The NHL’s “Frozen Frenzy” took place yesterday.
If you’re not familiar with the Frozen Frenzy, it’s pretty simple: one day where every team in the National Hockey League plays on the same night. Games are played with staggered start times. The event was created by ESPN, and yesterday was the third time the NHL has had a Frozen Frenzy.
A short while ago, reader Thomas Brennan contacted me and thought it would be fun to create an NHL “Frozen Frenzy” Five and One. I heartily agreed. I’m not sure we’ve ever done an NHL “Five and One,” but with all 32 teams in action last night, he wanted to do a Five and One for all 16 games played.
Here’s Tom. Enjoy!
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Frozen Frenzy Five and One
by Thomas J. Brennan
Last night was the third annual NHL Frozen Frenzy. This is a new tradition that ESPN and the NHL started in 2023, a great showcase a few weeks into each season. All 32 teams are in action, with the main ESPN channel showing a triple header, and their other channels showing the rest of the games along with whip-around coverage from the studio. Start times are staggered every 15-30 minutes, so the first puck drop was at 5PM Central, and the last game ended after Midnight.
With 16 games, there were plenty of choices for a 5&1. I decided to list #5-2 chronologically, leading up to the best game of the night and the unfortunate &1.
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#5
Penguins vs Flyers
Set the Tone Early
The first puck drop of the night was in Philadelphia. An in-state rivalry, two members of the Class of ’67, and two of the best logos in the league.
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#4
Islanders vs. Bruins
Roundel Roundup
The Bruins did very well to simplify their logo this year, while the Isles have a very solid road set.
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#3
Jets vs. Wild
Home Whites!
Some of us are old enough to remember when white sweaters at home were the standard. Last night the Wild pulled out the very colorful throwbacks from their inaugural season. I would have liked this even better against Winnipeg’s regular two-toned blue uniforms, but they looked fine in their WHA alternates.
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#2
Rangers vs. Canucks
Late Scratch
I thought there would always be a place for the Canadiens in any top 5 list, but the Canucks showed up ready to replay the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.
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#1
Red Wings vs. Blues
Best of the Night
We got a hint on Saturday night in Detroit of how good this would look. That was a beauty, and the rematch in St Louis was even better. Visions of Howe and Delvecchio vs the Plager brothers at St Louis Arena back in the day!
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And One
Ducks vs. Panthers
Sorry Champs
This is 75% on the Panthers. A weak set, and now that they’ve won a few Cups in these uniforms, they become very hard to eliminate. Meanwhile, I appreciate the Ducks becoming the orange team of the West, and this is much better than their previous uniforms, but still not great.
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Thanks, TJ! And thanks for suggesting a Five and One for this!
Readers? What do you think of the rankings? Any games you’d have put on the good side or one “bad looking” game besides the Ducks/Panthers?
You know what to do.
