Looking past the trade deadline. March scheduling.

by surgalt on Feb 13, 2012 3:10 PM EST

In February the Canes will play 11 games in 29 days, 5 home and 6 away. We end the month with a 4 game homestand over the final 11 days. Come March the pace of play radically changes. March brings 16 games in 31 days. After a 2 game continuation of the late February homestand we play 14 more times in March with 10 on the road and 4 at home. In a 26 day span there are 14 games with 5 B2Bs. 3 successive times the B2Bs are part of 3 games in 4 nights. 4 of the B2Bs and all of the 3 in 4s involve travel between games. Only twice do the Canes play teams that played the night before.

November was the month most like March with 15 games in 30 nights, with 10 at home and 5 on the road. There were 2 B2Bs and one stretch with 4 games in 6 nights. November was the beginning of the end for the Canes this season. They lost 11 of those 15 games and attained -18 of the team -30 points for all of this season pretty much flat lining our playoff chances for the season.

Given this warm, moist, odorous pile called the March NHL schedule it is probably best for our psyches that we are well out of the playoff hunt rather than hanging close by a thread of hope. I just wish it wasn't so.

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The schedule is daunting as you point out without even considering who the opponents are. The only way we could make the playoffs IMO would be if virtually all the remaining games were against SE Division opponents and we went on a long winning streak. Unfortunately, all the games are not against SE Division opponents and I don’t see a long winning streak in the cards.

The one thing to take heart from is that Muller has the team playing consistently well game after game so we are really getting to see what our needs are going to be for next year as far as players we need to get and players we need to jettison.

by FoxtrotSierra on Feb 13, 2012 7:09 PM EST reply actions

Just FYI...

We’re looking at needing at least 38 of 52 points over the rest of the year to have even a decent shot at the playoffs.

Hi, my name is Michael Procton, and I will mindf*** you with logical yet (often) pessimistic retorts until the cows come home. Good Day.
--by Aisander D on Feb 4, 2012 7:59 PM EST
I gotta stop takin' my baths durin' Peter's shenanigans.

by MichaelProcton on Feb 13, 2012 8:57 PM EST reply actions

Don’t forget the fact that we need a lot of help from other teams too.

The only easy day was yesterday.

by CoastalCane on Feb 14, 2012 5:15 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah

Not gonna happen—our last road trip is an explanation why: We won one out of three. Yet we got four out of six points so it looks like we won two out of three…. Those ties help everyone ahead of us as well the same way and just because a team loses doesn’t mean they get no points.

by Squeaky83 on Feb 15, 2012 9:28 AM EST up reply actions