Hockey and Time Zones: Part Two

Back in November, I took a look at how time zones affect the start of hockey games.

I found that for the Avalanche, local time is fairly consistent, usually 7 or 7:30. But because games are all over the country, mountain time varies from 5pm to 8:30.

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Yesterday I was thinking about how a LA-NY series is kind of a nightmare for scheduling. We can start with the idea that a 7pm start time is ideal.

If the game is in LA, a 7pm start time means the NY TV market doesn't start watching until 10pm. That's no good.

If the game is in NY, a 7pm start time means the LA TV market is still at work when the game starts at 4pm. That's no good.

In my head, you have to cater to the local crowd and do your best to accommodate the national TV market.

I figured that means on a weekday, you start the game in LA at 6pm. NY will start watching at 9pm.
In NY, you can start the game at 8pm, LA can start watching at 5pm.

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So what did the NHL decide?

Game 1, 5, 7 on a weekday in LA: 5pm
Game 2 on a weekend in LA: will start at 4pm.
Game 3, 4, 6 on weekdays in NY: will start at 8pm.

I have no problem with the weekend start time. But that's three games in LA that the local crowd has to be there by 5pm.

All the weekday games start at 8pm Eastern which is great for the NY crowd and poor for the LA crowd.

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Just for reference, I thought I would look at the NBA and their start times.

Game 1, 7 on a weekday in San Antonio: 8pm
Game 2, 5 on a weekend in San Antonio: 7pm
Game 3, 4, 6  on a weekday in Miami: 9pm


Since you're looking at Central and Eastern, to me it would seem easy enough to start every game at 8pm Eastern. Instead 5 of the 7 games are at 9pm Eastern. Even the ones in Miami. Perhaps it's better for a national TV audience, but it seems a little late for East Coast watchers, no?