The 2011-2012 schedule is out and at first look it is a challenging one for the team and the front office.
On the ice, the toughest part of the calendar may be October 31 through December 1. Fifteen games in that period, ten on the road in the form of two five game road trips, one to the West Coast with stops in Chicago, Phoenix, San Jose, LA and Anaheim… then one over Thanksgiving that features stops in Minnesota, Detroit, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. In a curious quirk, the Predators will be done travelling to Western Canada by Dec. 1. Sandwiched in between those two five game roadies is a five game home stand that features some of the largest draws on the schedule, Montreal, Washington, and Toronto, finishing with Columbus and Edmonton.
Off the ice, the toughest month could be December 3rd through January 7th, twelve home games in sixteen during that timeframe. The last five should be big nights, holiday weeks do draw, however four straight right before Christmas could be a challenge. The best news is that the traditional New Year’s Day game is back this season, a 5pm start time against the Flames.
The second toughest stretch for the Predators may be March 12 through March 30, a ten game stretch with only two home games breaking up the team’s second California swing, a one game trip to Pittsburgh and a nasty stretch of road divisional games at Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit. One of those home games will feature the first visit of the Winnipeg Whoevers.
The wild card teams this season are Philly, Carolina and Washington… the Eastern teams that won’t be coming to Smashville are Boston, Florida, both New York teams, Ottawa and Pittsburgh.
Some key dates that stand out for me…
- The 1000th game in franchise history is Saturday November 12th against the Montreal Canadiens. Hockey Night in Canada should be in town for that 6pm start.
- Two Detroit home games in two weeks on 12/15 and 12/26.
- Both home games against Vancouver within two weeks, both on Tuesdays 2/7 and 2/21.
- Anaheim comes looking for payback on 10/29
- The team of my childhood comes to town on January 14th as the Preds take on the Flyers.
- Potential NBC game as the Preds invade TD Garden to take on the Stanley Cup champs, a noon start against the Bruins on 2/11
- Another noon start on MLK day as the Predators visit the Islanders.
- We’ll have to wait until January 21st for Chicago to come to town.
All-in-all, it’s a bit of a different look for the Predators schedule this year. There are 15 home Saturday contests, always a good thing, but this team will need to prove its mettle on the road in March if they are to grab a higher playoff seed this year.
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Random Notes
- Real interesting schedule quirks. The NHL limited Winnipeg’s travel by giving them several extended homestands.
- There are pictures over at “On the Forecheck” of Nashville’s new jerseys. Reaction is decidedly mixed. I like ‘em… unique, clean, simple. Also, Dirk has published his NHL Super Schedule, detailing the travel of each team.
- The Philadelphia Flyers made some news yesterday, trading Jeff Carter and Mike Richards… I know they need a real goaltender, but yikes… risky moves from GM Paul Holmgren.
- Round one of the draft is tonight and unless David Poile pulls a trade, the Preds won’t be participating.
- The last time the Predators did not have a first round selection, they made news by selecting the first Tennessean ever drafted into the NHL in Blake Geoffrion. No such surprise tonight… but drafting twice in the second round (picks 38 and 52) may give some potential offensive help.
- I thought Columbus was bleeding money… acquiring Jeff Carter’s massive contract is a curious move. Especially since Carter doesn’t seem to be a complimentary player to Rick Nash. This one is a bit of a head-scratcher.
- The Mike Richards trade shocked me… but the acquisition of Braydon Schenn is an excellent one for Philly, a team in need of some younger, more inexpensive players.
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COMING UP ON THE NEXT SLAPSHOT RADIO…
We close out our season with our favorite guests, Jeff Marek from Hockey Night in Canada Radio will join us along with much more… join us on Wednesday night at 6 on Nashville’s Sports Radio 560 WNSR.
You can get check out our podcasts at
the SlapShot Radio podcast page.
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