Chirps from Center Ice

The day is finally upon us when the American Hockey League announced its schedule for the 2011-12 season. Here is a full breakdown for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins:

The Pens will open their 13th season of play at home vs. the Hershey Bears on Saturday, October 8 at 7:05. The Bears, the night before, will be in Binghamton on the leagues opening night.

The longest road stretch for the Penguins will be four games in October, at Springfield, Hershey, Syracuse and Manchester on October 21, 22, 28 and 29th respectively. The will also have a four game road stretch in March, at Providence, Bridgeport, Springfield and Norfolk on March 9, 10, 11 and 14th respectively.

The longest home stand will be five games in March also, vs. Worcester, Binghamton, Adirondack, St. John’s and Springfield on March 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25th respectively.

The first ever games with the St. John’s IceCaps will be in St. John’s on January 14 and 15. The IceCaps come to Northeast Pennsylvania on March 6 and March 24.

The dates versus Hershey are as follows, with home dates in boldface: October 8, October 22, November 4, November 11, November 25, December 10, December 27, December 28, February 3, February 5, February 12 and April 6.

The Pens will square off against the defending Calder Cup Champion Binghamton Senators on the following dates with the home dates in bold: October 15, November 5, November 15, November 26, December 7, December 13, January 28, February 17, March 18 and April 13.

The League reduced the schedule from 80 games to 76 games and in doing so eliminated the four games in five nights which was commonplace. Three games in three nights still exist, with the Pens having to endure the triumvirate of games for a total of seven times, with many late in the year.

A full breakdown of games by month is as follows: October, 9 games with 4 home and 5 away. November, 13 games with 5 home and 8 away. December, 11 games with 6 home and 5 away. January, 12 games with an even 6 home and 6 away. February, 12 games with 7 home and 5 away. March, 13 games with 6 home and 7 away and April sees the Pens play 6 games with 4 at home and 2 away.

That breakdown isn’t good enough for you? Fine. The Pens play a total of 12 games on Sunday with 5 home games and 7 on the road. The Pens play on Monday twice, once at home and once on the road with that road game being a 1 p.m. start time in Portland versus the Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton plays a total of 7 times on Tuesday with 4 home games and 3 on the road. On Wednesdays the Pens play 8 times with an even 4 games at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza and 4 on the road. On Thursdays the Pens play twice, 1 home and 1 road game. Fridays the Pens play a total of 19 games, 10 at home and 9 on the road. Saturdays are by far the busiest day for the Pens as they play a sum total of 26 games, 14 at home and 12 on the road.

Some other casual observations…

There is going to be an All-Star Classic again this season. It will be January 29-30th. No venue has been chosen yet by the League. I would anticipate word on this before the puck drops on October 7th.

Chatter about the Pens playing the Phantoms in an outdoor game vs. the Adirondack Phantoms in conjunction with the Winter Classic in Philadelphia this year was debunked. January 6 was the date tossed around. The Pens host the Rochester Americans on that date. The Phantoms are at home versus the Bears on that date as well.

The theme this season for the Penguins is going to feature a Friday the 13th motif, as the calendar schedule features a “Jason Mask” from the popular 80s horror series as evidenced by the block schedule the Penguins put out.

The AHL will have every team in action only twice, on Saturday, February 18 and Friday, April 13.

The Pens also have given the fans a look at the third jersey, which you can see here. I will have more clearer, up close pictures tomorrow at Pensfest.

So there you have it. Dissection complete. If I have missed anything or am incorrect with my calculations, please let me know in the comment section. Check out the Penguins Insider later too, as Jonathan always has tidbits that go unseen by the naked eye.

Let’s Go Pens!!!