Islanders 2009-10 Schedule Analysis

Last year, on the day when the 2008-09 schedule was released, I did a post talking about the schedule and predicting how the Islanders would fare. Honestly, it was one of the most fun blogs I did all year. Now that the 2009-10 schedule is here, let's take a look at how things shake out for the Islanders.

- October is going to be a brutal month. Thanks to the Olympic Games, the schedule is super-compressed and starts earlier than it might. And it just so happens that the Islanders are getting slammed with quality opponents in the first month of the season. Let's check out this stretch starting on October 17 - home against San Jose, home against Carolina, at Montreal, home against Washington, at Montreal, home against the Rangers, at Washington. All of this takes place in a 14-day span. So, to recap, that's seven games against 2009 playoff teams, including two cross-country trips, in two weeks. To say this is a test would be an extreme understatement.

- Unfortunately for the Islanders, the real test comes in November. With the exception of a home game on November 7 against Atlanta, the Islanders will spend 19 straight days on the road. They'll stop in Buffalo, New Jersey, Washington, Carolina, Florida, Boston, Minnesota, St. Louis and Toronto. Five playoff teams in that group and three that just missed out. Oh, and the Islanders' Thanksgiving celebration is bookended with home games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. And after that, the Isles head out on the road again to play the Devils, Thrashers, Lightning, Flyers, and Maple Leafs.

- The silver lining is that after the Islanders come home after their December 9 game in Toronto, they'll spend virtually the rest of 2009 at home. The Isles' ten home games between December 12 and December 29 are all played in New York. They play two games at home, face the Rangers on the 16th, play four more at home, head to the Garden again on the 26th, and then play two more at home before traveling to Ottawa for a New Year's Eve game.

- The rest of the schedule pretty much follows the pattern of bizarre, long stretches at home or on the road. After a three-game Western Conference swing in January, they get six out of seven at home - which, of course, is followed by a four-game road trip. Then, in March, they play four out of five at home and follow that by playing four in a row on the road. Thankfully, the Islanders finish out the 2009-10 season by playing five of seven at home.

- That final stretch will be key if the Isles intend to make a playoff push. The Islanders' final ten games include two against the Rangers and two against the Penguins; they also take on the Flyers and Devils once. In other words, if the Islanders will prove if they're a playoff team or if they're still a year away during this stretch.

- Five. That's the number of times the Islanders will be forced to play games on consecutive nights with less than 24 hours between start times. I'm not talking about 30-minute differences, either. Most of these are 7 PM faceoffs followed by 5 PM starts the next day. As if it wasn't bad enough that they're scheduled to be playing two full games within a 24-hour period five times, on four of these occasions, the Islanders are traveling between games. So, for example, the Islanders will play a game at the Garden against the Rangers at 7, have to travel back home, and then host a well-rested Flyers team at 5 the next day. Do other teams have to do this? I sincerely doubt it.

- I know this will come as a surprise, but the Islanders don't look to be a popular candidate for NBC games this year. Not one of their Sunday games starts earlier than 5 PM - and as we all know, NBC has better things to show at 5 PM on Sundays than hockey. The Rangers, of course, have four Sunday games starting at either 1 PM or 3 PM. As for Versus, it's interesting to note that the Islanders don't play a single Monday night game after December 21. Presumably, this is so Versus can burn through the Islanders game(s) they're required to show and save the Mondays later in the season for more TV-friendly, playoff-contending teams. The Isles do have plenty of Tuesday night games, as the schedule largely sticks to the Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday norm we've seen over the years.

- The day when the Islanders don't have to promote the Rangers on their own website is a day I'll be a happy man. As it is, though, the Islanders' main page trumpets Rangers games as the biggest attractions on the schedule after Opening Night. That's sort of depressing. The Islanders, and their fans, will never develop their own identity if they're constantly comparing themselves to the Rangers. They're fun games and it's a fun rivalry, but come on. Let John Tavares and the young talent sell this team, not three visits from the cross-town rivals.

- West Coast teams that will be visiting the Coliseum this year: Los Angeles (sadly, they probably won't be wearing their awesome third jerseys), Sharks (I'd be there if my wife wasn't due to have a baby that week), Oilers (the Islanders of the West, basically), Blue Jackets (I'm there), Red Wings (awesome), Predators (when were they last here, 2002?), Blackhawks (ooh), Blues (good young team), Flames (good test for the Islanders). The Isles will be heading to Minnesota, St. Louis, Colorado, Dallas, Phoenix, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Columbus. So, for those who care, they're double-dipping against LA, Columbus, Minnesota, and St. Louis. Not bad.

