Happy December 24th everyone, or Christmas Eve for those who do holiday things today like frantically trying to find an emergency to use to duck out of the office potluck and secret Santa.

I am not a Christmas person, so you are, sadly, not going to get a lot of holiday focus from me. I enjoy the little break from hockey, and I like the fact that NHLers, many of whom have small children, get three days off where they relearn how to talk without f-bombs every other word. The Leafs come back on Friday in Detroit, which means players don't have to report to Toronto, they can show up in Detroit at (going from memory) 2 pm. It might be 5 pm. I'm taking a CBA holiday, so look it up if it's really important to you.

Boxing Day, also known as Thursday is when the WJC starts, and there will be a post up that morning with the basics to remind everyone of how it works. Easton Cowan has been himself in the tune-up games, so it would be great if a Leafs prospect dominated the tournament.

The Marlies play the Boxing Day game as Scotiabank against Belleville at 2 pm. By the time you read this there likely will be not tickets left, but resellers are out there.

The PWHL is also off until the 27th and the Sceptres play Boston at home at the Coke Can at 7 pm and at time of writing there were quite a few tickets on Ticketmaster from resellers at some mildly eye-popping prices.

The Spengler Cup in Davos Switzerland starts on the 26th as well, and the easiest way to follow the games is Team Canada's website. There's lots of former Marlies, and the current captain, Logan Shaw. The other teams are always full of loans so there will be familiar names there too. Joe Thornton is the GM for Canada, and that's how you spend the Christmas break with your in-laws. I'm sure none of them are surprised he found some hockey games close to hand.

TSN broadcasts the Spengler Cup, and if you scroll down on the page linked below, you can find the times and which flavour of TSN the game is on. Also the full WJC schedule is handily there for you as well.

Canadian Hockey on TSN National Broadcast Schedule | TSN
Check out TSN’s national broadcast schedule, with more tournament coverage to follow.
TSN

In NHL news from yesterday, the Leafs laid an egg, but the Rangers went ostrich sized with theirs:

Sabres snap 13-game losing streak with win over Islanders
At long last, the Buffalo Sabres have won a hockey game.
Sportsnet.caAssociated Press
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