If you haven’t looked at the schedule yet, you might be surprised to find out that there’s an NHL game between Philadelphia and Winnipeg starting soon. At 11:30 a.m. ET to be exact.
For a lot of the players involved, this will be a whole new experience.
“I’ve played at 12 o’clock before but never 11:30,” Wayne Simmonds told CSN Philly. “It doesn’t matter what time the game is, we have to show up.”
The Jets are in the same boat of course, although Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd sees it as a throwback to his youth.
“When you’re younger, you get up, eat breakfast and go,” Ladd said, according to the Winnipeg Sun.
Jets forward Chris Thorburn predicted that it will be a “shock to the system” and hoped his team would be the first to wake up. In turn, the Flyers also talked about the importance of starting strong.
Above all else though, there’s two points on the line and for a pair of squads that are trying to claw their way into playoff spots, every game is critical.
This contest will start a full slate of Black Friday contests, including our feature game between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins on NBC. That contest will start at 1:00 p.m. ET.