Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau to Take Part in NHL Player Gaming Challenge

To pass the time while the season remains on pause, the league has announced the creation of its first-ever player gaming challenge.

In an effort to not only provide fans with unique content during this time, while promoting esports initiatives, the NHL announced that it will start its four-week NHL tournament on April 30.

All 31 clubs will have at least one representative at the games, while Seattle – the NHL’s newest franchise – will also have a representative of their own to take part in the festivities. The NHL Player Gaming Challenge will release weekly matchups, storylines, and broadcast details at the beginning of each week, once the tournament kicks off.

In addition to all the fun and excitement that it’s going to draw between the players and the fans, donations will be made by the National Hockey League Foundation and Electronic Arts – a combined $100,000 in support of the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 relief efforts. As the tournament progresses, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise if a number of the players who are competing decide to personally donate.

For the Florida Panthers, star forward Jonathan Huberdeau will act as the lone representative for the club. As evident by his recent Instagram stories, Huberdeau has practiced on his console while at home, hopefully serving as an advantage when the games officially begin.

Fans can stream the games through the NHL’s various social media channels: Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Premiere, and NHL.com. Along with that, fans can always view their preferred games through NBC Sports (first series of games), Sportsnet ONE (select episodes), as well as Sportsnet.ca and Sportsnet NOW (all games made available). NHL Network will also air all matches on its on-air programming and Twitch channel.

All fans alike can follow along and interact during the event by using the hashtag #HockeyAtHome on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch. The games, while fun, encourage fans to practice safe social distancing, reminding everyone to stay at home.

NHL Vice President of Business Development and Innovation, Chris Golier, expanded on this by saying, via NHL.com:

"“Over the past several weeks, the NHL, its Clubs and player community have been very active with gaming initiatives in an effort to connect with fans while social distancing – such as charity tournaments, simulated games and nightly streams. The NHL Player Gaming Challenge presented by Honda will take gaming to another level. We know how competitive our players are, and coupled with the interaction between players, these series of competitions will be extremely fun to watch.”"

While the ultimate goal behind all of this is to provide the fans with new, engaging content to tie themselves over with during this hiatus, it also provides the players a chance to interact (and compete) against their fellow colleagues, bringing back a level of competition that’s been missed since hockey stopped.

We wish everyone competing in this event good luck, but more than the others, we wish our very own, Jonathan Huberdeau, the very best of luck as he looks to make a name for himself at this tournament. As difficult as it may be, continue to practice safe social distancing prior to the start of the NHL Player Gaming Challenge, which will make quarantine a more enjoyable experience.