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Christmas came early this year as the NHL scheduled has been released about three weeks earlier than usual. At first blush, the Predators got a fairly decent deal from the NHL schedule maker, starting the season with five of their first six at home and twelve of their last fifteen at home as well. Let’s break it down, month-by-month.
October – Ten games (6h, 4a) - The Predators have a decent start to the season with five of their first six games within the friendly confines of Bridgestone Arena featuring visits from Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, a quick two game roadie to Dallas and Tampa is followed by St. Louis’ second visit to Music City in the month before closing the month with the beginning of the CMA road trip, heading to Detroit.
November – Thirteen games (4h, 9a) – Gotta balance out October a little as the month gets started with the Preds on their normal early season long roadie. After their Halloween trip to Detroit, Nashville heads west for a Pacific Division swing going to Phoenix, LA, and Anaheim before finishing with their third game of the season with the Blues in St. Louis. The Preds are home for one against Chicago before hitting the road again for another four games on the road, heading to Toronto, Montreal, Carolina and Columbus before the return of the Thanksgiving Eve game featuring a showdown with St. Louis. The Preds hit the road for Black Friday at Minnesota, before finishing the month at home with the New York Rangers and the Phoenix Coyotes.
December – Fourteen Games (7h, 7a) – December features quite a few Eastern Conference games as Carolina, Florida, New York Islanders and Ottawa invade the Bridge. No long roadies, no long stretches at home and a lot of inter-conference games. Holiday games include the Thursday before Christmas and the Tuesday after. The Preds finish 2010 on the road for a New Year’s Eve tilt in Minnesota. Circle Dec 17th on your calendars… first time the Preds will meet up with their former captain Jason Arnott as the Predators play New Jersey at the Rock.
January – Thirteen games (3h, 10a) – An incredibly unbalanced month as the Preds do not have two games in a row at home, continuing a stretch that began in mid-December and won’t end until Feb. 7th. January features Nashville’s longest road trip, a six game odyssey that takes the team from Chicago to Phoenix to Denver to Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver before returning home. Without question… the toughest month of the ’10-’11 schedule.
February – Thirteen games (9h, 4a) – After completing their long road trip, the NHL schedule maker had a little fun with Nashville. The Preds return home on Feb 1 for a conference showdown with Calgary, then hits the road again to Philly right away before finally returning to Music City for nine of their next eleven games, a home stand only broken up by quick trips to Detroit and Columbus. Quite a few divisional games in February…
March – Fifteen games (9h, 6a) – The home stretch starts off with the Predators’ final western Canada swing, finishing the trip in San Jose before returning home for a five game homestand as part of a nine at home in ten games stretch. Conference and divisional foes a plenty in March, two against Vancouver and two against Edmonton. Interconference games include a trip to Buffalo and Boston’s return to Music City. March is a month that should really determine if Nashville is playoff worthy for the seventh time in eight seasons.
April – Four games (3h, 1a) – Three home games to close out the schedule before finishing the season on the road at St. Louis. Atlanta comes calling along with Detroit and Columbus.
Some very tough stretches in the schedule, but overall, no complaints from this observer. And now we have a date to circle on our calendars… opening night is just 108 days away.
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Quick Bites
- San Jose has decided to not bring Evgeny Nabokov back… and the free agent goalie pool gets deeper.
- There is no day on the ’10-’11 schedule that features all 30 teams.
- Carolina, San Jose, Columbus and Boston begin their season in Europe.
- The NHLPA extending the CBA to the end of the 2012 season is good news for hockey fans. Labor peace for at least two more seasons.
- Edmonton changes coaches again… was Pat Quinn the problem last season? Really?
- Fred Shero overlooked for the Hall of Fame again?
Tonight - I’ll be in the studio, and Pete will be reporting live from Las Vegas. He’ll be hanging with Snoop Dog and Mark Wahlberg at the NHL Awards Show site… I’ll be hanging in the studio with Charlie Saunier, giving up-to-the-minute draft news, talking about the wheeling and dealing going on in the back room, talking about the just released ’10-’11 schedule and chatting with Joe Birch about Friday’s draft …
Thursday July 1st - The Season Finale of SlapShot Radio as we break down the signings on UFA day… it’s an unpredictable show as we discuss the Predators moves of the day, the big signings across the league and their impact. We also take a look forward to Predators Conditioning Camp and the 2010-2011 season.
The show starts at 6pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR… listen online or podcast at www.slapshotradio.com
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating with starting lineups and scratches during Pred home games, also I’ll be supplying information and explanations from the PA box.
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