The NHL Announces Gameday Festivities For Lake Tahoe

Earlier today, the NHL announced several gameday festivities for this weekend’s games at Lake Tahoe. For those of you who don’t know, the NHL will be heading outside this weekend to play two games on the 18th fairway of the Edgewood Tahoe Resort on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights will faceoff Saturday. Then, the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers will play on Sunday. Both games are scheduled to start at 3pm ET. NBC will have the game in the U.S., and Sportsnet and TVA has it in Canada. As for today’s announcement, here’s everything you need to know about it.

Saturday’s Festivities

Opening Ceremony

The NHL has quite the opening ceremony planned for Saturday. To begin, the Avalanche and Golden Knights will arrive at the ice. Then, the national anthem will be performed by 21-year-old South Lake Tahoe native Aurora C. Gooch, who has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic as a collection specialist for a COVID testing company based in Tahoe. Then, Jared Elliot, a U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class, will arrive at the Edgewood pier, dock, and deliver the puck to three frontline workers. Those workers are: Daryl Braga, who’s a charge nurse and lead RN in the emergency department at Barton Memorial Hospital; Miranda Miller, an Activities Director at the Skilled Nursing Facility, which is part of Barton Memorial Hospital; and Dusty R. Gooch, who’s a firefighter and paramedic for the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, and the father of the anthem singer.

The three of them will then present the puck to the officials. In a normal year, they would do a ceremonial puck drop, but COVID-19 protocols unfortunately prevent it this year. Moving on, the ceremony will conclude with a flyover, which will feature one HC-130J and two HH-60G helicopters, which will be flown by members of the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Combined Test Force (CTF) that are stationed at the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

First Intermission

The first intermission of Saturday’s game will be a fun one. The focus will shift away from the ice and towards the lakeside 17th hole of the Edgewood Tahoe golf course. There, the “One Million Dollar Hole-in-One Challenge presented by Bridgestone” will take place. It will feature Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, who will try to recreate a memorable moment. Back in 2011, current Avalanche GM and Hall of Famer Joe Sakic got a hole-in-one there during the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe. So, MacKinnon will try to get one as well, and if he does, the NHL will donate $1 million to the NHL/NHLPA Learn to Play Program.

Second Intermission

During the second intermission, the broadcast will feature the world premiere of “Here Comes the Shock,” which is the newest song from the band Green Day. During the song, a highlight reel of the top plays from the first quarter of the season will play. Following its debut on the broadcast, the song will be available digitally wherever you get your music.

This is all part of the NHL’s two-year, cross-platform, promotional partnership with Green Day. This is the second year of the partnership, and Green Day’s music will be featured by the NHL throughout the rest of the 2020-21 season. 

The most memorable part of this partnership so far has been Green Day’s expletive-filled performance during the 2020 NHL All-Star game. U.S. censors were able to censor most of them, but they were heard all across Canada. Obviously, that wasn’t a good look on a national broadcast of what was supposed to be a family-friendly event (although the memes were fun). But hopefully, this one is a little more like what the NHL is looking for, or at the very least both the U.S. and Canadian broadcasts have delays on them so they can catch anything obscene.

Sunday’s Festivities

Sunday will be a tamer event. Following the arrival of the Bruins and Flyers to the ice, the national anthem will be performed by Grammy-award-winning artists Pentatonix. Then, two T-38 Talon aircrafts, which will be operated by the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (1 RS) that’s assigned to the Beale Air Force Base in California, will do a flyover. Lastly, to close out the pregame ceremonies, South Lake Tahoe natives, Hannah Teter, a three-time Olympic snowboarder, and Maddie Bowman, a two-time Olympic skier, will deliver the game puck to the officials.

There are currently no plans for either intermission of Sunday’s game. So, it won’t be as big of a production as Saturday’s game. But, that’s to be expected since it’s the second day of the weekend. Plus, Gritty will be a part of Sunday’s game. So, he’s sure to do something crazy (likely bigger than him going streaking at the stadium series back in 2019), and that’ll definitely add some additional excitement to Sunday’s game.

Final Thoughts

I am beyond excited for this weekend. The setting is absolutely stunning, and both games are sure to be exciting. This will without a doubt be a highlight of the season, and will be remembered for a long time. The festivities announced today will only add to the excitement of the event. The hole-in-one challenge during the first intermission of Saturday’s game will be particularly fun to watch, especially if he makes it! But, regardless, it’s going to be one incredible weekend for everyone involved and for fans watching at home, and it can’t come soon enough!

-Lydia Murray (@lydia_murray12)

Featured image courtesy of NHL.com.

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