Howard Saffan had some pretty blunt comments that’ll go into the story, and it’s clear that this isn’t about the couple of hundred fans who are there every single night; it’s about the 8,000 who aren’t. It’s about money. Cut out two Wednesday home games, get free travel — not a bad deal for them. (Saffan said season-ticketholders would get either a credit for those two games, or an Islanders ticket. You can probably debate that deal.)
So there are two November games in the Maritimes, and there are only six Wednesday-night dates in Bridgeport. (Plus two Tuesdays against Norfolk.)
And then they come back from Canada and go to Texas.
But it’s not like they’re packing all the travel into November, just the big ones. They’d never gone Philly-to-Albany before last January; they’ll do it twice this year. I always have to look for hotel stays, and there are a ton, especially early: those Philly-Albany runs, that Portland-to-Worcester in October. Jan. 21-26 may be just one long road trip, Albany to Portland to Portland to the All-Star Game. On the other hand, the season ends without much travel, except for the weekend that the NCAA Regionals are here.
But right before that…
There’s a lot of things Bridgeport doesn’t want to repeat from 2006-07. One of them is “February.” Remember that month? How they scrapped their way back into the race, took over fourth place… then got absolutely zonked by that eight-games-in-10-days stretch, finishing with four losses in a row, left chasing Albany again?
This one is worse. Feb. 6-March 3, they play 17 games in 26 days. That includes an 8-in-10, Feb. 13-22, which is then followed two days later by a 4-in-5. That one began with a northeast tour, Worcester-Portland-Providence; this one begins with a trip to Norfolk.
So which will have the bigger effect, the home finish or the February march? The home-friendly schedule will help. But if there’s nobody left to play those games after the February war of attrition…
…well, then there may not be any April travel.
(No one else plays only four games in April, BTW. And that final Sunday, April 12, is Easter, which is why there are only three games. And I just noticed that the NHL and AHL seasons are back to ending at the same time. Question for tomorrow, I guess.)
Other bits of interest: 12 three-in-threes, one more than last year (but two fewer than 2006-07). The 1 p.m. Sunday start returns in January, for three games anyway. And Fridays are 7 p.m. starts, as Saffan promised last season. Cool Fun 101 (which should be deeply into graduate study by now) is Nov. 5. The Texas teams come in Jan. 7 (Houston) and Feb. 11 (San An).
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By the way, for those four games in a row (and only those four), don’t forget to factor in time changes, if you’re going off the AHL site. Translated to Eastern, they’re 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 5:05 p.m. and 8 p.m. starts, in order.
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I have two St. John’s stories, maybe, to share. Maybe this weekend.
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Doug Gilmour is joining the Marlies’ coaching staff.
Congrats to Ted Lindsay, Phil Housley, Brian Burke and Bob Naegele on the Lester Patrick Trophy.
Soundin’ Off Book Club: Vaccinated, by Paul A. Offit, from last year. About Maurice Hilleman, who developed most modern major vaccines, and about the others who’ve developed them, too. Moving story, brightly told; great read.
There are, as of daybreak Friday: 42 days to Islanders camp; 52 days to Sound Tigers camp; 63 days to opening night; 71 days to the home opener.
And finally, at least I’ll get to see a team from ManchVegas once this year… Who knows where we can get a good meal in Williamsport?
*-We demand concert reviews.