The National Hockey League starts again on January 13th – and SPORT1 + is right in the middle of the new season of the world’s strongest ice hockey league.
As part of a new agreement with the NHL, SPORT1 + will be showing selected live games from the regular season as well as the playoffs and all games in the Stanley Cup Finals on pay TV.
The regular highlight magazine “NHL On The Fly” is also on the program. During the season, selected live broadcasts are also available on free TV SPORT1 planned. Also in this season the German NHL legionaries like Leon Draisaitl, winner of the Hart Trophy 2019/20 as MVP, Philipp Grubauer or Dominik Kahun want to cause a sensation again.
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To start shows SPORT1 + in the night of Thursday, January 14, the duel between Colorado Avalanche with the German goalie Philipp Grubauer and the St. Louis Blues, champion of 2019, live from 4:30 am. This week starts the new NHL season to see a total of six live games.
New Divisions and Rivalries: This is how the NHL season works
The regular season of the NHL this year is to start on January 13th and end on May 8th, afterwards the Stanley Cup playoffs are to begin on May 11th, so that they end on July 9th at the latest. A total of 56 main round games will be played in this shortened season. In addition, the 31 teams will be divided into four new divisions depending on their geographical location.
The Scotia North Division form the seven teams from Canada, while the 24 US teams are assigned to three divisions – the MassMutual NHL East Division, the Discover NHL Central Division and the Honda NHL West Division. In order to minimize travel expenses, the respective teams only compete against teams from their own division in the regular season.
The four best clubs in each division qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which are also played within the division in the first two rounds (# 1 vs. # 4; # 2 vs. # 3). The four teams that advance to the playoff semi-finals will be seeded in the regular season according to their balance sheet. The top-seeded team then meets the fourth-seeded team in one series and number two plays against number three in the other series.
Can Leon Draisaitl build on his dream season?
From a German point of view, of course, it says once more Leon Draisaitl in focus: By winning the Art Ross Trophy for the league top scorer and winning the Hart Trophy for the NHL MVP as the first German, the 25-year-old made his way into the history books last season. As a new teammate, Draisaitl has compatriot Dominik Kahun at his side at the Edmonton Oilers.
Philipp Grubauer (Colorado Avalanche), Thomas Greiss (Detroit Red Wings) and Tobias Rieder (Buffalo Sabers) want to draw attention to themselves again with good performances. Number 3 pick Tim Stützle (Ottawa Senators) is hoping for his NHL debut this season.
Selected live games on SPORT1 +
Get up during the regular season SPORT1 + Selected live games from the NHL with original German or English commentary on the program. The Stanley Cup Playoffs and all Stanley Cup Finals will also be shown live on SPORT1 +. In the course of the season there are also individual live broadcasts on free TV SPORT1 planned. In addition, accompanied SPORT1 the NHL season on its digital platforms SPORT1.de and in the SPORT1 Apps with the latest news and highlight clips.
Has kicked off the 2020/21 NHL season SPORT1 + Six live games in the program this week, including twice the prestigious city derby New York Rangers against New York Islanders and the superstar duel between Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin from the Washington Capitals at primetime on Sunday evening
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