Canadiens – Nordiques in the middle of the afternoon: the NHL screws up (again)

We're just a few hours away from the game between the Habs and the Golden Knights in Vegas. Why a game on a Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Quebec time ? Because it's American Thanksgiving, and the NHL is first and foremost an American league, even if a large part of its revenues are generated in Canada.

It's a far cry from the days when the league was based in Montreal..

In short, it's American Thanksgiving and the Flames will play at 2pm (local time), the Habs and Sens at 4pm and the Maple Leafs at 5pm. You have to adapt to the American schedule… even if, in reality, the Americans didn't adapt at all to our Thanksgiving on October 13.

But it's not just today that the Habs will be playing a game in the middle of the afternoon; they'll be facing the Avalanche tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Quebec time.

Okay, so it's not as bad on weekends as it is on Fridays… but the NHL still missed a trick by scheduling the Canadiens-Avalanche game on a Saturday afternoon.

The Avalanche will be wearing their Nordiques vests tomorrow for their game against the Habs. It's sure to get a lot of attention in Quebec tomorrow.

However, the league should have thought of setting this game at 7:00 p.m. Quebec time, not 3:00 p.m. How do you kill a little buzz in Quebec?

The NHL dares to resurrect the history of the Nordiques – and the history of Quebec City – but doesn't even bother to schedule the game at a time of interest to the people of Quebec.

Every year for the past 11 years, the decision-makers at TVA Sports decide which of the 22 national games will be broadcast on their airwaves. This year, they didn't choose to broadcast tomorrow's game because it will be played in the afternoon. Ratings are generally lower when the game isn't played on Saturday night.

Think about it: tomorrow's Nordiques – Canadiens game will be broadcast on RDS because TVA Sports decided it wouldn't attract enough viewers. Instead, the network has chosen to broadcast games against the Mammoth, the Sabres and the Blues..

A sign that the NHL has screwed up its schedule, today and tomorrow!

Prolongation

The Avalanche are destroying everything in their path right now. The team has just posted three consecutive shutouts and sits atop the NHL, having suffered just one regulation-time defeat since the start of the season.

Except that defeat came when the Avalanche was wearing its Nordiques vest against the Hartford Hurricanes/Whalers.

Superstitious people – who never want to see the Habs' powder-blue vest again – see it as a sign.

Will the Canadiens be able to surprise their old enemy in Quebec/Colorado tomorrow afternoon? We'll see.

Itremains to be seen whether RDS will dare to write “QUE” to represent the Avalanche in its top left-hand table..