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The NHL schedule might be relentless, but Canadian fans have found small ways to make every game feel personal. In the 2026–27 season, watching hockey isn’t just about sitting down for puck drop and staying put. It’s a rhythm of habits, screens, and post-game rituals that turn an ordinary weeknight into something familiar and oddly comforting.
What’s changed is how intentional these routines feel. From lucky socks to scrolling breaks timed perfectly to intermissions, fans are shaping game night around their own attention spans. The result is a viewing experience that’s less passive and more participatory, even when the score isn’t going your way.
Below are three rituals that have quietly become staples for young Canadian NHL fans this season.
Second-Screen Scrolling During Games
Intermissions used to mean grabbing a drink or staring at the ceiling. Now, they’re prime scrolling time. Phones come out the second the horn sounds, and not by accident. Fans use those breaks to check advanced stats, rewatch a highlight from another game, or see how a hot take is landing on social media.
For some, that second screen also becomes a low-stakes entertainment window. Between periods, a few taps might lead to exploring features on gaming platforms or casually browsing options like best new online casinos, checking e-commerce deals, or buying time-sensitive flight tickets. Basically, more and more people have a short attention span, even for a game of hockey. That’s why they do a few more things along the way while watching sports matches. It’s not the main event, just another way fans fill the natural pauses without fully disengaging from the game.
That multitasking is baked into modern fandom. A 2024 IBM study found that 22% of Canadian sports fans aged 18–44 use three or more devices while watching games, as reported in a 2024 IBM study. The TV stays on, but attention flexes across screens, especially when the pace slows.
What makes this ritual stick is how deliberate it feels. Fans aren’t distracted; they’re choosing when to split their attention, then snapping back in when the puck drops again.
Pre-Puck-Drop Superstitions
Every fan swears they’re not superstitious—until they are. In 2026, pre-game rituals are alive and well, even if they’ve been updated for smaller apartments and busier schedules. The lucky hoodie still matters, but so does the exact timing of dinner or the playlist that gets queued up before warmups.
These routines aren’t about believing you control the outcome. They’re about settling into the night. When the same steps happen before every game, it flips a mental switch from “workday” to “hockey time,” and that transition matters more than ever with games scattered across the week.
Streaming has amplified this feeling. With three in four Canadian connected TV users watching live sports through apps, according to streaming sports data, fans are no longer tied to a single channel or setup. Customising how and where you watch naturally spills into how you prepare, turning pre-puck-drop into its own mini-event.
Post-Game Reactions And Debates
When the final buzzer sounds, the night isn’t over. For many fans, it’s just shifting phases. Group chats light up, memes start circulating, and the same controversial call gets dissected from ten angles within minutes.
This ritual is fuelled by how quickly information moves now. Highlights, heat maps, and instant analysis are available before players have even left the ice. With mobile sports apps now central to fandom—73% of surveyed fans say they use them to stay updated, according to AI engagement insights—post-game debate feels like a continuation of the broadcast rather than a separate activity.
The real appeal is connection. Even watching alone, fans tap into a shared conversation that makes wins sweeter and losses easier to process. Agreeing or arguing becomes part of how the game is remembered the next day.
Why These Rituals Stick All Season
Taken together, these habits explain why hockey still cuts through a crowded entertainment landscape. The rituals aren’t rigid; they’re flexible enough to fit real life. Miss the first period? You still do the scroll. Tough loss? You still check the group chat.
This matters because attention is a scarce resource in 2026. By building small, repeatable moments around games, fans give themselves reasons to keep showing up, even during long stretches of the season. The NHL broadcast is just the spine. Everything wrapped around it—the routines, the multitasking, the debates—is what keeps fandom feeling alive.
In the end, these rituals aren’t about changing the game. They’re about changing how it fits into everyday life. And for Canadian fans balancing work, social lives, and endless content choices, that might be the most important tradition of all.
