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How does the 2000/01 Schedule Look?
July 7, 2000- By Phil Austin
Last night, the NHL released the official schedule for the 2000/01 season. A quick glance shows that the schedule offers the Oilers some bonuses and potential-problems.
The good news about the Oilers Schedule comes from the fact that we only face the Capitals, Penguins and Stanley Cup Champion Devils only once. The bad news is that we only face the Lightning, Hurricanes, Bruins, Islanders and Thrashers once. As well, