Delivery of 2020-21 season is the perfect Christmas gift for all NHL fans

NHL fans got the best Christmas gift at the most perfect time on Sunday.

It is all systems go for the 2020-21 NHL season after the NHL and the NHLPA reached an agreement on a 56-game season that will start on Jan. 13, 2021.

After weeks and weeks of speculation and a boatload of wide-ranging reports, the reality is that we will finally get a 2020-21 NHL season and it is just a matter of weeks away.

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It was the perfect news to get just days before Christmas and NHL fans can now tuck into their turkey safe in the knowledge that they will be getting to see their favorite team in action in 2020-21.

And that’s the key point here; we all needed yesterday’s blockbuster announcement that sparked sheer jubilation on hockey Twitter.

You don’t need us to tell you that 2020 has been the year from hell thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and we get ready to welcome in a New Year aware that things could get worse before they get better.

We’ve all lost this year whether it has been loved ones, cherished friends, income, jobs, homes and so many more things so dear to us.

The losses suffered this year are still inconceivable and, just as Thanksgiving was, Christmas will be very different this year.

That’s why talking about sports during a Pandemic can seem trivial at best, after all it is just a game and there are far more important issues going on in the world right now.

However, sports is a unique unifying power and it plays such a huge and critical role in so many of our everyday lives.

Unbreakable bonds and life-long friendships are formed through our fandoms for our respective teams, and we are brought together with those we may have nothing in common with.

Sports can also give us a real sense of purpose and that will be the case for all hockey fans, who are so invested in their respective NHL teams.

Watching games and engaging in the latest events around the league can give us all a clear focus, while helping to take our minds off things that may be going on behind closed doors.

Those unique and brilliant qualities that only sports can really create are never more important than now, when we all need a beacon of light to help us through the final few days of what has been one of the toughest and mentally draining years in recent history.

And that’s why the NHL and the NHLPA forging ahead to deliver us a 2020-21 season just before Christmas is so meaningful.

We now have something to really look forward to, something that we can invest in and get excited for in a year where it has been hard to get much enjoyment out of anything.

And there is a lot to get excited about when it comes to the 2020-21 NHL season.

Yes, we will have to accept a shortened 56-game season but it does mean that every single game will matter now in what will be a thrilling sprint to the finish line.

The new-look Divisions throw up some huge and mouthwatering matchups, including nine or 10 Battle of Alberta showdowns between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames in the new North Division, a real clash of the titans showdown between two juggernauts in the West in the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights, while new life has been breathed into the rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers.

We should also be treated to some tantalizing clashes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with some heavyweight bouts guaranteed in the opening two rounds, not to mention that we have a new crop of high-end rookies to feast our eyes on, headlined by New York Rangers stud Alexis Lafreniere who was the No.1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Overall, we can now officially say that we will be getting a 2020-21 NHL season and it all starts in a few weeks, meaning that all hockey fans can now enjoy their Christmas a little bit more knowing that they have one of their true loves back after what has been the toughest of years.

That is what you call a perfect holiday gift.