"Will not be an award show" - NHL to reportedly cancel major event from their annual schedule

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Cooper Godin
October 21, 2024 (8:37)

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National Hockey League may reportedly axe a key event from their annual schedule, starting this season.

In recent years the National Hockey League's annual awards show, which is held in between the last game of the Stanley Cup Final and first round of the Entry Draft, hasn't been that big of a hit among fans.

Back in June, the NHL enlisted the help of comedian Matt Friend to host the annual awards show and his performance didn't sit well with too many fans watching on television.

Even the players weren't having it, especially Nikita Kucherov, who Matt Friend tried to impersonate during a segment on the show where the Lightning forward barely cracked a smile. The whole segment was quite awkward to say the least.

Well, it looks like fans can say goodbye to those awkward moments and the NHL Awards show as we've known it for many, many years. During the Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman shared that the NHL is looking at alternative ways to hand out their awards starting in 2025 and that an awards show won't take place this season.

"The word is this year that there will not be an award show per se," Friedman said. "What the league is looking at, in combination with the player's association, is what else can they do that's interest, what else can they do to make the awards special?"

Friedman then shared a couple of possibilities that the NHL could look at doing for handing out the awards, one of which would see the player receive their trophy before a game so they can get an ovation from the fans in attendance. Another option could be what Friedman described as a 'viral moment', such as surprising the playing with their trophy and informing them that they're this year's recipient.

"There'll be a press conference earlier in the day, and then at the beginning of the game, the trophy will be brought out, and the player can celebrate and get a big ovation from the fans," Friedman said.

He added, "One of the other things they're talking about is can they create viral moments. Like maybe surprising the player somewhere with the trophy."

We'll have to wait and see what the NHL and NHLPA decide to do regarding the awards, but it's safe to say this will be a welcoming change for the fans and even the players. The league was likely losing money by hosting an awards show every year and viewership on television likely wasn't very great either.