Hockey fans across North America may have to be night owls at points this season to see their team play, thanks to a move by three Canadian provinces to stay on daylight saving time.
Alberta, home of the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, Manitoba with the Winnipeg Jets and British Columbia with the Vancouver Canucks decided not to move clocks back an hour in November and ahead in March, a shift that throws a few wrinkles into an NHL schedule that is driven by media rights holders.
“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.”
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For the Flames, that means the puck will drop at 9 p.m. local time for eight games, including two at home (Dec. 26 and Jan. 16).
“Professional athletes got to do what we got to do to get ready,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund.
“There’s caffeine out there.”
Edmonton has seven games starting at 9 p.m.
Defenseman Jake Walman doesn’t think he will have as many family members watching at home, while teammate Trent Frederic expects to adjust his sleep routine to go to bed, nap and eat lunch later than normal.
“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.”
Manitoba announced its decision on Sept. 17, the same day players hit the ice for NHL training camps.
The next day, the NHL issued changes to a dozen Winnipeg Jets home games, pushing them back an hour, but none later than 7:30 p.m. local time.
Manitoba will be on the same time as Toronto on Nov. 1.
The Canucks have some quirky road puck drops, including one trip in January with five different start times ranging from noon to 6 p.m.
“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.
At the Stanley Cup Final in June, Commissioner Gary Bettman joked that nobody asked the league what it thought about the time zone changes.
“Not that they should have, but we’ll deal with it,” Bettman said, foreshadowing the impact on some start times for Canada’s Western Conference teams.
“We’ll deal with just as we deal with whatever things come our way that we don’t get to control.”
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