Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Columbus Blue Jackets fans have finally gotten their wish: the Blue Jackets will now play the majority of their games in the Eastern Time Zone. Gone will be the many nights of brewing coffee at 9pm for a late West Coast game and counting the hours until you have to be to up for work. With most CBJ games now ending around the much more reasonable 9:30-10 PM, what will you do with that extra time? Maybe some will catch up on a decade of lost sleep, or catch up on some reading. If you are really into your hockey though, you may want to forgo all of the above mentioned activities and catch some of the late night NHL action. Game Center Live and NHL Center Ice have now made it possible for fans to catch every NHL game (blackout restrictions always apply) and not miss out on any of the action. With so many West Coast games to choose from, it may be difficult to decide which one is worth a watch. Therefore, I present to you my Top 5 Late Night NHL Viewing Teams. Some of the criteria considered include: aesthetics (if you are going to burn the midnight oil, might as well have some nice uniforms to look at), star power/personnel of interest (you will want to see some of the best the NHL has to offer), and background story surrounding the team. I also wanted to avoid teams that you will have several opportunities to see on NBC throughout the NHL season.