The NHL's 2024 Global Series games kick off Friday in Czechia. Adam Proteau says it's best for all involved when those games happen in early October instead of November.
The NHL's 2024 Global Series games kick off Friday in Czechia. Adam Proteau says it's best for all involved when those games happen in early October instead of November.
The NHL’s Global Series is set to take place in Czechia from Oct. 4 to 5, when the New Jersey Devils square off against the Buffalo Sabres.
The timing of the series is an improvement on the 2023 edition, which was staged in Sweden from Nov. 16 to 19 and featured the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild.
For many reasons, it makes more sense to hold the European showcase games before the NHL’s regular season begins. For starters, teams are far more likely to play a healthy, complete lineup at the beginning of the year than they are a month into the season, when injuries bite into just about every franchise’s roster. And if you’re trying to put your best foot forward as an entertainment business, you want all hands on deck to put your product in the best spotlight possible.
In addition, the disruption for teams in November for European games is considerably greater than it would be for games at the start of October. Spending time on long flights over the Atlantic Ocean is taxing physically and mentally for players and management. When you’re trying to shoehorn European games into an already-compressed schedule, the opportunities to promote the NHL’s top talent at their peak shrinks considerably.
We’ve always argued that the Global Series is a good idea, but the strategy of staging games as early as possible is the best way to ensure competitive hockey and a must-see product. When you look back at previous global events, you’ll see that there’s no pronounced effect one way or another on teams that travel across the planet, even when the games are played during the regular season.
To wit: the Senators won both of their 2023 Global Series games, but when they came home, they dropped three straight games and 10 of their next 13 games. The Maple Leafs also won both Global Series games last year but returned home and dropped two in a row before winning four of their next five games.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild lost both Global Series games – part of a seven-game losing skid for them. But after dropping two straight games after returning to North America, Minnesota won four in a row and 11 of their next 14. And the Red Wings also lost both Global Series games but came home and won six of their next seven contests.
As you can see, the Global Series games don’t give any team a real advantage. And the lack of advantage for any specific team is another reason the NHL ought to always stage European games at the beginning of the regular season. That way, everyone starts out with a clean slate. From there, the participating teams can give fans an engaging viewing experience and give European players a rare opportunity to compete in their homelands.
The NHL will get another chance to see what in-season European games look like when the Dallas Stars and defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers square off on Nov. 1 and 2 in Finland. It’s definitely worthwhile for the NHL to venture to regions where their brand of hockey is rarely experienced in person. However, there needs to be a best-practice approach that positions games as positively as possible and with the least disruption. That means staging games right out of the gate.
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