NHL Announces “RedZone” for Hockey called “Frozen Frenzy”

We all love to sit down on a Sunday afternoon at 1 o’clock and hear the one and only Scott Hanson scream “7 HOURS OF COMMERICAL FREE FOOTBALL STARTS NOW” at us. Redzone has been a fan-favorite since its initial release on September 13th, 2009.

Now the NHL will take the theme of Redzone and implement their own “Frozen Frenzy” on October 24th.

In all honesty, I’m surprised it took this long for the NHL, NBA, MLB, or any other sports league to at least try and trail what the NFL did in any way. People can not go through Sundays without having Redzone on the TV (I am one of them). It quickly became a necessity for fans.

Now the NHL has a chance to make the “Frozen Frenzy” their thing. Every goal, power play, and hit will be shown, and John Buccigross is set to be your host.

The first game will be Toronto vs. Washington at 6:00pm and the last game (of course!) will be the Flyers heading into the defending Stanley Cup Champions building at 11:00pm.

I was going to be quick to complain that the Flyers are the team that plays at 11pm, but honestly, it’ll give me a solid chance to take in the “Frozen Frenzy”. If the Flyers came on earlier I wouldn’t be able to immerse myself in the Frenzy fully, so I’m going to shut my mouth.

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If this can do well and stick with fans, this is a huge win for the NHL. They need to find different and creative ways to market this sport and this would be a huge way to get that ball rolling. What causal fan isn’t going to get excited when all they’re watching are power plays, big hits, and goals?

Maybe Buccigross himself will turn a few people away with the way he can seem to go over the top sometimes. He’s definitely not for everyone so I’m interested to see how he walks the line from trying to be engaging and exciting to just seeming like he’s trying too hard.

Either way, hockey fans are quick to shit on the NHL (rightfully so) but this time, they made a good decision. If it doesn’t work out, hey at least you tried something cool. If it does? It grows the game.

October 24th can’t come soon enough!

Mandatory Credit:  Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports