Oilers Play First Of Many 9PM Starts

The Edmonton Oilers are hosting the Vancouver Canucks at 9 p.m. tonight, so fans attending Rogers Place are preparing for a pretty late Saturday night.

It's an unusual start time for a home game, especially with Edmonton scheduled to play seven games at 9 p.m. this season, including two at Rogers Place.

Five of those games fall on Saturdays, with the other home game being against the Chicago Blackhawks in March.

The scheduling has a lot to do with Alberta remaining on daylight saving time year-round, leaving Edmonton just one hour behind Toronto after the clocks changed elsewhere. National television schedules also play a role, as Sportsnet schedules its Saturday broadcasts around games across the country.

A later start lets broadcasters spread their coverage throughout the evening.

A 9 p.m. puck drop means fans will be leaving Rogers Place around 11:30 p.m., assuming the game doesn't go to overtime or a shootout.

For those travelling into Edmonton from surrounding communities, getting home could take considerably longer.

Saturday is probably the easiest day to accommodate a game this late, since most children won't have school the following morning and plenty of adults won't have to work.

It'll be intereseting to see whether the start time will have much effect on attendance.

The Oilers have been drawing strong crowds for years, and a Saturday night game against Vancouver would theoretically attract plenty of interest, regardless of when the puck drops.

Edmonton and Vancouver combined for 27 goals in their first two games this season, including a 9-7 Oilers win, so this was already going to be an entertaining hockey game between these teams.

The Oilers are also looking to recover from Thursday's 5-4 loss to Anaheim, a game where they took eight penalties and gave the Ducks plenty of opportunities to score.

Vancouver arrives having lost four consecutive games, giving Edmonton an opportunity to get back in the win column against a struggling opponent.

Mike Babcock has been asking his players to improve defensively throughout the opening month, and after allowing five goals against Anaheim, there are a few things his team will need to address.

As for the scheduling, there are reasonable arguments for keeping the occasional late Saturday game on the calendar.

The NHL has national broadcasting commitments, and spreading games throughout the evening gives viewers across the country more opportunities to watch.

Still, seven games beginning at 9 p.m. is a considerable number for a team playing in Edmonton, especially when two of them are at home.

Fans attending tonight's game will likely be getting home well after midnight, and those bringing children might have to decide whether the late night is worth it.

At least the Oilers have given everybody a Sunday to recover from it.

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