Awaiting A Schedule

I'm just sitting here waiting. Waiting for a calendar.

Yeah, it's a special calendar. One released by the National Hockey League. Not one, but 30 actually. Thirty calendars.

Waiting.

I want this season's schedule already! I've been missing hockey for over a year now (though it feels like much longer) but the league hasn't released the schedule yet.

You know, I'm just dying to see the placement of the eight matchups against each of Florida, Washington, Carolina, and Atlanta. Dying. If you didn't pick up on the sarcasm there, let me direct you to my personal blog.

The good news is that the new schedule format makes things pretty predictable, which is a nice thing. The new format still allows for the regular 82-game season.

Instead of playing six games games against your four division opponents, that's been bumped up to eight. So that's 32 games within the division. And friends, as part of the most pathetic division in hockey (which, don't forget, produced a Stanley Cup champion) is something I'll choose to be thankful for.

You also play four games each against your ten division opponents. For us, that's everybody who's left in the Eastern Conference. That's 40 more games right there for 72.

All 10 of our remaining games will be played against teams in the Western Conference. But there are 15 teams in the west, so how will that work? The answer is we obviously won't get to play everybody. And since the league is evenly divided into five-team divisions, that makes things easier.

Each season, we'll only get to face two Western divisions. My guess is to cut down on travel expenses. We play one game against each team from a given division at home, and one game against each team from a given division on the road.

Case and point, this season we host the Central Division, comprised of Detroit, Nashville, Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis. Then at some point we'll head to California to face the Pacific Division teams in Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Phoenix, and Dallas.

You may or may not have noticed a fact that particularly sucks in all of that. We don't get to see anybody from the Northwest Division, meaning no regular season rematch against the Calgary Flames, whom we crushed to take home the Cup. How horrible is that?

But while I'll miss the 2004 Stanley Cup reprise, I'll accept the four meetings with New Jersey. I just love beating the Devils now. Two playoff series in two years. It's a rush.

So to sum up, Tampa Bay's 82-game 2005-06 season breaks down a little something like this: 8 games each against the Hurricanes, Panthers, Capitals, and Thrashers; 4 games each against the Islanders, Canadiens, Rangers, Sabres, Devils, Flyers, Penguins, Maple Leafs, Senators, Bruins; 1 game each against the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Blues, Predators, Red Wings, Kings, Mighty Ducks, Stars, Coyotes, and Sharks; and no games against the Avalanche, Wild, Oilers, Canucks, or Flames.

And just so at least someone's saying it, the Stanley Cup champion is playing 32 games against teams in the worst division in the NHL while playing none against the teams in the toughest division. I'm not complaining.

I'm just saying. I'm waiting for a schedule.




Return To Ice: I know, I know. It's a Boston Bruins ice sculpture. But hey, nobody made a Lightning ice sculpture. And I thought it was pretty cool. No, really. You know, someobody really should make a Lightning ice sculpture. Even if it is a hundred degrees out.