NHL Schedules Are Less to Be Desired by Most

As the playoffs approach, there are some teams that will be facing a daunting task of handling what I would call a debacle of a schedule.

I spoke with fellow fans of the game from various teams and so far, most were in agreement that the NHL scheduling was one of the most lopsided setups they have ever seen.

For the Month of March right to the end of the season in the first week of April, there are some teams that will play up to four back-to-back game sets and, in some of these cases, will have to travel to a different venue.

In my opinion, that is unbelievable for the league to allow such a schedule to occur. On top of that, some of these teams that they have to play against will have a day or two of rest and could be sitting at home waiting for a team to meet them on the ice.

Completely unfair advantage to say the least.  

I completely understand that, sometimes, there are venues that are simply not available for the teams at certain dates due to other events that also bring in revenue.

Player Safety Issue

Where I have a problem is that there are several back-to-back series that go on late in the season when teams are already banged up and tired. To add to that situation, teams are forced to travel after playing a game (in some cases, extra time, then have to pack up and travel to the next city to play—in most cases less than 24 hours).  

In a lot of these cases, there are teams waiting with a day or two of rest, which means a rested team that can afford the extra effort will do so because they know they have the advantage with a team that just came off a game.

When that is occurring at the beginning, or even the middle of the season, it isn't nearly as bad because this is when most teams hit their stride and have the energy and not nearly the amount of dings and nicks that they would have in the final month of play.

So how is this a safety issue?  Tired players make mistakes much more often than a rested player who can go balls out and make the right plays to minimize risk of injury.

Prepping for the Playoffs

The Ottawa Senators have four gaps with two or more days between games and three back-to-backs in the schedule. Out of the three, two of them are played at home. They have one three-day gap and a four-day gap in March.

If any team in the league will have the chance to play well rested, this would be one of the top teams that comes to mind.

The Vancouver Canucks also have the right schedule at the right time. In the month of March, they have three instances where they have two or more days of rest between games. In April, they have another two-day gap.

This will allow the Canucks to get the right people rested and have a better opportunity to prepare their team for the playoffs.

The St. Louis Blues have a tighter schedule, but still have three instances where they have two-or-more-day gaps from the beginning of March to the end of the regular season in April.

These days of rest are key to preparing for the Extra Fun Season.

Conversely, teams like the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers are playing a packed March with just one instance of a two-day gap for them from the month of March to the end of the season. In most cases, there are traveling, back-to-back games on the docket.

All About Fairness

As far as I am concerned, if some teams are going to get that amount of rest going into the postseason, then it should be for all of them.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most exciting time of the year for me, but to see some of these teams not getting the fair shake at what is supposed to be a prize that is fair game doesn't sit well with me.

Yes, I am a Bruins fan...yes, I would love to see the Bruins repeat. If they did, or any of the other teams that are getting the short end of the stick going into the playoffs took it all, they would deserve it more than any other team. That's guts, people.

No inflating tires...just sayin'...

The NHL has failed miserably in the scheduling of the final two months of the season and has given clear advantage to some teams over others.

This is Cory Ducey saying: "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean"