Deep dive

Some Jackets 2008-20090NHL schedule anlaysis for ya:

Monthly breakdown:
Oct - 10 games
4 - home
6 - away
3- b2b

Nov - 13 games
8 - home
5 - away
3 - b2b

Dec - 14 games
6 - home
8 - away
3 - b2b

Jan - 13 games
6 - home
7 - away
3 - b2b

Feb - 12 games
7 - home
5 - away
3 - b2b

Mar - 15 games
8 - home
7 - away
2 - b2b

Apr - 5 games
2 - home
3 - away
2 - b2b

Gameday breakdown:
Mon - 5
Tues - 15
Wed - 9
Thurs - 9
Fri - 14
Sat - 23
Sun - 7

Home gameday breakdown:
Mon - 3
Tues - 10
Wed - 6
Thurs - 3
Fri - 6
Sat - 10
Sun - 3

Eastern Conference Teams at home:
Rangers, Canadiens, Capitals, Islanders, Flyers, Devils, Senators, Bruins, Penguins

Eastern Conference Teams on the road:
Islanders, Sabres, Capitals, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Panthers, Lightning

Holiday Games:
Wed Nov 26th vs. Coyotes - day before Thanksgiving
Tue Dec 23rd vs. Kings - day before Christmas Eve
Mon Feb 16th vs. Star - President's Day

Road Trip Opportunities:
Sat Oct 18th @ Nashville
Fri Nov 14th @ Buffalo
Sun Dec 14th @ Chicago
Sat Mar 7th @ Detroit
Fri Mar 13th @ Chicago
Sat Mar 28th @ St. Louis

Sat Apr 4th @ Nashville

Some juicy road trip targets if flying is an option:
Fri Oct 10th @ Dallas (season opener)

Sat Nov 22nd @ Atlanta

Sat Dec 20th @ Phoenix

Sat Feb 14th @ Carolina
Sat Mar 21st @ Florida

General Comments:
* Great balance in this schedule. No single month is top heavy in home or away games.

* 10 home Saturday games - hell yes!

* Everyone wants weekend games but with 82 there has to be quite a few scheduled on weekdays. Out of the weekdays its kind of surprising that Tuesday is such a popular night for games but I'm sure the statistics have shown as such.

* Unfortunately no New Year's Eve game this season.

* 19 back to backs seems excessive. I wonder where that ranks over in the league?

* The final 7 of 8 games are against Central rivals.

* The longest road trip is 6 games from Dec 29th through Jan 9th.

* The longest home stand is 4 games from Nov 5th through Nov 7th.

* The longest break in the schedule looks to be 6 days from Jan 21 to the 27th (that may also be the All Star break).

* Oddly enough the Jackets will close out the year against Minnesota. Its a Saturday game and if the Jackets are still fighting for the playoffs that could be a memorable night at Nationwide.

* As mentioned earlier its hard not to get excited about Crosby and Ovechkin making
appearances in Natiowide this season.

* I won't miss the Wings fans an extra night at the Nat.

* October 17th will be our first live look at Huselius, Commodore, Tyutin, Torres,
Umberger and Backman in a CBJ regular season game.

* Jackets fans will have to wait until January 13th to give Adam Foote the first class treatment when the Avalanche come to town.

* Nik Zherdev and Dan Fritsche make their first appearance at Nationwide as Rangers on Friday October 24th.

* Hitch will get another crack as his former team the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday December 27th. It will also be the first time Umberger faces his former club.

* This is the first time in 3 years that the Jackets will open on the road. The last time was against Washington coming out of the lockout in 2005.

* Huselius runs into Calgary for the first time

All in all I'm pretty happy with the looks of this schedule. I think it gives the Jackets a fighting chance.

Discuss - thoughts on the schedule? Anything in particular dissapoint or excite you?

-LTL