Permanent daylight time brings quirky NHL start times to Western Canada

Hockey fans in North America may need to stay up late to watch their teams play due to three Canadian provinces deciding to stay on daylight saving time. Alberta, home to the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, Manitoba with the Winnipeg Jets and British Columbia with the Vancouver Canucks, opted not to revert clocks back in November and instead advanced them forward in March.

This change affects the NHL schedule, driven by media rights, as games now start at 9 p.m. local time for some teams, including the Flames with eight games starting at this time. Flames captain Mikael Backlund jokes that caffeine will help players stay alert. Edmonton will have seven games starting at 9 p.m., with defenseman Jake Walman expecting fewer family members watching due to the later times.

Winnipeg Jets will have their home games pushed back an hour by the NHL, starting no later than 7:30 p.m. for the team. Canucks will have a range of start times, from noon to 6 p.m., on a January road trip. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman jokes that the league did not have input on the time zone changes, but the teams will need to adapt.