Fans of the Edmonton Oilers will be happy with the recently released schedule for their Stanley Cup Final series against the Florida Panthers.
The two teams are the last remaining in this year’s quest for the Stanley Cup, and the NHL has opted to give all games in the final the primetime slot from coast to coast. Shortly after last night’s Western Conference-clinching win, the league announced that all seven games will have an 8 pm ET start time.
This means every game will start at 6 pm MT in Edmonton, making it earlier than usual for Oilers fans.
Clear up your Saturday night schedule. The #StanleyCup Final begins June 8 at 8 p.m. ET (@ESPN, @ESPNPlus, @Sportnet, @TVASports, CBC) when the @EdmontonOilers visit the @FlaPanthers for Game 1.#NHLStats: https://t.co/KvlyR3lskR pic.twitter.com/AhmqMCg6mM
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 3, 2024
Oilers fans have become accustomed to late nights with 8 pm MT and 7 pm MT start times becoming the norm throughout the season and into the first two rounds of the playoffs. Some nights during Edmonton’s first-round series against the LA Kings had games start as late as 8:30 pm MT.
These late starts confused some hockey fans about why the NHL was burying star players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at times that were next to impossible for people on the East Coast to watch.
However, this isn’t completely out of left field for the Oilers. Every game in their Western Conference Final series against the Dallas Stars had start times at either 6 pm MT or 6:30 pm MT, which made the games end much earlier than usual for Oilers fans.
The part of the Stanley Cup Final schedule that might anger Oilers fans is the long wait to start things back up. Game 1 between the Oilers and Panthers is slated to get underway on Saturday night, which is nearly a week after Edmonton eliminated the Stars.
It’s going to be a week full of anticipation and when it finally comes, Oilers fans won’t have to worry too much about their sleep schedule (barring any late-night parties).