December is here.

We’ve gotten a good preview of the month with the early arrival of the cold weather the last couple of weeks and now everyone is in the holiday spirit, right?

Give us a few days in the 60s as a holiday gift, please Mother Nature. But in the meantime, this coming month means a return to the hardwood, return to the rinks, return to the wrestling mats, and much more meaningful pro and college football. Here are some key dates to keeo in mind:

MONDAY DEC. 1 (Today)

A big day and night. Yes, at Gillette Stadium there’s the return of Monday Night Football, this time against the woeful New York Giants. The last MNF Game here was vs. the Bears in Bill Belichick’s last year, and that was a blowout loss.

But the day is a historical one for Nashua. The first ever Nashua school-related girls ice hockey team, the Souhegan-Nashua co-op that is nicknamed the Storm, will have its first official practice at Conway Arena. And, also at the Con will be the first official practice of the Nashua North-South co-op boys hockey team, known as the Nashua Knights.

Plus other hockey and hoop teams all over the area will be starting tryouts/practices. Big day.

TUESDAY, DEC. 2

It’s the Celtics vs. the Knicks at TD Garden, always a biggie. Look for a lot of points to be scored because the Mike Brown Knicks, unlike their Tom Thibodeau-coached predecessors, don’t care a lot about defense, it seems. But they can score.

FRIDAY DEC. 5

The Lakers come to town – another rivalry game for the Celtics. L.A.looks like it’s adjusting well to having Luca Doncic as option numero uno.

SATURDAY, DEC. 6

A big preseason day for local high school girls basketball, the annual Nashua Girls Basketball Preseason Jamboree. A ton of teams competing at both Nashua High School North and South. At South are the Panthers, Alvirne, Merrimack, Milford,Campbell, Concord Manchester Memorial, Exeter, Pinkerton, Trinity. At North are the Titans, Souhegan, Hollis Brookline, Goffstown, Bow, Oyster River, ConVal, Keene, Timberlane and Winnacunnet. Yikes! Quite an undertaking.

SUNDAY, DEC. 7

There’s no Patriots game on this day – they’re on a bye – so how about the opening meet for some local high school swim teams? Hollis Brookline, Merrimack, Nashua North and South will be competing at 9 a.m.at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10

It’s high school wrestling’s Opening Night, with the feature match being Nashua South hosting Bishop Guertin at 6 p.m., usually in the auxiliary gym. See you there.

FRIDAY, DEC. 12

It’s Opening Night for local high school boys and girls basketball, the scrimmages are done. Check your favorite school’s schedule, but some highlights: Kyle Tave’s debut as the new Nashua North boys coach will be at Pinkerton; there’s a boy-girl doubleheader at the Bishop Guertin Colligadome with Concord vs. the boys at 5:30 and Concord Christian the girls opponent at about 7:30.

SATURDAY, DEC. 13

A day of history at Hooksett’s Tri-Town Arena. That is where, at 2:30 p.m., the Souhegan-Nashua girls hockey team will make its official debut vs. host Pinkerton Academy.

SUNDAY, DEC. 14

The Patriots return from their bye with a biggie, the Buffalo Bills coming to Gillette. Question is, will the game be flexed to a later time? The general concencus has been it would stay a 1 p.m. game, but we’ll see. The way the Bills have been playing, that probably is the case. Stay tuned.

MONDAY DEC. 15

Boys hockey opens up with last year’s Division I runnerup, Bishop Guertin, hosting St. Thomas at Skate 3 at 4 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 17

History will be made with the first official game for the Nashua Knights facing off vs. Bedford on the road Saint Anselm College’s Sullivan Arena at 7 p.m. May see you there.

FRIDAY, DEC. 19

Not too many hoop teams are playing on this night – except BG and Bedford, against each other in a doubleheader starting with the girls game at 6:30 p.m. and the boys to follow at 8.

Also it’s the first night of the National College Bowl Subdivision Playoffs, the 12-team event, with the first round this night and on Saturday.

SATURDAY, DEC. 20

The first boys-girls hockey doubleheader at Conway Arena for Nashua teams, the Knights (boys) vs. the Manchester Kings at 2:10 p.m. and the Storm (girls) vs. Manchester at 4:20.

SUNDAY, DEC. 21

The New England Patriots are at the Baltimore Ravens, but at what time? If the Ravens keep winning, we have a good feeling this game could get flexed from its 1 p.m. start to … Sunday night. Unless CBS protected it, which, given the Patriots low image coming into the season, is unlikely. Plan accordingly.

TUESDAY, DEC. 23

The Montreal Canadiens visit the TD Garden for what is the Bruins fourth game at home in six nights. The brutal stretch starts with the Edmonton Oilers here on Dec. 18, so you can add that date if you want.

THURSDAY, DEC. 25

Remember the days when there was no sports worth watching on Christmas Day? Well, that’s all changed, with the NBA having five games from noon on, and the NFL having three. The Celtics were spared this year but Netflix and Amazon got into the NFL act and there’s a tripleheader: Cowboys at Commanders at 1 and Detroit at Minnesota at 4:30, both NetFlix, then Amazon gets the best one, Denver at Kansas City at 8:15 p.m. (Hey, it is a Thursday night, right?). Have a Merry.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, DEC. 27-28

It’s the annual Nashua Holiday Basketball Tournament, featuring on the boys side Nashua North, South, Milford and Souhegan, and on the girls side, North, South, Milford and Alvirne. The event this year is at Nashua High School North.

MONDAY DEC. 29-WEDNESDAY DEC. 31

The good news is there’s no overlap between the basketball and hockey tourneys in Nashua. The “bad” news is there’s New Year’s Eve hockey, as the annual Backyard Brawl at Conway Arena will feature four co-op or tri-op teams: the Nashua North-South co-op, Alvirne-Milford, Timberlane-Pelham and host Merrimack-Hollis Brookline-Derryfield. Everybody plays everybody, doubleheaders each day, Monday through Wednesday.

See you there and Happy New Year.

(Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X @Telegraph _TomK.)