You could hear the bottles being popped as the clock struck five on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend at the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, NJ. Not only was this the last long weekend before things around the league ramp up in September, but it was a celebration of another successful August.
While casual sports fans had their attention on baseball, the WNBA, college football starting, or NFL training camps — or, doing the unthinkable and spending time outside, ugh — the hockey-centric sickos had a month of nothing. Or so they thought.
Despite August being known as the month when front offices are closed around the NHL as general managers and other officials retreat to the cottage, the flagship network of the league had to do something to keep its fans engaged.