2008/2009 NHL Schedule!

The entire schedule for the upcoming 08/09 NHL season was released early this morning. The format for the schedule has been changed a bit this year, compared to how it has been since the lockout. Since the lockout, each team has played the other teams in their division EIGHT times each, the non-divisional teams in their conference four times each, one eastern division at home, and one eastern division on the road, leaving an entire division in the Eastern conference unplayed each season. This year, however, they have cut the divisional games down to six per team, while keeping the non-divisional conference games at four games per team. Regarding the Eastern conference, the Avs will get the chance to play against each of the 15 teams at least once this year (nine at home, nine on the road), and will play three of the Eastern teams twice (Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay). I love this change to the schedule and I am glad that I'll be able to see my team play at least once against all 29 other teams.

For the Avs, the season opener is miraculously not against the Stars this year. It's actually against an Eastern team, the Boston Bruins, which should be exciting for the fans since the Bruins haven't played at The Can since December 2005, and seem to be putting together a good team back in my other favorite sports city in the country.

As an Avs fan living in LA, I get to see them twice a year against the Kings, and twice a year against the Ducks. For some reason, both of last season's games against the Kings fell in December, meaning I didn't get to see the team after that and I wasn't happy. The NHL must really have something against me, because this year, the Avs are in LA in October and November, leaving five months of the season after that with no games out here for me. Granted, the November game is a day before my birthday, so a win would mean a whole hell of a lot, but I'm still not pleased with the schedule again. You can't win them all, I'm afraid.