I’ve Never Been More Jealous Of Canadian Hockey Fans After Hearing About Amazon Prime’s Coast To Coast

I'm a sucker for whip-around coverage of anything. I spent most of my Sundays with Scott Hanson shepherding me through seven hours of commercial-free football, and when the Olympics rolled around this past summer, I was all-in on Gold Zone. 

I was practically getting whiplash going from rugby to archery to basketball and then to trampolining, and I was loving every second of it.

I would watch whip-around coverage of the various Real Housewives if they offered it (and they actually might at this point; who knows?).

Last year, we got Frozen Frenzy from the folks at ESPN, which gave us a night of whip-around goodness with all 32 NHL teams in action. It was — to quote Will Ferrell as late-Inside The Actors Studio and former Parisian pimp (seriously; look it up), James Lipton  — "scrumtrulescent."

However, they only did it once, so, I was pumped when the NHL gave an update on its partnership with Amazon Prime Video, which included the announcement of NHL Coast To Coast, a whip-around-style show that will air every single Thursday throughout the season… but only if you're in Canada.

The NHL and Amazon Prime Video will team up to provide whip-around coverage of NHL games every Thursday... just not in the United States. (Getty images)

I was walking on sunshine, planning my Thursday nights from now until mid-April until I read that little tidbit about Coast To Coast being more exclusive to Canada than Tim Horton's.

Sure, the TV rights situation is different from country to country, but throw us red-blooded American puck fans a bone here! I looked and there are very few Thursdays that feature less than nine games, so imagine being able to park your keester at 7 pm Eastern time and not having to move until around 12:30/1:00 the next morning and getting to see every big play from every game without having to lift a finger.

Guess what? Canadians don't have to imagine it?

Hopefully, when this proves to be massively popular — and it will — the NHL will figure out a way to bring the concept to the US on a regular basis.

In addition to NHL Coast To Coast, the NHL is teaming with Amazon Prime Video for another Canada-only offering — Monday Night Hockey — and the docuseries FACEOFF: Inside the NHL, which is available in the US as well and premieres on October 4.