Milwaukeehockey.com

Road Trippin'

August 7, 2007

Road trippin' with my two favorite allies
Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies
It's time to leave this town
It's time to steal away
Let's go get lost
Anywhere in the U.S.A.
~ Red Hot Chili Peppers

The schedule for this season has finally been released, and that means the diehard fans can now begin scheduling their lives around this calendar.

Family vacations, weddings, parties, dentist appointments, etc. (Hey, it's not fun going to a game with a mouth full of novacaine). We now know what days and weeks are good for that stuff... at least for now. All it would take is for a Cyndi Lauper tour to ask the BC to play on a particular night to find the Admirals forced to reschedule a game. We, as fans, can't control that, so we can only pray that when we make plans around the current schedule, that it stays that way.

So, let's break down the upcoming season.

The Admirals will play 60 their 80 games within a cozier division. With the addition of nearby Rockford, IL, and the relocation of Omaha to Moline, IL (Quad City), the Admirals will be closer to home much more often.

In the division, Milwaukee will play 10 games (5 home, 5 away) against Chicago and Rockford, and 8 games against the rest (Quad City, Peoria, Iowa, Houston, San Antonio).

Against the North division, the Admirals face Grand Rapids 8 times, Manitoba 4 times, and Toronto and Hamilton twice each. They will not play against three Western Conference teams - Rochester, Syracuse, and the new team in Cleveland (Lake Erie Monsters).

The only Eastern Conference teams on the Admirals schedule are Providence and Manchester. The Monarchs make their Bradley Center debut on January 18. The Admirals play in Manchester for the first time on February 5.

Of course, I need to insert my yearly bitchin' and complainin' about the fact the AHL coddles the New England teams by limiting the number of inter-conference games. Without looking it up, I think the only time Lowell ever left the Eastern time zone was to play in St. John's (1998-2005). The league continues to ignore the fans who have asked for more crossover.

The negative effect of the unbalanced schedule on the Admirals is less this year than in the past, as we will see an extra rival, which spreads out the heavy part of the schedule. Instead of watching the same teams 6-7 times a year, it's now down to 4-5. Still, I'd like to see a few more Eastern teams each year.

Notable road trips
- November 9-10, both nights at Manitoba
- November 23-30, fly to Texas, Houston to San Antonio, back to Houston, back to San Antonio, finishing it off in Quad City
- December 8-9, mingle with the hosers on a weekend trip to Hamilton and Toronto
- February 5-6, try the clam chowda in Manchester and Providence
- April 2-4, two games in San Antonio, enjoy the River Walk on the 3rd
- April 12-13, finish the season in Houston

Other nuggets
- The first ten games of the season alternate home and away.
- The team doesn't leave the upper midwest for two long stints: Dec. 10 - Feb. 4 and Feb. 7 - Apr. 1.
- For now, there are no early afternoon games. 7pm on weekdays, 7:30 on Saturdays, and 4pm on Sundays.
- 8 of the 12 games in March are at home, including a 6 game home stand
- The year's shortest month features the most games... 16 in February
- The Admirals play in Rockford for the first time on Dec. 22, while the IceHogs make their formal debut on BC ice on Jan. 12... although you can argue that the Admirals were practically the IceHogs for several games in the past few seasons due to many callups.
- Quad City comes to Milwaukee for the first time on Oct. 12 (home opener), while the Admirals travel to Moline for the first time on Oct. 26.
- No games on Halloween or St. Patrick's Day, but the Admirals get to give the Wolves a heart-shaped butt-whoopin' on Valentine's Day.
- New Year's Eve in Rockford. That might be fun. Or not. At least it's close enough to get back home by midnight (if you hurry).

Well, off you go... update your day planners.

posted by Todd # 12:07 PM

Comments:

Well, I keep getting calls and letters about renewing my season ticket package...September 4th deadline...I'm sure I will.
My wife (we're due in three months) swears that she will still go to the games, and we'll bring the little one. But, that probably means that I have to invest in one of the Admirals 'baby jerseys' for the Jumbotron...which brings me to my continued angst over the uniforms. I am sure that we're going to be in the new style RBK slim look this year - but last years debut of the skeleton cartoon is still making me quite upset! The other day the missus was looking at my jerseys hanging on the closet door (she is chagrined as the first year she wears her #48 Briere jersey - he gets traded to Philly post season!)and she laments at how hideous they are, and how classy the old 'chinny Admiral' looked...
Oh well...looking forward to training. The real story will be to see who comes down - Rinne or Ellis. IMO Ellis is a better goalie for the immediate backup role to Mason in NSH, and Rinne needs another year to 'season - prove himself'...

# posted by

clarkie : August 25, 2007 4:14 PM

Archives