Here we are, into the holiday season of another year. This is not a time of year that everyone enjoys so luckily there is plenty of sport on the betting sites for us all to enjoy if Auntie Jean and the click of her knitting needles are just too much to take! Get out of the house and watch something fresh and live rather than Christmas Vacation or The Grinch for the 100th time!
Taking in some live sport with (or without) the family is a great way to spend some time and we have a guide to the best of the action that you can head down to over the Christmas and New Year period all across Canada.
There are a host of games across Canada over the holiday period. Five of the seven Canadian clubs will have games at home during the week from Christmas to New Year so there is plenty of hockey to enjoy.
Two home games for the Leafs over the Christmas period with both the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes making visits to Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs are 1-1 with the Sens this season, losing 6-3 on their own ice on November 8 but winning in Ottawa 5-4 on December 7. They also have a game away at the Columbus Blue Jackets on the 29th.
December 27 V Ottawa Senators 7:00 PM EST
December 30 V Carolina Hurricanes 7:00 PM EST
The Bell Centre will be without NHL hockey over Christmas (Cirque Du Soleil are in town) with the Habs in warmer climes as part of a seven-game road swing that includes Carolina, both Florida teams and the Dallas Stars. Leafs fans will be hoping that they can soften up the Canes for them when the Habs head to Raleigh on December 28.
It’s been another tough season for fans in Ottawa but they have a couple of home games over the festive period to hopefully bring some Christmas cheer as well as the already-mentioned game on the road at Toronto. There is also a Christmas Eve visit from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The New Jersey Devils are the first to visit, another team who have not had things going right for them so far this season. The final day of 2023 brings the Buffalo Sabres to town. They left with a 6-4 win in October after a game that got very spicy late on, this one is not to be missed.
December 29 V New Jersey Devils 7:00 PM EST
December 31 V Buffalo Sabres 6:00 PM EST
Only one home game between Christmas and New Year but there are trips to Chicago on December 27 and Minnesota on December 31 for a couple of relatively local road games, or as close as local gets up here! The Minnesota one is day two of a home and home with the Wild heading into the Canada Life Centre the day prior.
December 30 V Minnesota Wild 1:00 PM CST
Two home games for the Flames as they look to end 2023 with a hot streak. The first is against the Seattle Kraken, a team that they are 2-0 against this season. A 6-3 win on November 4 and a 4-3 overtime success on November 20 both came on the road so fans will have every hope of winning again on home ice. A first clash with the Flyers comes on New Year’s Eve. The road team won the two clashes last season with Dennis Gilbert dropping the gloves in the first period in both games.
December 27 V Seattle Kraken 7.30 PM MST
December 31 V Philadelphia Flyers 6:00 PM MST
The Oilers are the second Canadian team who will not have a game on home ice over the Christmas period (Cirque Du Soleil again with a different show), instead on a road swing through California. That will be a testing trip for a team who have looked much improved under Kris Knolach. Their first home game will be on January 2 with the Philadelphia Flyers coming to town.
Goals continue to flow for the Canucks, the highest-scoring team in the NHL. They have a three-game home stand but it is well spaced out so they only have a single game on the week between Christmas and New Year when the Flyers come to town on their western Canada swing. They also have a game on Christmas Eve when the San Jose Sharks are in Vancouver, a team that the Canucks beat 10-1 on the road in their first meeting but lost 4-3 on their second visit to California.
December 28 V Philadelphia Flyers 7:00 PM PST
There is always lots of action on the court over Christmas with the Christmas Day games always proving to be popular.
The Raptors are just about keeping their head above water at this stage of the season, still clinging onto the coattails of those who are looking to push into a playoff spot. 8-8 at home has been solid enough, it’s the 3-8 record on the road and the 0-7 against their own division that are the concerns. A game just before Christmas at home on December 23 against the Jazz comes before a three-game road swing to close out 2023.
Jan 1 V Cleveland Cavaliers 07:30 PM EST
We are still very close to the start of the season so things have not really started to settle down yet. Four Canadian teams have home games between Christmas and New Year so there is a good level of lacrosse action to get stuck into.
A perfect 2-0 to kick off their season, they are home to the 1-2 Wings who have not looked all that great offensively so far this season. By contrast, the Thunderbirds have put up 17 at home to Saskatchewan and 14 away at New York.
