Are you ready for some (virtual) hockey?
The NHL Player Gaming Challenge — a four-week “NHL 20” competition — kicks off Thursday with two Week 1 matchups and continues Saturday with one additional matchup. All 31 NHL teams have at least one player representing them in the virtual competition; Seattle’s future franchise is represented by Seahawks tight end Luke Wilson.
Electronic Arts, the company response for “NHL 20,” and the NHL Foundation are donating a combined $100,000 to support COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts.
Here’s the full Week 1 schedule:
Game 1: Noah Hanifin and Matthew Tkachuk (CGY) vs. Brady Tkachuk (OTT) — Thursday at 5 p.m. ET
Game 2: Stephen Johns and Jamie Oleksiak (DAL) vs. Zach Aston-Reese & Bryan Rust (PIT) — Thursday at 5 p.m. ET
Game 3: Filip Forsberg (NSH) vs. J.T. Compher (COL) — Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.
And here’s every participant:
Take a peek at all the players participating in the NHL Player Gaming Challenge, presented by @Honda! #HockeyAtHome
New streams every Thursday at 5p ET & Saturday at 3p ET. pic.twitter.com/2SfI7xxUEd
— NHL (@NHL) April 29, 2020
NBC Sports Network will air each matchup on TV. Fans have a variety of options to live stream the games, but the NHL’s official Twitch account is the easiest.
When there aren’t Player Gaming Challenge matchups taking place, the NHL Twitch page regularly features NHL players playing games like “Call of Duty” in their living rooms. That’s pretty cool, if you ask us.
Here’s how to watch Week 1 of the NHL Player Gaming Challenge Online:
When:Â Thursday, April 30 at 5 p.m. ET and Saturday, May 2 at 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBC Sports Network
Live stream: Twitch l NBC Sports