- Looking at this schedule, I still see the Islanders much the same as I did beforehand - a team that should be good for somewhere between 80 and 85 points in 2009-10. I'm leaning towards the lower side of that number now, if only because the final weeks are going to beat the crap out of this team. Having said that, a healthy Rick DiPietro can make a huge difference for the Islanders. He might even get them in position to get them into the playoffs. Who knows?

- My friend Leslie, writer of The Lefty Stick blog, just purchased season tickets and invited me to call some games. Much to my surprise, I picked mostly games against Western opponents. In fact, the only game against an Eastern opponent I picked was a December game against Boston. I used to hate games against the West and actually loved the post-lockout schedule where there were only a handful of inter-conference games a year. Now? Seeing those Western teams is going to be a huge thrill.

- As for the rest of the league... as bad as the Islanders got the shaft, the teams that are worst off are the teams opening the season in Europe. Last year, those teams got a head start and were home before the season began for everyone else. This year? Not so much. Those teams actually play after some of the teams who will be opening the season from the comfort of their own homes. So these teams not only have to deal with flights to and from Europe, they have to do so on the same compressed schedule as the rest of the league. I sure hope these teams are being well-compensated for their sacrifices.

- The Winter Classic... ugh. It's starting to get ridiculous now. As we all know, the Winter Classic is no longer a bone thrown to the fans, a special moment in a very long regular season. Instead, the Winter Classic is like the Super Bowl or interleague play in baseball - it's something for the non-hockey fans who watch one game a year and act as if they follow hockey. If the NHL really cared about what the fans wanted to see, they'd have the Bruins facing the Canadiens, not the Flyers. But this is the NHL and NBC we're dealing with, and NBC is convinced there are only six teams in the entire league - the Flyers, the Rangers, the Penguins, the Capitals, the Red Wings, and the Blackhawks. Did you know that the Bruins and Flyers have a rivalry? I sure as hell didn't. And yet, Gary Bettman hails it as "a great rivalry". Um, NO. Speaking of rivalries, for those of you who are happy that the Rangers weren't a part of this year's game and are holding out hope for an Isles-Rangers Winter Classic, it's never going to happen. Bettman would never take the chance of an ugly incident happening in the league's showcase game, and Isles-Rangers can get a little intense at times - if not on the ice, then definitely in the crowd. Next year's game will obviously be Rangers-Capitals at Yankee Stadium, because God forbid NBC showcases a team outside of their usual favorites.

Checking Up on Last Year's Schedule...

Well, the 2009-10 schedule will be released very shortly (about 3:00, they say) and I figured what better day to talk about last year's schedule.

Last season, I wound up having a half-season package. I thought I would just have an 11-game plan, though, so I gave every game a "score" from 0 points to 3 points. The Rangers gave me a choice of four 11-game plans, and whichever had the most points, I would pick.

Turns out, they offered me a half-season plan after I already signed up for the 11-game plan, so I took the no-brainer: the plan with Adam Graves night and opening night.

Let's look back on what games I thought would be awesome or crappy, and how they actually turned out, shall we? ... ...

The 4 games I was most excited about were Opening Night vs. Chicago, Sean Avery's return game vs. Dallas in October, and the last two home games of the year, vs. Montreal and Philadelphia. These were the only 4 "3-point games." I did wind up going to all four.

The home opener was excellent, as it always it. Excitement, new players, great crowd, the Molly Wee Pub, a pretzel stick in my beer, and 2 points for a win.

Sean Avery's "return game" was horrendous. My friend Tom and I each had 4 beers on the train in and 4 at the bar. I had 2 at the game and he had 4. He passed out in the middle of the 2nd period, and I didn't wake him because it was so boring. Markus Naslund scored under a minute into the game on the power play, then the Rangers did n o t h i n g the rest of the game and lost 2-1. Horrible game, but we got Avery's autograph later (me on an Avery jersey, Tom on a Ryan Callahan jersey which he stained 10 minutes later with curry from his Halal sandwich).

The last 2 games of the year were great, also. The Canadiens game was good because a regulation win nearly clinched the playoffs for the Rangers. They were neck-and-neck with the Habs, and a big 3-1 win put them in position to clinch in the next game.

The game against Philly saw them clinch, keeping my friend Tom's streak of seeing them clinch in person alive.

