Now that I’ve had a day to go over the full schedule (and listen to the annual complaints amongst the fanbase), a further look into what to expect during the regular season:
-Before I get into more details, I (being a season ticket holder) did receive a letter from the Devils about making up the four Atlantic City games (since I had locked in a full season rate when I signed up for my ticket package a couple of seasons ago): extra vouchers, credit towards playoffs, credit towards 2014-15 season tickets, or just a straight refund. If you’re not going to tell us (again) this is going to happen, at least they have something to reimburse us.
-Longest homestand: 4 games, from October 25th-November 1st. Longest road trip: 5, from March 2nd-14th (normally when the Times Union Center is booked up with high school/NCAA events), but the furthest they go is Portland on the 7th. Mostly a New England swing, which isn’t bad.
-Norfolk is the furthest spot they travel, and they get that trip out of the way early, on October 18th and 19th. With no Rochester on the schedule for the first time ever, the furthest west they travel is Syracuse.
-A total of 11 3 in 3 weekends, with most of them coming the second half of the season. The most brutal looking one? Valentine’s Day weekend: Friday at “home” in Atlantic City, Saturday afternoon at the real home, then off to Bridgeport for a 3 PM start the next afternoon. There are also 2 all road 3 in 3’s, coming in March/April.
-No 7 PM Saturday puck drops. All are at 5 PM except January 25th, which is a 2 PM start. The very few Sunday home games (5 here, but 2 in Atlantic City) start at 3 or 5 PM locally, 4 PM in Atlantic City.
-The AHL All-Star Break was scheduled a little later than usual this season: instead of the last week in January, it has been pushed back to Tuesday, February 11th (Skills) and Wednesday, February 12th (Game). The location will be announced at a later date (early rumors are St. John’s will be the host).
Our friends at The Hockey Writers have their own schedule breakdown here.
In other news, New Jersey announced yesterday the opening training camp schedule:
-Devils rookies and AHL players report for photos and physicals on September 9th, with the first practice on September 10th.
-The rest of the team reports on September 11th, with their first practice on September 12th. First game comes on September 16th against the Rangers.
-And finally, a quick preview of September’s player tracker: with longtime goalie Jeff Frazee leaving North America, the list of players without a home for next season is now down to 6. This list includes last year’s captain (Jay Leach) and one of the key members of the defense (Corbin McPherson). So there is a very good chance there could be a new Devils captain come October. And about that new Adam Henrique contract…
Thoughts Inside The Box 