The Pittsburgh Penguins franchise
can always find a reason to celebrate. From Thanksgiving
and New Year’s Eve games to theme nights and victory parades,
the organization—from the front office right down to the players— loves to
find a way to make games fun and memorable for fans. There is one holiday that
would make for an obvious party of Penguins proportions: Christmas. However,
because of league rules, the idea of a Christmas game in Pittsburgh has never
even been under consideration. Maybe it’s time for that to change.
NHL CHRISTMAS
HISTORY
From the early 1920s through
1971, Christmas was just another day at the office for NHL players. The
Penguins suited up for four Christmas Day games between 1967 and 1971, posting
a 3-1-0 record over that period. This is an impressive stat for the early
Penguins teams, as they struggled to gain momentum as a franchise through the
70s and early 80s. Their Christmas Day win over the Detroit Red Wings in 1968
was just one of two wins in 14 games that December.
The last NHL Christmas games were
played on Dec. 25,
1971, with the Los Angeles Kings and California Golden Seals facing
off in the final matchup of the day. The Golden Seals won 3-1, and the final
Christmas goal in league history was an empty-netter from the Golden Seals’
Stan Gilbertson.
HOW THE NHL STOLE
CHRISTMAS
In 1972, the league did not
schedule any games for Christmas Eve or Day, and in 1973, an official rule was
added to prevent the scheduling of games on Dec. 24 and 25 in the future. In 2013,
an extra day was added to the Christmas break, banning the scheduling of games
on Dec. 26, Boxing Day in Canada.
After some too-close-to-Christmas
trades made in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the NHL added a rule called the
Roster Freeze to prevent teams from moving players over the holiday season. The
Roster Freeze was added to the Collective
Bargaining Agreement in 1995 and stated that teams could not
make transactions from Dec. 19-27. During the 2004-05 lockout, the rule was
amended to include minor-league loans and call-ups under the category of
transactions.
Former Penguins players Rob Brown
and Scott Young were dealt between Pittsburgh and the Hartford Whalers on Dec.
21, 1990, which resulted in looking for a place to live over the Christmas
season rather than spending time with family and friends.
For the reasons Young mentioned,
among others, the Roster Freeze is a necessary insurance policy for players
that they will not have to incur added stress or move away from their families
over the holidays, but stopping player transactions does not mean the NHL has
to stop Christmas games altogether.
AN NHL CHRISTMAS
GAME PROPOSAL
The NHL is the only one of the
Big Four sports leagues that has the potential to play either Christmas Eve or
Day games but chooses not to do so. MLB, of course, does not play games in
December, and both the NFL
and NBA hold games on Dec. 24 and 25.
In the vein of the Winter Classic
and the Thanksgiving Showdown, the NHL could bring back Christmas games with
one special event: The Christmas Clash. Two teams, one game in the afternoon,
and a special treat for hockey fans on the ‘nice’ list. The two teams that play
on Christmas could be given special considerations in scheduling, perhaps
adding an additional day or two off on Dec. 27 and 28 to allow players to
travel home for the holidays.
PROS AND CONS OF
HOCKEY ON CHRISTMAS
The pros and cons of playing
hockey on Christmas vary depending on which side you’re on. For fans, the
entertainment value and anticipation of another specialty game could be high.
People tend to take time off around the holidays and might be more willing to
spend their free time at a game when they have more of it to enjoy. However,
with so many big event games, like the Heritage Classic, Winter Classic,
Stadium Series, and Thanksgiving Showdown, fans could see a Christmas Clash as
just another
marketing gimmick. The interest would be inconclusive until a real,
solid proposal was floated, and the keyboard warriors weighed in on social
media.
For franchise owners and
executives, Christmas hockey could have them seeing dollar signs. Like with the
Winter Classic and Stadium Series games, a Christmas Clash could be a marketing
field day. Special logos, New jerseys, exclusive merchandise, and pregame
activities added to regular concession sales and ticket prices could
potentially bring in extra cash for the participating teams.
The cons, however, rest with the
players and coaches. Even with extra days off, adding a game on Christmas would
put more stress on the team, with additional practices and conditioning sessions.
Even if the Christmas Clash game was played on the afternoon of Christmas Eve,
the away team would still have to travel the night before and travel home on
Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to get back to their families, cutting down the
time they have to spend together on the holiday itself.
It’s not likely that a 40-plus
year tradition of Christmas without hockey will change overnight, but in the
new age of marketing, social media, and online petitions, anything is possible.
The Penguins are an obvious choice to play in the first Christmas Clash if it
would materialize. With stars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, young guns
like Jake Guentzel, and a history of playing some of the more iconic games in
NHL history, like the first Winter Classic, who else would be a more logical
fit to bring back
Christmas hockey?
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