The Carolina Hurricanes regular season schedule came out today and just like every year, there are some positives and negatives. Things start out with a bang at home on Friday, October 2nd against a formidable opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers. The very next night they face the Bruins in Boston.
This season marks the return of the Olympics, so the NHL will take a two week hiatus in February. Henceforth, the schedule needed to tighten up a bit. You will not see the four and five day breaks during the season like you might have in the past. The Canes will have 16 back to back games, two more than they had last season, but one less than they had the year before.
Last season, the team had six consecutive Sunday afternoon home games in a row. This season they will have a total of five Sunday games, but they are spread out a bit. (two in November, two in January, one in March).
(more highlights from last season)
The team will have a total of 21 homes games on weekend dates this season. (Six on Friday night, ten on Saturday, and five on Sunday). Again, this is an improvement over the seven Saturday night home games last year. Obviously, the additional Saturday night games will help with attendance numbers.
The longest road trip will be just for a total of four games, but they have three of those road trips to work through. (October, December, and February). The longest home stand will also be four days.
Here are some games that you might want to highlight on your calendar.
- October 2 - (Flyers) Opening night is always a sell out. This year against Chris Pronger and crew will be no different.
- October 14 - (Penguins) Leave early for this match up against the Stanley Cup Champs.
The opening of the State Fair is the same date. (update- game was originally scheduled for 10/15, moved to 10/14)
- November 6 - (Maple Leafs) Coach Mo faces old "friends". Didn't he say he hoped they never won another game?
- November 11 - (Kings) Justin Williams returns home for the first time since being traded.
- November 30 - (Capitals) Always a huge game against the division champs.
- December 26 - (Flyers) Philadelphia comes back for a rematch the day after Christmas.
- December 31 - (Rangers) Traditional New Year's Eve game this time against Sean Avery and blue shirts.
- January 24 - (Bruins) Rematch of playoff foe will be a tough one.
- January 30 - (Blackhawks) Young and talented boys from Chicago come to Raleigh with ex-Cane Andrew Ladd.
- February 11 - (Sabres) Rivals come to town
- February 13 - (Devils) Last game before the Olympic break.
- March 11 - (Penguins) Another "brother versus brother" ordeal.
- March 13 - (Coyotes) Will this team still be based in Phoenix in March?
- March 25 - (Capitals) Last home match up against A.O.
- April 8 - (Canadiens) Final regular season home game and it could be a big one.