Rangers Schedule Analysis
The NHL released the full schedule today after announcing the home games Saturday. For the first time in three years, there will be an All-Star Game, which will take place in Columbus, as last year, we had the Olympics and the year before, it was canceled due to the strike. So, this will be the first full season with basically continuous play since the 2011-12 season.
This season, New York opens with two dates on the road, a far cry from the nine they played last year, as the third and final stage of the MSG Transformation and Renovation was completed. They began the 2014-15 campaign on October 9 in in St. Louis followed by a road match in Columbus on October 11. The Rangers play the first of their 13 back-to-back contests the next night when they make their home debut against the Maple Leafs. Unlike last season, the Rangers play 14 of their first 21 games at MSG, meaning that 34 of the last 61 games are on the road.
Intra-divisional play once again has the Blueshirts facing off either four or five times against their Metropolitan foes, as the two they face five time rotates annually. This season, they play five contests against the Hurricanes and Islanders and four versus Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Columbus and Washington. New York will play three games against each of its eight Atlantic Division opponents, and will face off against each of the 14 Western Conference teams twice during the season.
Exhibition games: The Rangers open training camp on September 18 and will play the following six games: 9/22 vs. NJD at MSG, 9/26 at Chicago, 9/29 vs. Flyers at MSG, 9/30 at Philly, October 3 vs. Chi at MSG and October 4 at New Jersey. Kind of an odd schedule, especially the back-to-backs and games home and away versus the Blackhawks. Longest home stand - four games, four times (October 12 through October 19 (TOR, NYI, CAR, NJ), which is followed by two on the road. That is then followed by four more at home (October 27 through Nov 5 (MIN, WPG, STL, DET)) followed by one on the road and three more at home. The next four-game home stand is January 29 to February 4 (MTL, CAR, FLA, BOS) followed by five of the next six on the road. The last four-game home stand is February 19 to 26 (VAN, CBJ, CGY, ARI)
Longest road trip - five games (March 4-14 (DET, CHI, NYI, WAS, BUF). The next longest is four games, December 13-20 (VAN, EDM, CGY, CAR) and February 10-16 (TOR, COL, ARI, NYI). In addition, the Rangers have a pair of three-games roadies in January, the earlier of which is to the West Coast to take on Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose
Heaviest month - November and March - 15 games. In November, 10 of the Blueshirts’ 15 contests are at home. In March, six are at home and nine are on the road, though the further West they travel is the Central Time Zone.
West Coast Trips - December 13-16 (VAN, EDM, CGY) and January 7-10 (ANA, LA, SJ). In addition, February 12 and 14, they play Colorado and Arizona.
Back-to-backs - 13 times. Same as 2013-14 and my concern over the conditioning, which was a forte under Tortorella, proved to be unfounded.
After the All-Star Game, 37 of the 41 games will be played starting on January 27 in Long Island and ending April 11 in Washington. The Rangers will play more home games on a Sunday (10 games) than any other day of the week during the season. They will also play eight home games on a Monday, seven on a Tuesday, four on a Wednesday, five on a Thursday, one on a Friday, and six on a Saturday during the season.
Personal - home opener against Toronto on my Mom's 70th birthday while no other conflicts
Overall not an easy schedule, though nowhere near as tough as last year when they opened with nine straight on the road. Having 14 of the first 21 at home should hopefully result in the Rangers reversing the so-so record they had last year at MSG. After the opening game in St. Louis, the first two months of the season is pretty much spent in the Eastern time zone, which will help them while playing 10 road games in November. February has a four-game road trip followed by a four-game home stand while March brings the longest road-trip of the season at five contests.
The first contest against the Blue Jackets, aka Rangers Midwest, is the second game of the season, Oct. 11 in Columbus. New York is in Montreal on October 25, where Chris Kreider likely will need earplugs, and at home on November 23. The Rangers face Tampa at home on Nov 17, which may mean a reunion with Ryan Callahan, and on the road on Nov. 26, right before Thanksgiving, when Martin St. Louis faces his former squad. The Rangers visit the Kings on Jan. 8 and face them at home on March 24. They are off New Years Day with the Winter Classic in D.C. and the All-Star break is January 21-26. The final game on the Island will be March 10, the third contest of a five-game road trip.
Here is the full schedule:
October: Nine games, 5H, 4A
Thu. Oct. 9, 2014 @STL 8:00 P.M. Sat. Oct. 11, 2014 @CBJ 7:00 P.M. Sun. Oct. 12, 2014 TOR 7:00 P.M. Tue. Oct. 14, 2014 NYI 7:00 P.M. Fri. Oct. 17, 2014 CAR 7:00 P.M. Sun. Oct. 19, 2014 SJS 5:00 P.M. Tue. Oct. 21, 2014 @NJD 7:00 P.M. Sat. Oct. 25, 2014 @MTL 7:00 P.M. Mon. Oct. 27, 2014 MIN 7:00 P.M.
