It got serious today around 4 p.m. for me when the AHL announced the schedule for the upcoming 2010-2011 season.
Full 30 team schedules can be found here in .pdf format. Wilkes-Barre’s is on the last page in the middle if you care to just print out the last page.
Eric P at the Wilkes-Blog offered analysis on the games. If I can piggyback Eric, the home opener Oct 9 vs. Hershey is huge. Adirondack follows on Oct 12 then we hit the road for Charlotte for two games Oct 15 and 17 in the Queen City. Carolyn Christians from Canes Country tweeted me earlier about this being the Checkers home opener, which crowds of over 12,000 are expected for both nights. Busloads from parent city Raleigh are no doubt anticipated. The Checkers some say are loaded up for a serious run at the Calder Cup this year. What better way for the WBS Pens to set the tone with Hershey, destroy the hapless Phantoms, then take the show on the road and completely let the air out of the Time Warner Cable Arena both nights (to avenge the sweep last year) and come home to Hershey Oct 22 4-0.
Beat writer Jonathan Bombulie was blogging like a boss earlier. His rock-solid analysis is here.
A quick glance of the schedule include the following potential road trips for me which do not include @ Binghamton / Hershey / All-Star Classic which are automatic for me:
- Charlotte – October 15 and 17
- Rochester – Nov 7
- Worcester – Nov 13*
- Albany – Dec 12 (in Atlantic City)
- Syracuse – Dec 18
- Hershey – Dec 30 (in Pittsburgh)**
- Charlotte – Jan 4 and 5*
- Providence / Adirondack / Hartford – Jan 14, 15, 16*
- Adirondack – Jan 21 (in Philadelphia)
- Albany / Binghamton – Jan 28 and 29
- Syracuse – Feb 5
- Bridgeport – Feb 11
- Norfolk – Feb 18 and 19
- Abbotsford / Manitoba – March 11, 12, 15, 16*
- Bingo / Adirondack / Hershey / Norfolk – Mar 25, 26, 27 and 30
- Syracuse – April 3
(Everything is predicated on weather, health, money, a reliable vehicle, etc.)
* – potential Booster Club trip — ** – counts as a home game for WBS. Likely will be included in the tickets for full share season ticket holders.
I do not like:
- Marlies Mar 4 in Toronto not part of the Abbotsford / Manitoba road trip.
- The yearly Thanksgiving game in Binghamton against Wilkes-Barre. Family trumps hockey for me (most of the time) especially on holidays.
- Rochester Nov 7 in Rochester, followed by a home game vs. Syracuse Nov 8 then back to Rochester Nov 9. I checked the Amerks schedule. They are on the road v. Albany Nov 8. Makes no sense.
- Jan 1 game v. Norfolk. Same day as the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. WBS is raffling 400 tickets to the game to its season ticket holders. What if I am one of the lucky ones who get a ticket to the Winter Classic? Just seems not logical (unless the Jan 1 game v. Norfolk was set in place before the game with Hershey in Pittsburgh.)
That’s all I have for now. Stay tuned to my Twitter feed for more analysis and more. We are inside of 50 days. Let’s Go Pens!
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