So, 3 out of 4 games that I thought would be awesome, were indeed awesome.

(The reason I didn't give Adam Graves Night 3 points is because it wasn't announced when it was at the time of the post. Turns out, the game was horrible but the ceremony was great.)

Of the 3 games I gave no points to, one was a Sunday afternoon game against Philly. I was actually offered a very nice ticket to the game (but very expensive, purple seats, center ice, like $240) which I declined because I couldn't get off work. That game? A 5-2 stinker where Henrik Lundqvist was yanked early and the Rangers went down 5-0. I remember I was watching before I left for work and they were down 2-0. I switched channels, went back a moment later and it was 3-0. I switched channels for 3 more minutes and it was 5-0.

The best game I went to last year, off the top of my head, was a 4-1 win over the same Flyers. About 5,000 Philadelphia fans were in the building but Sean Avery scored 2 goals and those Flyers fans were hushed quickly.

One of my favorite parts of the schedule is seeing the road games and planning trips to see them. Two years ago, I did Boston, Montreal, Jersey, Philly, and of course the Coliseum.

Last year, I only did the Coliseum and Nashville, a game I had planned on going to. This year, they probably won't be there again (should be a home game versus the Predators, unless they play 2 games against them) but if they are, I'll be there. Great city, decent hockey atmosphere, clean building, and good memories since the Rangers won 4-2 after John Tortorella ripped everyone a new defecator after the 1st period. Plus, I was 3rd row from the ice.

Anyway, today should be the last exciting day of the summer for hockey fans until mid-September, when training camp kicks off.

I'll be working later but will probably write a little bit about what road games look interesting around midnight tonight.

Two things to expect? Lots of games against division rivals in the last 10 games (probably 8 of the last 10 will be against the Atlantic division); and no Islander-Ranger games on weekends (atleast not at the Coliseum).

A Few Notes...

1) Tom Renney will be the assistant coach in Edmonton next season under Pat Quinn. Renney in Edmonton? Know what this means? Three more years of Jason Strudwick in an Oiler jersey.

2) Sergei Fedorov will be going to the KHL in Russia to play with his brother, Fedor, on the Metallurg Magnitogorsk. This puts to rest the commonly held theory that no one wanted to ever be on the same team as FedFed, as at least one person in the world does.

3) Years ago, people criticized Ronald Reagan for calling the Soviet Union "an Evil Empire," yet no one criticized them for actually being an evil empire. Yesterday, the NHL fined Joel Quenneville $10,000 for criticizing the officials. Quenneville questioned a penalty when the game was 2-0 which he said was the worst call in the history of the game. They fined him for saying something was wrong instead of investigating what went wrong and why the phantom call was made. Detroit scored on the ensuing power play and the game quickly got out of hand.

4) Can you imagine if both matchups end by tomorrow and we have 9 days off until the Stanley Cup Finals start? What a stark difference to the NBA, which plays Round 2 games in the West when Round 1 games in the East aren't even finished yet.

Nine days? Nine days? Nine days?! That's ridiculous! What "fringe fan" who has been interested in fast-paced Penguin/Hurricane games is going to even remember to watch again on a Saturday afternoon 9 days after the Conference Finals end!?

Of all the questionable decisions the NHL has made, this is up there as one of the worst. For Gary Bettman's sake, he better hope Carolina and Chicago get the comeback trains rolling.

Horrible. I know they want NBC to have the games on weekends, but still, there has to be someone over in the NHL offices who has a clue about how to run a league. Are the ratings on NBC on Sunday afternoon really that much higher than the Versus ratings on a Wednesday night? I would venture "not much" because the real fans watch no matter what channel it's on.

Rangers-Bruins Tonight

We're probably due for a Rangers post right about now. But before we get to that, I just want to point out the sheer absurdity that is the Islanders' 2008-09 schedule. Now, when the schedule came out back in July, I pretty much trashed it. But I actually missed something in my initial run-through. It turns out the Islanders only have one home-and-home this entire year... and it's this weekend. Against Ottawa.

That's right. Islanders-Senators, home-and-home. Because, you know, us Islander fans are still bitter about losing to the Senators in 2003. Oh wait, we're not? Oh yeah! We're not! So why is it that we're deprived a home-and-home with a divisional rival and instead, we get this crap? Great job, NHL. I swear, if the NHL did the opposite of everything they actually end up doing, we'd have a great injury policy and a schedule that makes sense. Go figure.

