- Oilersnation, CanucksArmy, FlamesNation and The Leafs Nation are all moving under the Daily Faceoff brand
- Nation Network president Jay Downton is throwing a September funeral to send Oilersnation off
- Read below for what changes, what stays, and when each site officially flips over
Four of the biggest team blogs in Canadian hockey are getting new names, and Oilersnation is going out with a funeral.
The Nation Network announced Wednesday that Oilersnation, CanucksArmy, FlamesNation and The Leafs Nation will each become a city vertical of Daily Faceoff. Social accounts and YouTube channels have already flipped. The websites follow over the next few months, with the full switch to Daily Faceoff Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto set for January 2027.
Co-founder and president Jay Downton confirmed the September party in a Q&A with Oilersnation managing editor Zach Laing, and he was not interested in dressing it up.
“There’s been a lot of internal discussion about calling it a funeral, but it wouldn’t be The Nation if we tried to soften it or whatnot. Let’s have fun with it and go over the top and have a goddamn funeral.”
Each market keeps its colors in the new crests. Edmonton stays orange, Toronto stays blue, Vancouver gets green and Calgary gets red, all on the same shield with “Same community. Bigger home.” printed underneath.
Laing also asked Downton what pushed the company toward the change in the first place.
“Well, jokingly enough, we’ve turned 18, and we’re becoming adults, so maybe we have to operate as an adult, and not so much as the wild childs that we’ve been for so long.”
The practical driver is brand confusion. Downton said partners kept asking him how Daily Faceoff, FlamesNation and the Nation Network all connected, and owning the Daily Faceoff name makes pushing into new markets far easier than launching another regional brand nobody has heard of.
None of the coverage is going anywhere. Baggedmilk keeps his Monday mailbags, Jason Gregor keeps his musings, Leafs Morning Take rolls on with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill, and every old article stays live.
Toronto got the same message from managing editor Arun Srinivasan, who wrote that the group is scaling up rather than shrinking, with more road coverage planned this season.
It caps a loud few weeks for hockey media, coming a week after Kelly Hrudey revealed Sportsnet would not renew his contract after 12 years.
Downton closed by looking at where the whole thing started in 2007. The original plan was modest.
“The V1 business plan for the Nation was for Wanye and I, was to be something that could make our car payments, buy our season tickets, and pay for our golf memberships.”
Eighteen years later, the stated mission is to be the number one digital sports media brand in Canada.
