The Penguins managed to get through the first period of Sunday's game in just about 25 minutes, a pretty rare feat.
What happened? A couple of things -- they were only able to squeeze in one TV timeout with 68 seconds left in the period, and that was because the eight total faceoffs that frame came at inopportune times.
NHL periods are supposed to have three TV timeouts (commercial breaks) -- after each of the first stoppages following 14, 10 and six minutes left on the clock. But there are no TV timeouts immediately following goals, icings or during power plays, and it just worked out that the first stoppage that was eligible for a TV timeout came with 1:08 left on the clock. During TV timeouts, the ice crew skates around and gathers the loose snow with shovels, and so the lack of breaks caused snow to visibly pile up around the ice, especially in the goal creases. I asked Arturs Silovs about that weird period ... and he loved it.
"Oh, yeah, it was the fastest period I've ever seen," he said. "But I was happy about it, you know? It was like, 24-25 minutes, and the first period's gone. I was like, why not?"
THE ASYLUM
How was the first period so fast?
The Penguins managed to get through the first period of Sunday's game in just about 25 minutes, a pretty rare feat.
What happened? A couple of things -- they were only able to squeeze in one TV timeout with 68 seconds left in the period, and that was because the eight total faceoffs that frame came at inopportune times.
NHL periods are supposed to have three TV timeouts (commercial breaks) -- after each of the first stoppages following 14, 10 and six minutes left on the clock. But there are no TV timeouts immediately following goals, icings or during power plays, and it just worked out that the first stoppage that was eligible for a TV timeout came with 1:08 left on the clock. During TV timeouts, the ice crew skates around and gathers the loose snow with shovels, and so the lack of breaks caused snow to visibly pile up around the ice, especially in the goal creases. I asked Arturs Silovs about that weird period ... and he loved it.
"Oh, yeah, it was the fastest period I've ever seen," he said. "But I was happy about it, you know? It was like, 24-25 minutes, and the first period's gone. I was like, why not?"
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!