Anyway. About that Rangers post... the Rangers play Boston in what should be a very good game. The Bruins have played extremely well of late, not just taking the top spot in the Northeast, but moving up to second place in the East... right behind the Rangers. How good are these two teams? They're 1-2 in the conference, but that doesn't tell the story. The Rangers are 2nd in the conference in goals scored; the Bruins are 4th. The Bruins are 1st in the conference in goals allowed; the Rangers are 3rd.  And you can say all you want that the Rangers are only first in the East because they've played more games than anyone else, but thar argument holds no water because these Rangers are great. Right now, so are the Bruins. And to be honest, I'm probably more excited about this game than the Islanders game I'm attending tonight. Here's hoping for a good show by both teams. 

These are two teams that need to be good all year long for the media to take notice of the NHL. And that's not because ESPN worships Boston, even though it does, but because the Original Six are still the top draws in the league and in a perfect world, they'd be the six best teams in the league. The Bruins and Rangers could be neck-and-neck for the East lead for much of the season. Let's see a good start to what could become a pretty good rivalry.

Islanders Schedule Analysis

The Islanders released their schedule yesterday. It's a bit... um... interesting.

OK, let's not pull any punches. It looks like the kind of schedule you'd see in a video game when you play a second season. For example, in my 2008-09 season in NHL 08, I open up at home against the Devils... only to play the Devils at home again two nights later. The Isles' schedule isn't that horrific - and for that, we are eternally grateful - but it is a bit bizarre.

Let's dig into this thing.

- Unlike last year, the Islanders will actually be playing games in October this year. No more ridiculous strings of three games in two weeks. Thank God. That the Islanders play some teams they traditionally play well against (Rangers, Flyers, Devils, Lightning) as well as some bad teams (Blues, Panthers) helps out as well.

- The Isles booked a number of matinee games, which don't seem to make that much of a difference to many of us, but are great for getting kids to come out. (No, little Kylie will not be attending her first Islander game this year, but at least she'll get to watch the earlier games on TV.) They have a matinee on just about every holiday - Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, New Year's Eve, MLK Day, and President's Day. They've scheduled some other random ones as well.

- On the national TV front, the Islanders have two chances to crack NBC's flex schedule: March 8 vs. Phoenix and March 15 vs. Chicago. Great. Figures that the NHL screws the Islanders by putting them in useless matchups against the West on Sundays. Meanwhile, on those two dates, the Rangers will be playing the Bruins and Flyers respectively. Gee, I wonder which direction NBC will take.

- Now, we get to what makes this schedule so ridiculous - the extreme number of lengthy home/road swings the Islanders will go on. They're on the road for four straight in December and then they go out to the West Coast for four more in January (thankfully, they only have one West Coast swing). The West Coast trip is followed immediately by five straight home games. Then, we get to the season's crucial point - February 26th. This is the date when the Islanders will begin a six-game home stand, which will be directly followed by six straight road games. Who the hell came up with that idea? Everyone knows attendance on Long Island picks up significantly (as in, the Coliseum is sold out) if the Islanders are involved in a playoff chase in mid-March, so let's capitalize on that by sending them on the road for two weeks in crunch time. Good f'ing job, NHL.

- The final stretch of the season is a doozy, with nine of the Isles' final eleven games being played against playoff teams from last year. One of the two non-playoff teams is the Lightning, who will be significantly better this year. Uh-oh.

- If anybody cares, the Islanders will be playing twice against the following Western Conference teams: Columbus (hello, Mr. Filatov), Phoenix (The Great One, not to mention a good young team), and Minnesota (zzzz). Let's hope the geniuses in the Islanders corporate offices make these promotional giveaway nights. Something tells me the sizzle of an Islanders-Blue Jackets matchup isn't going to sell a lot of tickets on its own.

So, how do I see this season playing out? Well, it looks like the NHL did the Islanders a favor by giving them a lot of rivalry games early on so people can see them playing at their best, thereby helping the Isles to sell tickets for their remaining slate of games. However, the lengthy road trips will take their toll on this team; if they don't do the Islanders in, their punishing April will. They could sneak into the playoffs, but it's going to be a tall order indeed.

Busy News Day On Long Island

Sorry to usurp Zach's post on jerseys. I'd advise reading it; it's something I think we can all relate to. I can't say the same thing about liking Ryan Hollweg.