November: 15 games, 10H, 5A
Sat. Nov. 1, 2014 WPG 7:00 P.M. Mon. Nov. 3, 2014 STL 7:00 P.M. Wed. Nov. 5, 2014 DET 8:00 P.M. Sat. Nov. 8, 2014 @TOR 7:00 P.M. Sun. Nov. 9, 2014 EDM 6:00 P.M. Tue. Nov. 11, 2014 PIT 7:00 P.M. Thu. Nov. 13, 2014 COL 7:00 P.M. Sat. Nov. 15, 2014 @PIT 7:00 P.M. Mon. Nov. 17, 2014 TBL 7:00 P.M. Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 PHI 8:00 P.M. Fri. Nov. 21, 2014 @BUF 7:00 P.M. Sun. Nov. 23, 2014 MTL 7:00 P.M. Wed. Nov. 26, 2014 @TBL 7:30 P.M. Fri. Nov. 28, 2014 @PHI 1:00 P.M. Sat. Nov. 29, 2014 PHI 7:00 P.M.
December: 12 games, 5H, 7A
Mon. Dec. 1, 2014 TBL 7:00 P.M. Sat. Dec. 6, 2014 @DET 7:00 P.M. Mon. Dec. 8, 2014 PIT 7:00 P.M. Sat. Dec. 13, 2014 @VAN 10:00 P.M. Sun. Dec. 14, 2014 @EDM 9:30 P.M. Tue. Dec. 16, 2014 @CGY 9:00 P.M. Sat. Dec. 20, 2014 @CAR 7:00 P.M. Sun. Dec. 21, 2014 CAR 7:00 P.M. Tue. Dec. 23, 2014 WSH 7:00 P.M. Sat. Dec. 27, 2014 NJD 7:00 P.M. Mon. Dec. 29, 2014 @DAL 8:30 P.M. Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 @FLA 6:00 P.M.
January: 12 games, 5H, 7A
Sat. Jan. 3, 2015 BUF 7:00 P.M. Wed. Jan. 7, 2015 @ANA 10:30 P.M. Thu. Jan. 8, 2015 @LAK 10:30 P.M. Sat. Jan. 10, 2015 @SJS 10:00 P.M. Tue. Jan. 13, 2015 NYI 7:00 P.M. Thu. Jan. 15, 2015 @BOS 7:00 P.M. Fri. Jan. 16, 2015 @CBJ 7:00 P.M. Sun. Jan. 18, 2015 @PIT 12:30 P.M. Tue. Jan. 20, 2015 OTT 7:00 P.M. Tue. Jan. 27, 2015 @NYI 7:00 P.M. Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 MTL 7:00 P.M. Sat. Jan. 31, 2015 CAR 7:00 P.M.
February: 13 games, 7H, 6A
Mon. Feb. 2, 2015 FLA 7:00 P.M. Wed. Feb. 4, 2015 BOS 8:00 P.M. Sat. Feb. 7, 2015 @NSH 3:00 P.M. Sun. Feb. 8, 2015 DAL 5:00 P.M. Tue. Feb. 10, 2015 @TOR 7:30 P.M. Thu. Feb. 12, 2015 @COL 9:00 P.M. Sat. Feb. 14, 2015 @ARI 8:00 P.M. Mon. Feb. 16, 2015 @NYI 7:00 P.M. Thu. Feb. 19, 2015 VAN 7:00 P.M. Sun. Feb. 22, 2015 CBJ 7:00 P.M. Tue. Feb. 24, 2015 CGY 7:00 P.M. Thu. Feb. 26, 2015 ARI 7:00 P.M. Sat. Feb. 28, 2015 @PHI 8:00 P.M.
March: 15 games, 6H, 9A
Mon. Mar. 2, 2015 NSH 7:00 P.M. Wed. Mar. 4, 2015 @DET 8:00 P.M. Sun. Mar. 8, 2015 @CHI 7:30 P.M. Tue. Mar. 10, 2015 @NYI 7:00 P.M. Wed. Mar. 11, 2015 @WSH 8:00 P.M. Sat. Mar. 14, 2015 @BUF 7:00 P.M. Sun. Mar. 15, 2015 FLA 5:00 P.M. Wed. Mar. 18, 2015 CHI 8:00 P.M. Sat. Mar. 21, 2015 @CAR 7:00 P.M. Sun. Mar. 22, 2015 ANA 7:30 P.M. Tue. Mar. 24, 2015 LAK 7:00 P.M. Thu. Mar. 26, 2015 @OTT 7:30 P.M. Sat. Mar. 28, 2015 @BOS 1:00 P.M. Sun. Mar. 29, 2015 WSH 3:00 P.M. Tue. Mar. 31, 2015 @WPG 8:00 P.M.
April: Six games, 3H, 3A
Thu. Apr. 2, 2015 @MIN 8:00 P.M. Sat. Apr. 4, 2015 NJD 7:00 P.M. Mon. Apr. 6, 2015 CBJ 7:00 P.M. Tue. Apr. 7, 2015 @NJD 7:00 P.M. Thu. Apr. 9, 2015 OTT 7:00 P.M. Sat. Apr. 11, 2015 @WSH 3:00 P.M