Oilers face new reality as Alberta's time change brings challenges

LOS ANGELES — Well, Oilers fan. We hope you enjoyed that California road trip, with its 8 or 8:30 p.m. Edmonton start times.

Because from here on in, nine is going to have to be fine. And they might even do you dirty with the odd 9:30.

When the clocks don't change on Nov. 1, for the first time in our collective lifetime, our favourite winter pastime — watching our local National Hockey League team — will change as well.

Game time changes at home. Games in California and Seattle (but not in Vancouver) start an hour later than they used to.

A couple of 9 o’clock starts for Saturday Night Hockey games in Edmonton. And a bunch of Saturday afternoon matinees that we never used to get, a welcome spin-off from a provincial policy that was announced in late April, and likely caught the NHL schedule maker by surprise.

“The league had obviously begun the scheduling process when that happened,” said Oilers assistant general manager Bill Scott. “and at the end of the day, TV ends up dictating our game times anyhow.

“Whether it's Toronto or Montreal that they want on in prime time, we're going to be (scheduled) in different slots. Then, it’s how many Canadian teams are playing that night? Where are they geographically?

“We give TV our requests on when we would like to have our start times, but television ends up dictating it.”

So, what are going to notice the most when the time change doesn’t happen on Nov. 1?

• The Oilers have two 9 p.m. starts at home, both Saturdays — Nov. 7 v. Vancouver, and March 6 v. Chicago — but five road games where fans will have to wait until at least 9:08 Edmonton time for puck drop.

• There are 11 games — five at home, six on the road — with start times of 8 or 8:30 p.m. MT

• Here’s a switch: Four Saturday games at Rogers Place, two at 2 p.m. and two at 2:30 p.m., start times that are unheard of for the Oilers on a Saturday.

Just so you know, players, the training staff, sports writers… We all love day games.

No morning skate, one trip to the rink, and home for dinner with the family.

But a team’s financial department hates day games, especially on a Saturday.

Why? Because people don’t eat and drink nearly as much for a day game as they would on a Saturday night.

Sure, more kids can come to a Saturday afternoon game. But kids don’t have money, and kids don’t buy $20 beers.

It’s the 9 p.m. starts that have the Oilers organization maneuvering to make sure they get their sleep cycles in order. Because hockey people are creatures of habit, and this is something altogether new.

“It's different,” mused Oilers centre Jason Dickinson. “You’ve got to adjust your preparation, change your nap time... Everything gets pushed back a little bit, and the day just feels soooo long. At the end of the day, the preparation is still the same. It’s just the time on the clock that’s different.”

“You have to move everything back a little bit,” said Trent Frederic. “Maybe go to bed a little bit later the night before, take your nap a little bit later. I haven't done a 9 o’clock start before, so maybe it will be a little trial and error on the first one. But I think I'm just going to move the clocks back and get my head thinking that when I wake up from my nap I’ll do the same routine, so the time doesn't even matter.”

The macro issue of the changing time zone affects the Oilers’ travel — especially the decision on whether to fly home from a road trip immediately after the final game. You don’t want to arrive home at 3 a.m. MT, have your players get to bed at 4 a.m. MT, and then get woken up by the kids at 8 a.m. MT.

The Oilers are looking at their schedule and asking themselves: Maybe we should just stay over, get a proper sleep, and fly home the next day?

“With California, we never flew home after a game, anyways. We lose the hour, and then it's a three- to three-and-a-half-hour flight. You were getting in too late,” explains Scott. “The trips where it plays a factor now are, you're in St. Louis: It's supposed to be a one-hour time difference. You're supposed to gain an hour (coming home). Now, you don't gain an hour, but it's a four-hour flight back.

“Before, we’d fly home and get in at two o'clock, 2:30 M.T. in the morning. Now you're getting at three, 3:30 M.T. in the morning. That's not great,” he said. “And if it's Philly (ET), now you're only grabbing back one hour instead of two. You come home from Colorado, it used to be the same time. Now you lose an hour. (East of Edmonton) is where it's had more of an influence, I would say.”

So, it’s a trade-off.

More of the day games that players love, but a few later nights — and an extra few days on the road that you didn’t have in years past.

Of course, Mike Babcock isn’t falling over himself looking for excuses.

Just tell him when the game starts, and get the heck out of his way.

“To me, all that's noise or outside stuff that doesn't even matter,” Babcock said. “You’ve got to eat a meal, and you’ve got to have a nap, and you’ve got to get ready to play. You’ve got to be ready to go (no matter) timing.

“Every team in the league does it. So get used to it.”