Schedule

542365

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Mar 22, 2012
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It's weird that they play like very other day for a few weeks, and then there's like a 4 day gap. That happens multiple times throughout the schedule. You would think they could've planned that out a little better and have 2 days in between games every once in a while. Oh well. It's a lot of hockey crammed into a short amount of time. I'm excited.

EDIT: March and early April seem like the put up or shut up time of the schedule. LOTS of road games. The end of the schedule is very favorable.
 

rumrokh

THORBS
Mar 10, 2006
10,107
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No roadtrips longer than 5 games is nice, and the homestand to end the season is nice, but the 14 of 20 on the road stretch is a bit rough. Even though seven of those teams didn't make the playoffs, I found myself thinking "man, that's a tough schedule." Can't wait!
 

2 Minute Minor

Hi Keeba!
Jun 3, 2008
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Temple, Texas
Without getting into a philosophical debate, I find myself thinking, "Man, not many 'easy' games on there." The Blues have fared pretty well against the Eastern Conference, and playing mostly divisional games means that the division is going to be a bloodbath. Its going to be a lot harder for 4 teams, even if they're 4 of the top 8 in the conference, to end up in the top 8 in the standings due to all the intra-division games.

But it SHOULD make for a lot of exciting hockey. I think we're going to hate Nashville, Detroit and Chicago so much more by the end of this season.

And I think this schedule is favorable for the Northwest Division to sneak a 2nd team in, when they may not otherwise make it. I'll assume Vancouver makes it. And I think Minnesota will probably earn a spot (and that San Jose won't, from the Pacific). But maybe Edmonton sneaks in at 8 since the Blues/Blackhawks/Redwings/Predators have so many games against each other. I suspect at most only 3 of those teams will make the post-season. And I'll make this prediction: the odd man out ends up being Detroit or Chicago. That's right, I'm predicting Detroit or Chicago (one of them) won't make the playoffs. I lean towards Detroit

My preseason playoff picks, in no particular order, based on the published schedule which is NOT the same as predicting the 8 best teams in the conference:

Vancouver
Minnesota
Phoenix
LA
St Louis
Nashville
Chicago
Dallas

Out:
Columbus
Anaheim
Calgary
Edmonton
San Jose
Colorado
Detroit
 

DrVanntastic

Registered User
Jun 15, 2006
1,918
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Wentzville, MO
Vancouver
Minnesota
Phoenix
LA
St Louis
Nashville
Chicago
Dallas

Out:
Columbus
Anaheim
Calgary
Edmonton
San Jose
Colorado
Detroit

Mine is almost the same. I have Phoenix out and Edmonton in. Don't see Mike Smith putting up the same numbers he did last year.

March and early April worry me with all the road games. Put up or shut up time right there.
 

BlueDream

Registered User
Aug 30, 2011
25,685
14,074
Every team's schedule will be tough and crammed with little rest. No point in complaining about anything.
 

Alklha

Registered User
Sep 7, 2011
16,875
2,751
Nice to finish with so many home games, but it is all about getting to that point in a good position.

Difficult to avoid, but I really hate the unbalanced Division schedule. Probably won't have much impact on us, but the Rangers have 3 home games against the Penguins where it could have a huge impact on playoff seeding.
 

Chojin

Tiny Panger...
Apr 6, 2011
4,301
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Breakdown of games played:

Blackhawks 5
Red Wings 5
Blue Jackets 4
Predators 4
Avalanche 3
Canucks 3
Coyotes 3
Ducks 3
Flames 3
Kings 3
Oilers 3
Sharks 3
Stars 3
Wild 3

Sucks for us; our extra games are played against the Wings and Hawks.
 

Chojin

Tiny Panger...
Apr 6, 2011
4,301
573
Home games:

3 Blackhawks
2 Sharks
2 Red Wings
2 Predators
2 Oilers
2 Kings
2 Ducks
2 Coyotes
2 Blue Jackets
1 Wild
1 Stars
1 Flames
1 Canucks
1 Avalanche

Away games:

3 Red Wings
2 Wild
2 Stars
2 Predators
2 Flames
2 Canucks
2 Blue Jackets
2 Blackhawks
2 Avalanche
1 Sharks
1 Oilers
1 Kings
1 Ducks
1 Coyotes
 

BlueDream

Registered User
Aug 30, 2011
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Besides our divisional games I'm most looking forward to our games vs the Wild.
 

2 Minute Minor

Hi Keeba!
Jun 3, 2008
15,615
124
Temple, Texas
Every team's schedule will be tough and crammed with little rest. No point in complaining about anything.
I'm not sure if this is a response to me....but I'm not complaining. I'm analyzing.

