2015-16 Schedule Revealed

This summer has been a lot of waiting.

We waited as the ECHL and NHL all released their schedules.

We waited as new divisions, playoff setups, and complaints about the shorter California 5 schedule were announced.

But today, finally, plans for the fall and winter can be made.

This afternoon the AHL finally released the full 2015-16 schedule.  A total of 1,120 games will be played between Friday, October 9th and Sunday, April 17th.  25 teams will play 76 games, while the infamous California 5 (San Jose, Stockton, San Diego, Bakersfield, and Ontario) will play 68.

Let’s take a look at the full Albany schedule, followed by a breakdown of opponents, numbers, etc.:

OCTOBER

10–at Binghamton

17–at Toronto

18–at Toronto

23–at Portland

24–PORTLAND

25–BINGHAMTON

30–BRIDGEPORT

31–UTICA

NOVEMBER

1–TORONTO

6–at Syracuse

7–at Hartford

13–at Providence

14–at Lehigh Valley

15–at Springfield

20–SPRINGFIELD

21–W/B-SCRANTON

25–BRIDGEPORT

27–BINGHAMTON

28–at Springfield

DECEMBER

2–ST. JOHN’S

5–ROCHESTER

6–SYRACUSE

11–SYRACUSE

12–at W/B-Scranton

15–at St. John’s

16–at St. John’s

19–at Rochester

26–PROVIDENCE

30–UTICA

31–at Utica

JANUARY

2–at Hartford

8–SYRACUSE

9–LEHIGH VALLEY

10–at Hartford

13–ROCHESTER

15–at Providence

16–at Utica

20–HARTFORD

22–ST. JOHN’S

23–ST. JOHN’S

27–HERSHEY

29–UTICA

30–at Bridgeport

FEBRUARY

5–at Providence

6–HARTFORD

9–PROVIDENCE

12–at Rochester

13–ROCHESTER

14–BRIDGEPORT

20–at Utica

21–at Bridgeport

24–ST. JOHN’S

26–at Springfield

28–at Bridgeport

MARCH

1–at Toronto

4–at St. John’s

5–at St. John’s

11–at Binghamton

12–UTICA

13–TORONTO

16–PROVIDENCE

19–at Utica

20–at Bridgeport

22–SPRINGFIELD

25–at Syracuse

26–at Hershey

29–HARTFORD

1–at Binghamton

2–SPRINGFIELD

3–BINGHAMTON

8–at Syracuse

9–at Binghamton

10–TORONTO

13–BINGHAMTON

15–at Rochester

16–BRIDGEPORT

(home games in CAPS)

The breakdown:

-For the first time since the 2011-12 season, all 38 home games will actually be played in the Capital District.  No Atlantic City or Newark.  With the city on a mission to keep hockey at the Times Union Center, this is a great start.

-By day: Sunday 13, Monday 0, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 10, Thursday 1, Friday 20, Saturday 27.

-By opponent: Wilkes-Barre, Lehigh Valley, Hershey, Portland 2; Rochester, Syracuse, Toronto, Providence, Springfield, Hartford 6; Binghamton, Utica, St. John’s, Bridgeport 8.  No Western Conference at all.

-The Devils begin the season with a 4 game road swing through Binghamton, Toronto, and Portland, before hosting the Pirates on October 24th.  They do play 3 out of their final 4 games at home in mid April.

-Home game times are the same as last season: weeknights at 7:00, Saturdays at 5:00 (except for 1/23, a 2 PM start due to the annual RPI/Union doubleheader), and Sundays at 3:00.

-Albany gets one school day game, an 11 AM start in Toronto on March 1st.

-Longest homestand is 5 games, which happens twice: October 24th-November 1st and January 20-29th.  Longest road trip is 6 games from February 26th-March 11th.

-Only 8 3 in 3 weekends this year.  I’m good with that.

Now all that is left to do is wait out the last few weeks before training camp and preseason, then the fun begins.