A common trope in media coverage of matinee games in the NHL is that the players don’t like them because it disrupts their routine. At the outset of this afternoon’s game, Jamie McLennan explained to Chris Cuthbert on the TSN broadcast how he always hated afternoon games when he was in the NHL. If a team starts slowly on a Saturday afternoon, you won’t have to look too hard to find folks willing to blame the start time.
If this particular edition of the Ottawa Senators hates early starts, they sure didn’t show it early on today.