Quick note: I'm not counting Canadian stations in my national TV musings. NHL Network and NBC and its affiliates are the only stations I'm recognizing.
Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks go through a brutal stretch between November 14 and December 7: they play four back-to-back games with at least one of those games being on the road. They also finish off with four of their last five games being against divisional opponents in two back-to-back games.
Boston Bruins: The Bruins start their season very slow in the first month or so. Starting in March, it is utterly ball-busting: they play eight back-to-backs, three of which are right next to each other.
Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres are on national television five times in their first eleven games. It makes sense, they probably aren't going to be very good. And yet, starting on January 27, six of their next thirteen games are on the tube (though, most of those games seem to be setting them up for the slaughter: five of them are against 2013 playoff teams).
Calgary Flames: The Flames suck. They've sucked for years. They finally admitted this year that they suck. As such, I find it amusing that they're on national TV a whopping one time in the US this upcoming season (February 8 at the Flyers if you're interested, which you're not).
Carolina Hurricanes: If the Hurricanes want to be better than last year's team, they'll have to work for it: they have the second most back-to-back games in the league next year, a whopping 19.
Chicago Blackhawks: As defending Stanley Cup champions, they Blackhawks are obviously on national TV a lot (32 times, nearly 40% of their schedule). So if you want to see the Blackhawks, you'll have plenty of chances.
Colorado Avalanche: Pretty balanced schedule; they're tied with the fewest back-to-backs (10), they play just 11 games in October, and never play more than 14 in a given month. Also, they don't have any road trips that exceed 4 games. This is the kind of schedule a rebuilding team prays for.
Columbus Blue Jackets: The Blue Jackets barely missed the playoffs last year, and switched conferences this year. We'll see if they can build on the momentum from last year early: 17 of their first 20 games are against 2012-13 playoff teams.
Dallas Stars: The Stars move to the Central Division, which makes far more geographical sense than when they were in the Pacific. But they'll still have a place in the West Coast's heart: they'll visit it seven times this year.
Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings join the Blue Jackets in the East. They don't face a current Central Division resident until November 19 (versus the Nashville Predators).
Edmonton Oilers: The schedule makers are throwing a soft ball at the Oilers: just 12 back-to-backs (no back-to-back-to-back-to-backs) and just one month where they play at most 15 games (December). For a team that had three straight number one overall picks in the Entry Draft, this is the "okay, time for you to actually be worth a shit" year (hence why they're on national TV once this year).
Florida Panthers: In 2011-12, the Panthers were a surprise playoff team and took the Devils to seven games in a first round exit. Last year in 2012-13, they had the fewest points in the league (36). They have a pretty reasonable schedule, so we'll see which Panthers team was the real one.
Los Angeles Kings: The Kings don't face a fellow Pacific Division team until October 30 (versus the San Jose Sharks).
Minnesota Wild: The schedule makers must think the Wild are going to be better than they were last year: half of their 18 national TV games are in March and April.
Montreal Canadiens: The Habs open the league year at home against the Maple Leafs. They also play an above league average 17 back-to-backs but only four of those are next to each other.
Nashville Predators: The Predators play 16 games in January and 16 games in March. They also play three back-to-backs in a row in March.
New Jersey Devils: The Devils play the most back-to-back games next year by a pretty wide margin, an insane 22. Eight of those back-to-backs are back-to-back (or back-to-back-to-back-to-back). Puck Podcast opined that this was the reason the Devils traded for Corey Schneider: there's no way Martin Brodeur can play that many back-to-backs and hold up for the whole season.
New York Islanders: The Islanders and Rangers play each other three times in ten days at the end of January. This probably isn't a huge stretch, but I'd expect to see fisticuffs in at least one of those games. They also play the fewest games in March (13), so they get a light stretch of games at the best possible time in the season.
New York Rangers: If you want to see the Rangers, turn on the TV sometime in November: they play eight national TV games that month, a league high over any month.
Ottawa Senators: The Senators play three straight back-to-backs at the end of November, and play the most games of any team in December (16). Before and after that, it's pretty reasonable.
Philadelphia Flyers: For a team that didn't make the playoffs last year, they'll be on national TV a whole lot. In fact, they have second most national TV games this year (30).
Phoenix Coyotes: Nothing really eye-popping. They don't have a lot of back-to-backs (just 12) and only two of them are next to each other in February. At least they don't have the ownership nonsense hanging over them this year (watch, I'll post this and it'll start up again).
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins have a ball-busting March and April with 16 games and 7 back-to-backs, including three in a row.
San Jose Sharks: The Sharks have a light schedule as well, and are tied with the fewest back-to-backs in the league at 10.
St. Louis Blues: The Blues play just 10 games in October, but the rest of they way is tougher. Oddly, their back-to-backs are better spaced out from the middle of November on.
Tampa Bay Lightning: They've got a pretty reasonable schedule too. They don't have any back-to-backs next to each other, and while they play 16 games in March, they only have three back-to-backs that month, and they're pretty well spaced out.
Toronto Maple Leafs: They've got a bunch of rough patches with multiple back-to-backs, but they don't play more than 15 games in a given month.
Vancouver Canucks: The start and end of the season is fine, but towards the end of November until the All-Star break, they've got a brutal stretch of back-to-backs. Their last three games are against the Avalanche, Oilers and Flames, so everything could still work out.
Washington Capitals: They start out fine, but once November starts, it's brutal until the end of the season.
Winnipeg Jets: The Jets move to the far more geographically pleasing West and they're going to get used to it: they don't travel to the East Coast until November 25.
