So the Leafs-Hurricanes game has an opening puck drop of 7:07 p.m. tonight to accommodate the U.S. network, Versus. We love it. Thirty minutes earlier translates into finishing sooner and possibly having an extra post-game beverage.
Seriously, though, the earlier start does help us newspaper guys. Even though there have been so many technological advances in the past 30 years, newspaper deadlines have been stuck in the same rut. On most occasions when the Leafs weekday home games begin at 7:30 p.m., I don’t have time to stick around to hear the wisdom of Toronto coach Paul Maurice because I have to return to the press box to file my rewrite by 11:05 p.m.
But readers don’t care about our trials and tribulations. So I informally polled three hard-working friends, who never have time for an afternoon game of golf, but regularly attend games down at Air Canada Centre, to see which time they prefer. The results were predictable.
The family man (he has a young son and daughter) whose Bay St. office is a stone’s throw away from Air Canada Centre would like to see games to begin at 7 p.m. Don makes a good point when he says, “the trend is earlier starting times with all forms of entertainment, hockey should do the same.”
He also added that the news used to come on at 11 p.m., but now you can watch programs like CBC’s National at 10 p.m. or an hour earlier on Newsworld.
My other two friends, Kevin and Gary, disagree. They like the 7:30 starts. They both are single (although Kevin alleges he is getting married next summer and we have a pool going on when Gary will become engaged. It’s only a matter of time).
Gary lives out in the sticks, Richmond Hill. His thriving pet food business takes him all over the GTA, but often he is coming from home and has to battle rush hour traffic to get to the rink. He needs the extra time to get downtown.
Kevin is another story. His office is around the corner from Don’s. But also likes the later start, so he can work later (yes, we’re chuckling at this notion). “It gives the real fans some extra travel to get into this beautiful city of ours. Plus, it allows us office guys to work much later in the day to ensure the economy runs fine.” Wow. What a humanitarian.
It should be noted that Kevin also thinks the Leafs have a chance to the win the Cup this year and alleges his handicap is 15 despite smacking his John Daly-like drives.
While winning the Cup remains a dream in Toronto, we hope the Leafs see the light on the earlier start times. Of the 30 NHL clubs, 18 start its weekday matches at 7 p.m.
