schedule

[blugold43]

i just looked at the schedule and saw the sabres have ZERO saturday night home games after feb. 11. that is seven straight saturday night road games to finish the season.

 

and it is not like we were loaded up with them in the first part of the season...it is a 50/50 split of home and away saturday games prior to that date.

 

why do i care? because if a franchise has to rely on being a "regional product" it seems sort of unfair that they should have to lure people in to only weeknight games. as cost conscious as the nhl has suddenly become, this seems like a cheap shot directed at a small market team. do i think it is it intentional? actually no. but it just sucks that they didn't create a more equitable situation.

 

plus, it makes it a lot harder for me to get to another game! :(

[Guest sabres522]

wait until march..you want to see a difficult schedule..look at the sabres..i know it has nothing to do with saturday night games but i think we play every division rival at least twice in the month (and toronto twice i believe)...along with two games vs. philly..should be an interesting push to the postseason, i say we keep piling up points and hold on tight :)

[mrjsbu96]

What about late January? It looks like they are away from home for almost three weeks? Is Bon Jovi playing the HSBC for two weeks straight or something? I know there are road trips in the NHL, but nothing like that.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

wait until march..you want to see a difficult schedule..look at the sabres..i know it has nothing to do with saturday night games but i think we play every division rival at least twice in the month (and toronto twice i believe)

I hope the Sabres do not become complacent now that they are playing so well because March and April are going to decide the playoff picture for them. They have 16 division games between those two months, and a total of 26 conference games. That is a lot of 4-point games to be had.....

[Stoner]

Maybe someone with a media guide can confirm that the Sabres have never played six straight homes then six straight road games. Or six straight at home or on the road, period. A really odd schedule.

 

As far as what nights they play, isn't it a team preference?

[Taro T]

i just looked at the schedule and saw the sabres have ZERO saturday night home games after feb. 11.  that is seven straight saturday night road games to finish the season. 

 

and it is not like we were loaded up with them in the first part of the season...it is a 50/50 split of home and away saturday games prior to that date.

 

why do i care?  because if a franchise has to rely on being a "regional product" it seems sort of unfair that they should have to lure people in to only weeknight games.  as cost conscious as the nhl has suddenly become, this seems like a cheap shot directed at a small market team.  do i think it is it intentional?  actually no.  but it just sucks that they didn't create a more equitable situation. 

 

plus, it makes it a lot harder for me to get to another game! :(

The Sabres for as long as I can remember have had few home Saturday night games but also have a LOT of Friday night games typically. I don't have the '03-'04 stats handy, but here is the breakdown for the previous few seasons.

 

Home -- Friday -- Saturday -- Sunday Away Friday -- Saturday -- Sunday

'98-'99 --- 12 ------- 6 ----------- 4 ------------- 2 ---------- 17 --------- 2

'99-'00 --- 11 ------- 5 ----------- 4 ------------- 2 ---------- 15 --------- 3

'00-'01 --- 15 ------- 5 ----------- 3 ------------- 2 ---------- 14 --------- 2

'01-'02 --- 14 ------- 3 ----------- 2 ------------- 2 ---------- 15 --------- 7

'02-'03 --- 14 ------- 5 ----------- 1 ------------- 2 ---------- 18 --------- 4

'05-'06 ---- 9 ------- 6 ----------- 3 ------------- 2 ---------- 12 --------- 3

 

A big part of the reason for this is HNIC. The league has allowed teams to request certain days / dates for home games for a long time. TO and Montreal have always gotten a lot of home Saturday night games. It looks like the Sabres choose Friday for home games as it seems to be the next best thing.

[LabattBlue]

Maybe someone with a media guide can confirm that the Sabres have never played six straight homes then six straight road games. Or six straight at home or on the road, period. A really odd schedule.

 

As far as what nights they play, isn't it a team preference?

You think the Sabres have it bad in January, the Flyers are 4 games into a stretch of 11 straight road games.

 

I wonder who was in charge of NHL scheduling this year, while the powers that be worked on rules changes?