***
With all that out of the way, here are a few games you should keep an eye out for.
Guy Leaves Team, Guy Gets New Team, Guy Comes Back to Old Team with New Team
Buffalo Sabres at Dallas Stars (Monday, October 28)- Lindy Ruff returns to Buffalo as head coach of the Stars. Also you may have heard, Lindy Ruff was the coach of the Sabres when they lost to the Stars in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals in infamous fashion.
Boston Bruins at Pittsburgh Penguins (Wednesday, October 30 on NBC Sports Network)- Jarome Iginla returns to Pittsburgh for the first time since he signed with Bruins in free agency. The Bruins, you might remember, swept the Penguins in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals. Expect loud boos.
Dallas Stars at Boston Bruins (Tuesday, November 5)- Speaking of the Bruins, a former player of theirs comes come as well. Tyler Seguin, the Patrick Kane of the East, was shipped off to Dallas because the Bruins didn't want to deal with his crap anymore. This should be interesting.
New York Rangers at Vancouver Canucks (Saturday, November 30 on NHL Network)- It's a double-double! The Canucks and Rangers swapped coaches in the offseason, with John Tortorella signing with Vancouver and Alain Vigneault signing with New York. This will be the first meeting of the clubs this season and it's far and away the juiciest, due to Tortorella's frosty relationship with the Rangers' players and the New York media in general.
Detroit Red Wings at Ottawa Senators (Sunday, December 1 on NHL Network)- Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson returns to Ottawa as a member of the Red Wings. The two teams will have met twice already by the time this game rolls around, but this is the first game in Ottawa. Depending on how the Senators are doing at this point in the season, Alfredsson's reception will either be Michael Jordan or Brett Favre.
Boston Bruins at Calgary Flames (Tuesday, December 10)- Jarome Iginla returns to Calgary as a Bruin. He will be cheered thunderously.
Minnesota Wild at New Jersey Devils (Thursday, March 20 on NHL Network)- Zach Parise returns to New Jersey. This match-up didn't happen last year due to the lockout, so this will be the first meeting of these teams in the Garden State since Parise left in free agency. Expect thunderous boos.
Stadium Series
Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings (Wednesday, January 1 on NBC)- The Winter Classic! Should be a good game, and the teams will rock old school uniforms. It'll be played in Michigan Stadium.
Anaheim Ducks at Los Angeles Kings (Saturday, January 25 on NBC Sports Network)- The NHL's first venture into an outdoor west coast game. It'll be played at Dodger Stadium. If nothing else, you should watch it to see if it works.
New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils (Sunday, January 26 on NBC)- An outdoor game at Yankee Stadium. The Rangers and Devils always play each other hard.
New York Rangers at New York Islanders (Wednesday, January 29 on NBC Sports Network)- ANOTHER outdoor game at Yankee Stadium. The Rangers and Islanders always play each other hard.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Chicago Blackhawks (Saturday, March 1)- A late season outdoor game at Soldier Field. Both teams should be rolling at this point in the season.
Ottawa Senators at Vancouver Canucks (Sunday, March 2 on NBC Sports Network)- The Heritage Classic! Two Canadian teams going at it in BC Place.
Other Games
Boston Bruins versus Toronto Maple Leafs (any game)- After making it to the postseason again since the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the Maple Leafs-Bruins rivalry suddenly became a thing again. These teams played each other very hard in the postseason, and I expect that to carry over into the new season.
California Teams versus Other California Teams (any game)- The Ducks, Kings and Sharks are all great, all made the postseason last year, and have won two of the last seven Stanley Cups. All three are also extremely physical. These match-ups look to be must watch TV.
Chicago Blackhawks versus Detroit Red Wings (any game)- The Red Wings may have moved to the Eastern Conference, but their rivalry with the Blackhawks lives on. They'll face off twice this year, and both games are sure to be awesome.
Chicago Blackhawks versus Minnesota Wild (any game)- The Wild were supposed to be the super team last year with the addition of Zach Parise and Ryan Sutter. They were good. Who knows, maybe they'll be the team they were supposed to be last year this year. Playing hard against and perhaps beating the defending Stanley Cup champions would definitely put the rest of the NHL on notice.
Montreal Canadiens versus Boston Bruins (any game)- This is always a fun match-up. The Bruins are coming off a Stanley Cup Finals appearance, the Habs are coming off a postseason berth. They don't like each other.
Montreal Canadiens versus Ottawa Senators (any game)- Whenever blood is spilled in the postseason, bad shit happens (see, Red Wings-Avalanche brawl in 1997). Fisticuffs are expected at the least between two teams on the rise.
Montreal Canadiens versus Toronto Maple Leafs (any game)- These games were great when both teams sucked. Now both teams are good. Intrigue ahoy!
Nashville Predators at Colorado Avalanche (Avs home games)- Seth Jones grew up an Avalanche fan and was seen as the top prospect in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The Avs instead decided to go offense with the first overall pick, and chose forward Nathan MacKinnon instead of defenseman Jones. Assuming both are on the regular team rosters this season (it's going to happen barring insane circumstances), this should be fun.
New York Islanders versus New York Rangers (any game)- The Rangers have been good for years, the Islanders are on the rise. They don't like each other. It'll be fun.
Philadelphia Flyers versus Pittsburgh Penguins (any game)- Philadelphia/Pittsburgh rivalries are almost always great across the sports landscape. This is the best one. These teams REALLY don't like each other.
***
And that'll do it for my look at the NHL schedule! At least I now know how to approach the NBA schedule article I'll be doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment