The NHL schedule came out earlier this week. Each team plays 82 games with a bye week. There are 42 home games and 42 away games. According to NHL.com, in the Eastern Conference, teams will play 30 games in their division, 24 out of the division, and 28 against the Western Conference. The teams in the Western Conference will face their division opponents 29 times. 21 games are within the Western Conference. The remaining 32 games are against Eastern Conference teams.
The season starts on October 12th. Pittsburgh will start their title defense on October 13. The Colorado Avalanche begins the season on October 15th. Let’s take a closer look at the Avalanche schedule.
After their first game, Colorado will go on a four game road trip from October 17 to October 22. Their longest road trip of the season is five games in February. They will travel to face the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabers, and Carolina Hurricanes. That is not a bad road trip. They won’t really travel that far since most of those teams are in the New York area.
The toughest part about a long schedule is back-to-back games when teams play one game and need be ready to take the ice again in less than 24 hours. Colorado has a total of 11 of those games this season including the end of the season on April 8th and 9th. Not a lot but it is still tough to finish the game, fly to the next city, land early in the morning , and be up for the next game.
Colorado will enjoy their longest home stand of five games, November 23rd to December 3rd. They will host Edmonton, Vancouver, Nashville, Columbus, and Dallas. When this part of the schedule occurs, they need to take advantage of the home ice. They will not have to and this should give them an advantage to winning those games.
The season will finish on April 9th. Colorado will look to improve on their record last year. They finished 39-39-4 with 82 points, five points behind Minnesota for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. It will be one exciting year of hockey. Be sure to catch all the action.
What do you think of the Colorado Avalanche’s schedule for the upcoming season?
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