December 29 V Philadelphia Wings
A win over Philadelphia in their only home game so far this season, their visitors are off to a very disappointing 0-2 start, both of those games coming at home. Perhaps being on the road will take off some of the pressure on the Riptide but the Rock will be expected to send the home fans happy here.
December 30 V New York Riptide
It has been a rough start for Calgary, a 14-13 loss on the road at Rochester in their opening game of the season before a 12-9 defeat in San Diego. They should enjoy being at home for the first time this season and their opponents are a weak side in defence which should be music to the ears of Roughnecks fans.
December 30 V Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Beaten in Halifax in the opening game of the season, they went under 16-14 at home to Rochester before getting their first win on the board against Vegas in the desert. That was a 17-5 drubbing so they should have plenty of confidence after that ahead of a clash with the 3-0 Albany Firewolves who will be delighted with their flying start to the season.
December 31 V Albany Firewolves
Sometimes at Christmas, all we want to do is sit at home with our feet up and just watch sports on the television. There is a huge array that we have on our screens to enjoy over the final week of the year.
Week 16/17 intertwines over this calendar week with a triple-header of games on Christmas Day itself closing out the week 16 action. The Las Vegas Raiders travel to the Kansas City Chiefs for the first of those before the Philadelphia Eagles play host to the New York Giants as they look to put their season back on track. The beaten Super Bowl finalists from last season started out 10-1 but have lost three games in a row to cause some concerns in the City of Brotherly Love. The games are finished off with the clash of the week that has the Baltimore Ravens travelling to San Francisco to take on the 49ers. Both teams are 11-3 and are the number one seed in their respective conferences so this should be an absolute cracker of a game.
Week 17 is the second to last week of the regular season and it opens with the New York Jets playing the Cleveland Browns on December 29. The Detroit Lions try to become the first team to beat the Cowboys in Dallas on Saturday evening, December 30 before a glut of games on New Year’s Eve.
The Miami Dolphins are in Baltimore to take on the Ravens is the pick of the early games but the New Orleans Saints at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be worth keeping an eye on with the destination of the NFC South title still to be decided.
Another home game for the Chiefs over Christmas has the Cincinnati Bengals come visiting in the best of the late games before the final NFL game in 2023 will see the Green Bay Packers in Minnesota to play the Vikings in an NFC North matchup where both teams are clinging onto their playoff hopes at the time of writing behind the division-leading Lions.
There are 18 games in the Premier League that will be streamed in Canada from December 26 to December 31 as the division heads to the halfway point of the season. It all starts on Boxing Day where there are five games over the course of the day, beginning at 07:30 AM EST with Newcastle hosting Nottingham Forest. A relegation contest will see Luton play Sheffield United while at the top end of the table, high-flying Aston Villa will head to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United at 3:00 PM EST.
Three games on December 27 include the defending champions Manchester City on the road to face Everton at 03:15 PM EST. Half an hour earlier there is a London Derby game as Chelsea play host to Crystal Palace.
Arsenal has two home games over the period and both of them are London Derbies. They will welcome West Ham on December 28 in a match that starts at 3:15 PM EST. On December 31 they head to West London to take on Fulham, an earlier start here with a 09:00 AM EST kick-off.
The busiest day is December 30 with six games on the slate. Chelsea travels to Luton, Aston Villa hosts Burnley, Crystal Palace plays at home against Brentford, Manchester City is at the Etihad to play Sheffield United, Wolves will take on Everton and Manchester United will head to Nottingham Forest.
The NCAA action does not stop over Christmas and for those who enjoy looking out for the next stars of the sport before their mates, these are ideal games to be watching. In football, it is bowl season starting with the Cotton Bowl on December 29 where #9 Missouri will take on #7 Ohio State.
The busiest day is December 30 which sees three bowl games on the slate. The Peach Bowl will see #11 Ole Miss playing #10 Penn State. The Music City Bowl has Auburn playing Maryland while the Orange Bowl has #6 Georgia taking on #4 Florida State.
Hockey is not being left out in the cold over Christmas with a number of contests to watch including Providence taking on Brown on December 30 and Harvard playing UConn on December 31.
We are still a long way from March Madness but the NCAA basketball season is in full swing already with USC taking on Oregon on December 28 and Virginia State playing Wake Forest on December 30 amongst others.
Whatever your plans are, we hope you enjoy and from all at FatGambler, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
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