noted.
- BOS v. NYR – 12p ET
- FLA v. TB – 1230p ET
- BUF v. OTT – 1p ET
- WAS v. CAR – 130p ET
- PIT v. PHI – 2p ET
- NJ v. NYI – 230p ET
- TOR v. MON – 3p ET
- CLB v. MIN – 330p ET
- DET v. CHI – 4p ET
- SEA v. VAN – 430p ET
- COL v. DAL – 5p ET
- STL v. NAS – 530p ET
- WIN v. UTH – 6p ET
- CAL v. EDM – 630p ET
- ANA v. LA – 7p ET
- VGK v. SJ – 730p ET
With this schedule you get a full day of NHL action that features three Original Six matchups along with multiple rivalries like the Battle of Pennsylvania, Battle of Florida, and the always popular Battle of Alberta. Plus, let’s get a bunch of color on color jersey matchups in there as well. Make it fun. And while the last game would happen at 730p ET/430p PT, it’ll end at a reasonable time for everyone here on the east coast, and for those on the west coast, they can get to do other things before calling it a day.
Overall, the Frozen Frenzy isn’t a bad idea, it’s just the day they do it needs to be on a Saturday. Not on a Tuesday.
Musings: Shesterkin Down and Out
This past Friday when the Washington Capitals hosted the New York Rangers, netminder Igor Shesterkin, during a mad scramble to get back to his net, seriously injured his right knee.
The next day the Rangers announced that Shesterkin would be done for the season as he would require surgery to repair his knee. This is unfortunate news not just for the Shesterkin and the Rangers, but for the hockey community as a whole. Shesterkin was on fire to start the season going 3-1-0 with a .927 save percentage and 1.79 goals-against average in 5 games played. Plus, as noted in last week’s Musings, Shesterkin scored a goal against Tampa Bay on October 1st and recorded an assist against Utah on October 4th.
Having such a hot start like that only to be halted by an injury is unfortunate, and our best wishes and a speedy recovery to Igor.
Musings: PWHL Jerseys Unveiled
On October 8th, the PWHL unveiled the jerseys for the 4 expansion teams. As expected, unfortunately, the PWHL did not announce team names for the 4 new teams, and announced that they would be having jerseys similar to the inaugural season that both Seattle and Vancouver did last season for their first seasons as well.
While the jerseys look good, in a sense, it’s just disappointing the league is going back to the well on this one again as they really lack any true identity outside of the colors. In theory, the new team names will be coming sometime before the season starts like what happened with Vancouver and Seattle last season.
However, the new Vancouver Goldeneyes jerseys have been leaked thanks to Pro Hockey Life up in Canada having the jerseys on the shelf, and it should be expected for them to be officially announced, along with the Seattle Torrent’s new uniforms, very soon.