Anyway, it's been a pretty big day in Islanders Country. Who knew we'd have so much to talk about? I figured we'd have broken out the summer reading and NHL 08 stuff weeks ago.

For those who missed it, here's what happened today...

- It wasn't exactly publicized, but "The Committee" is no more. Charles Wang insists that Garth Snow is in charge of hockey operations going forward. Good for him. This "business model", which Wang insisted was the future of hockey, lasted almost exactly two years and resulted in exactly one playoff win, not to mention a ton of scorn and embarrassment. Thanks a lot, Charles.

Party on, Wang! Party on, Garth! (Sorry. That cracks me up every time.)

- The Islanders signed Jeff Tambellini to a two-year deal. It's a one-way deal that will pay Tambellini $550,000 this year and $625,000 the next. If nothing else, this guarantees that Tambellini will be on the Island for the next two years instead of riding the Port Jefferson Ferry a dozen times a year. For his development, it's huge; however, it's time for Tambellini to show he's worth it. Four goals in 79 NHL games doesn't cut it.

- The Isles also inked another of their restricted free agents - Sean Bergenheim. It's funny how firing your agents changes things. Just a week ago, Bergenheim was headed for a bitter arbitration hearing. Now, he's got a deal for 2008 and 2009 that will pay him $800,000 and $925,000 respectively. It's not confirmed anywhere, but we can only assume it's a one-way contract. This does a lot to convince Islander fans that the marriage between Bergenheim and his team can be a long-term one; it also shows the other young players on the Island that the team is committed to youth. Thank God.

- Buzz on The NHL Arena suggested that some of the NHL schedule would be unveiled today. The plan, as was speculated, was to announce the home openers today and the rest of the schedule tomorrow. Well, we never heard anything from the Islanders about this (yet), but we have been able to confirm that the Islanders will be visiting the Prudential Center on October 10th as the Devils kick off their home campaign. As is always the case in New Jersey, great seats are still available. Greg Logan of Newsday states that the Devils game will be the Islanders' first, with the home opener being played the following night against St. Louis. At least they're burning one of their non-drawing Western Conference games with the home opener, which will most likely be a sell-out.

Also, the worst-kept secret in hockey was confirmed, as the Red Wings and Blackhawks will be facing off at the 2009 Winter Classic, which will be played at Wrigley Field. I know a lot of us wanted the Islanders to be included, but this is great for the game. There's a serious hockey revival going on in Chicago, and this is the icing on the cake. It's great to have another Original Six city re-embracing the game. With an team full of emerging young stars, every game on TV, and now the Winter Classic, hockey is back on the map in Chicago - and not a moment too soon.

We should see schedules unveiled for both New York teams tomorrow. At this point, all we know is that the two teams will have six games against each other; common sense dictates that these games will be played on weeknights. Let's hope for some more home-and-homes like we saw down the stretch last year.

You Never Know

Obviously, the Rangers won tonight. Zach is there right now; he'll have the floor when he returns.

Real quick, though, you have to give the Rangers credit, even if you hate their guts. And even if you hate their guts (like me), you wanted to see this series go as long as possible. This was supposed to be a great series, but it has barely even been a good one. I'd love to see that changed, and the only way to accomplish that is to play more games.

Anyway. As I watched the Rangers tonight, I couldn't help but marvel at their effort while simultaneously wondering if they'd be able to sustain that effort for three more games. Then I looked at the schedule... and you know what? Maybe it is possible. And in a league that's often accused of copying the NBA, the Rangers' ace in the hole very well could be the ridiculous TV-sensitive stretched-out schedule.

Think about it. NBC has Game 5 on Sunday afternoon, which isn't that much better than playing Saturday night, but at least affords the Rangers another night of rest. That's followed by a potential Game 6 at home. Not exactly the situation you'd love to have. But imagine a red-hot Ranger team coming home to a rabid crowd on the verge of tying the series up. How do you bet against them? If they can pull off Games 5 and 6, they'd have three days to rest up before next Thursday's Game 7.

All of this, of course, assumes the Rangers don't fold in Pittsburgh on Sunday, which is always a possibility. But let's not think about that. Let's hope these Rangers can make this a memorable series after all.

EDIT: Game 7 is on Wednesday, not Thursday. My mistake. Still, getting to Game 7 would pretty much erase the Rangers' fatigue. They'd have all the momentum in the world and the Penguins would be reeling. Remember the "Dead Men Walking" Yankees in 2004 as they mailed in Game 7?