And my analysis is that if you have a higher percentage of intradivisional games in the toughest division, the 2 other divisions in the conference are going to get some easier points. There is a dilution effect. Due to the nature of the schedule this year, that is exaggerated more than during a regular schedule. When playoff races come down to a single point (and probably likely to be even closer than usual with a shorter schedule) differences like this matter.

I think this is worthy of discussion. I'd love to hear some views from other people. Maybe I'm exaggerating this detail, but it stood out to me as I was considering the schedule. If I'm exaggerating the ramifications, anyone care to make a case?
 

Chojin

Tiny Panger...
Apr 6, 2011
4,301
573
I think this is worthy of discussion. I'd love to hear some views from other people. Maybe I'm exaggerating this detail, but it stood out to me as I was considering the schedule. If I'm exaggerating the ramifications, anyone care to make a case?

Funny, I just spent a couple of hours quantifying this very subject. You can find a full report here, on my blog.

The general idea is that you can look at the schedule for a team and compare the mean points percentage of their opponents this season to what it would be in a normal season. Here are the results:

2012-2013 NHL Schedule Difficulty by Team (easiest to hardest)

Team Difficulty
--------------------------------------------------------------
Montréal -0.434 %
New Jersey -0.378 %
Washington -0.191 %
Pittsburgh -0.160 %
Toronto -0.130 %
Florida -0.103 %
NY Islanders -0.099 %
Carolina -0.072 %
Tampa Bay -0.043 %
Buffalo +0.058 %
Ottawa +0.177 %
NY Rangers +0.250 %
Boston +0.341 %
Philadelphia +0.392 %
Winnipeg +0.407 %

Colorado -0.565 %
Nashville -0.533 %
Detroit -0.442 %
Anaheim -0.202 %
Dallas -0.175 %
San Jose -0.132 %
Minnesota -0.132 %
Vancouver +0.000 %
Edmonton +0.129 %
Columbus +0.184 %
Los Angeles +0.250 %
Phoenix +0.265 %
St. Louis +0.294 %
Chicago +0.481 %
Calgary +0.574 %

So, in fact, the Blues have the third-biggest increase in difficulty in the Western Conference, behind Calgary and Chicago, while Nashville, Detroit, and Colorado have easier schedules. That being said, I don't know how big of an effect this is, and I don't take into account many other variables, like head-to-head matchups and the loss of inter-conference games, as well as subjective factors like team imiprovement in the off-season. But the Blues certainly aren't going to have an easier season than most.

EDIT: I made a mistake by using a team's total points percentage instead of its in-conference points percentage. I have updated the numbers to reflect this change.
 
Last edited:

EastonBlues22

Registered User
Nov 25, 2003
14,807
10,496
RIP Fugu ϶(°o°)ϵ
Team - Miles - Back-to-Back

New Jersey Devils - 11,659 - 10
New York Rangers - 12,048 - 6
New York Islanders - 12,159 - 7
Philadelphia Flyers - 14,648 - 10
Ottawa Senators - 15,173 - 8
Buffalo Sabres - 15,749 - 9
Boston Bruins - 16,597 - 7
Montreal Canadiens - 16,612 - 9
Pittsburgh Penguins - 16,894 - 7
Washington Capitals - 17,763 - 8
Toronto Maple Leafs - 19,049 - 9
Carolina Hurricanes - 19,912 - 9
Tampa Bay Lightning - 20,592 - 8
Anaheim Ducks - 21,007 - 10
Columbus Blue Jackets - 22,380 - 11
St. Louis Blues - 22,691 - 10
Nashville Predators - 23,811 - 9
San Jose Sharks - 24,748 - 9
Chicago Blackhawks - 24,931 - 12
Florida Panthers - 25,059 - 7
Colorado Avalanche - 26,125 - 9
Edmonton Oilers - 26,500 - 8
Winnipeg Jets - 27,431 - 8
Detroit Red Wings - 27,471 - 12
Calgary Flames - 27,539 - 9
Phoenix Coyotes - 28,089 - 8
Los Angeles Kings - 28,132 - 8
Vancouver Canucks - 29,117 - 7
Dallas Stars - 29,482 - 9
Minnesota Wild - 31,345 - 9

SOURCE
 

2 Minute Minor

Hi Keeba!
Jun 3, 2008
15,615
124
Temple, Texas
Nice analysis Chojin.

I'm not *****ing about the schedule and I don't have a different model I would prefer. I'm just noting that its imbalanced, and that may have some effect. But whatever it is, the Blues just need to win their games and take care of business.
 

Mike Liut

HFBoards Sponsor
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Feb 12, 2008
19,285
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My Vcash was restored. I am betting all 500 on the Blues over the Wings in the first game. I am going to make some serious vcash money on the Blues this year. Anybody want a vcash challenge?
 

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