The Frozen Frenzy is a day where all 32 NHL teams play in conjunction with an ESPN whiparound. It was on Tuesday, October 28, for the 2025-26 season, the third year of the show. Following the NFL RedZone model, John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes show viewers as many goals as possible for eight hours. The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun says that the NHL may want to change the Frozen Frenzy for the next edition.
“Nothing is decided for sure yet, but talks are already underway to tweak the Frozen Frenzy for next season,” LeBrun reported. “All 32 teams played on Tuesday, with each start time staggered by 15 minutes. It’s a neat day on the NHL calendar. But it certainly hasn’t pleased everyone. A few team executives complained to me about it this week, noting the later start times aren’t ideal for their market and fan bases.”
“My prediction is that the league will alter the Frozen Frenzy in two ways: 1. They will have it later in the season. It wasn’t great that it went head-to-head with Game 4 of the World Series, especially with most of Canada watching the Blue Jays, not hockey. Sure, that might be a one-off, but why go head-to-head with the World Series anyway? 2. It wouldn’t surprise me if the next Frozen Frenzy is held on a weekend, when the start times can more easily be staggered from the afternoon on.”
The Frozen Frenzy could be on a Sunday after the NFL is over, and have games all day long. But instead, they went up against the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. The schedule was made long before the Jays won the pennant, of course, but it still was not fantastic planning.
The NHL should try to create something unique and memorable with the Frozen Frenzy. Will fans always just watch their team? Or will they watch the whip-around coverage?
