Now more than ever, the NHL is going to great lengths to please those that pay for its television rights.

Games are being played whenever it's most convenient for the carriers of the game, and not for the fans or for the players. In the lower leagues, hockey arenas don't even bother to use the TV excuse – they just schedule whatever concerts they can get in there and make the team work around it.

And thus, afternoon games were born.

Thank heavens. As a player, I LOVED those day games.

I can't explain why I played so much better that time of day, but I suspect it has something to do with my inability to nap, which is an odd, seemingly unconnected event that always left me feeling a tad more sluggish than my well-rested opponents.

Just as it affected my quality of play – fortunately, in a positive manner – I'm sure it affects those in the NHL today.

I don't see how any player could hate on them. From wake-up to waffles, to a brisk walk, I'd be headed to the rink for a game with a mountain-sized cup of coffee thinking, "Let's get to ‘er!"

I thrived those mornings, so full of excitement that I couldn't wait for the game to start. It was just like being a kid playing out on the ponds for hours before Mom called you in for dinner.

There was always less fanfare and less ruckus (which I would hate for a night game, but during the day made it easy to concentrate, like a golf shot).

The night games always felt a little more like a job. There seemed to be a production surrounding the whole affair, with popcorn, sponsor gimmicks, interviews and radio crews. It just never seemed as pure. I never had a problem with night games; I loved them too. I just never felt quite as alive at that hour.

This weekend, a few contests in each series will be day games. With that comes a curious new factor in predicting a victor.  Who knows which teams have the most morning people, and who's got the most night owls?

One would think that the teams with the older players would fare best during earlier games, since the young bucks usually prefer to sleep in. Maybe they can catch a team like that off-guard. Heck, if you're the Vancouver Canucks, you should be lobbying for ZERO day games since half your Shane O'Brien-led team may still be half-in-the-bag from the night before.

If old people truly are more likely to be morning people (and I think a lot of teenagers would agree with that statement), then maybe we'll see some of the best work during these playoffs out of guys like Rob Blake, Hal Gill and Chris Pronger.

The early bird gets the worm, we're told. I've got a pretty good feeling we'll see solid games out of those over-30-year-old early birds this weekend.

And why not? Day games rule.

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