A Brief History on the Thanksgiving Showdown and How the NHL Can Improve It

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The holidays are here, which means time spent with family, friends, food—all the essential F’s. Football is typically included in this, specifically on Thanksgiving Day, but what many folks often forget is the NHL also celebrates Turkey Day with a big game—just not on the same level as the NFL, and not on the actual day of Thanksgiving. 

The NHL’s Thanksgiving Showdown is another item for the list of things the NHL does half halfheartedly, if even right at all. One of the best parts of the holiday season is sitting around and drinking and eating with family and friends. In theory, the idea of an afternoon marquee matchup between two historic teams that don’t like each other very much sounds like the perfect way to spend an afternoon eating leftovers and lounging around with loved ones—especially on a day that isn’t already loaded with NFL or NBA action. Problem is, the NHL doesn’t market it consistently or purposefully. 

Beginning in 2011, the NHL hosted its first Thanksgiving Showdown between the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Over the years, the matchups have changed, but more often than not the games included one, if not both, of the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. In fact, since 2011, the Rangers and Bruins have played each other on the Friday after Thanksgiving a total of four times. That’s not including other years where the Rangers and Bruins played each other on Saturday instead, making it an unofficial Thanksgiving Showdown of sorts.

The Rangers will visit the Boston Bruins again this Friday, making it their fifth meeting on the day after Thanksgiving since 2011.

In total, the Rangers have participated in the Thanksgiving Showdown a total of seven times and have a record of 3-3-1. 

The Rangers first appearance came in 2013 when they took on the Bruins in Boston, falling short by a score of 3-2. Goals from Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead after two but an early third period goal from Patrice Bergeron tied it and a goal from Zdeno Chara gave the Bruins the win.

In 2014, the Rangers took on the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-0 win that featured a Cam Talbot shutout and goals from Dan Boyle, Rick Nash, and, most notably, Martin St. Louis, who picked up his 1,000th career point in the NHL. 

In 2015, the Rangers again fell short to the Bruins in a one goal game, this time by the score of 4-3. The Bruins led 1-0 after the opening period courtesy of a goal from Bergeron. Oscar Lindberg of all people tied it early in the second, and a goal from Nash gave them a brief lead before Brett Connelly made it a 2-2 game heading into the second intermission. Current Rangers captain J.T. Miller gave them another brief lead before future Ranger Ryan Spooner tied it back up for Boston. An unassisted David Krejci goal was the difference maker with less than two minutes to play. 

The Rangers rematched with the Flyers in 2016 where back-to-back goals in less than two minutes gave them a 2-0 lead heading into the second period—Derek Stepan struck first with Rangers legend Matt Puempel scoring the second. (The assist was credited to another Random Ranger, Josh Jooris.) Kevin Hayes made it a 3-0 game in the second before third period goals from Shayne Gostisbhere and Chris Vandevalde (another candidate for “remember that guy?”) pushed the Rangers to the brink as they held on for the win. 

In their third Thanksgiving Showdown with the Flyers, the Rangers were shutout by Calvin Pickard in a 4-0 loss that featured goals from Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Jordan Weal. His empty netter was one of 32 career goals from Weal, who appeared in a total of 218 NHL games. Fun fact: He now plays for HC Dynamo in the KHL alongside former Ranger Fredrik Claesson. 

It was back in Boston in 2019 where goals from Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Unanswered goals from David Pastrnak and Sean Kuraly sent this one to overtime where, once again, David Krejci was the difference maker. Another fun fact: One time Rangers goaltender Jaroslav Halak was in net for Boston and had the secondary assist on the game-winning goal, because of course he did. 

The 2021 rematch was the most recent and memorable one in another outing with the Bruins. The Rangers finally came out on top in this one, putting up five goals on Jeremy Swayman. With the score tied at two after two thanks to goals from Ryan Strome and Dryden Hunt, goals from Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière gave the Rangers a two goal lead before an Jacob Trouba empty-netter sealed the deal. Panarin had two points in this outing but his most memorable moment came from throwing a glove at Brad Marchand from the Rangers bench. 

The NHL could—and absolutely should—put more effort into marketing this and making it a can’t miss day of sports by hosting at least one, if not several, marquee matchups that would draw excitement and entertainment.

The Rangers and Bruins have been mainstays in these official/unofficial showdowns over the years and, as a result, should automatically be the afternoon matchup that day year in and year out—especially with the NHL often advertising this game during the Macy’s Day Parade, featuring alumni of both teams on an NHL float. It’s an easy way to generate interest and excitement on both a local and national scale. 

An idea that’s been floated around by many fans over the years is a day (or days) where the slate of games on the NHL schedule is strictly original six matchups. The day after Thanksgiving would be as great an opportunity as any to do exactly that. The Rangers and Bruins can play in the early afternoon, Maple Leafs and Canadiens in the late afternoon, and the Red Wings and Blackhawks for the nighttime game. Maybe swap the Canadiens and Red Wings if you want to spread out the two teams from Canada, but right there is a simple way to have a day of hockey stand out. 

Maybe you spread it out even more and have it be a full battle of the Eastern Conference throughout the day. Rangers/Bruins, Penguins/Flyers, Islanders/Devils, Hurricanes/Capitals, Leafs/Senators, Lightning/Panthers, Red Wings/Blue Jackets, Sabres/Canadiens. Maybe you just feature American teams since it’s an American holiday? Maybe you pick one other team and have it be a constant loop of matchups between the Rangers, Bruins, Flyers and whoever?

Point is, this is a great opportunity for the NHL to have a day in the sports calendar and should make more of an effort to marketing it.