Page 6ix Wednesday, December 9th: Season Start Date Floodgates!

Howdy friends and gossip mongers. It’s time to take a look at what’s been happening in and around the league this week. While things remain relatively quiet-ish (not for long, we suspect) there is definitely some gossip and drama to discuss.

So we begin, as always, with….

Looks like a few of our favourite boys spent some virtual time with some kids over at Sick Kids hospital recently:

Captain @John Tavares, @Auston Matthews, @Morgan Rielly and @Frederik Andersen, joined by Carleton the Bear, hopefully brought some smiles to some kids faces!

Speaking of AM34, he continues to hang in AZ with Hockey Jesus himself, @Connor McDavid:

And though I do not have a picture of it because it was posted on a private Instagram account, I can confirm that Freddie joined @Jake Muzzin and his family to decorate their Christmas tree. We love when our boys spend quality time together!

Over on the west coast of Canada, there was quite the stir about former Canucks anthem singer performing at an anti-mask rally:

He was, as the word former implies, subsequently informed that his performing contract with the team would not be renewed. It seems ownership took issue with this public support of the “anti-mask” movement.

Looks like we have a season start date! Though still officially unconfirmed, reports suggest that January 13th, 2021 will be the start date of the NHL season:

It would appear that negotiations between the league and the NHLPA calmed and settled, so much so that a start date could be decided on:

Some news, notes, and potential trade rumours from around the league:

Now that a start date has been determined, perhaps the trades and signings will pick back up again? Fingers crossed.

We have mentioned before that this column is not the appropriate space to flesh out more serious topics from the hockey community. However, it would be irresponsible not to acknowledge them at all. These are issues that deserve more attention, space, and thoughtfulness than Page 6ix allows – and I am sure they will be addressed on TLN in the coming days.

Of course, as most of you probably realize, we are talking about the latest charges of abuse within the hockey community:

Hockey culture can be problematic in many ways, and the tweets/articles above speak to that. We urge you to give them a read.

 

On that note, we say goodbye for this week, and look forward to the drama and gossip of the week ahead. Stay well, and don’t forget to check out our Twitter page.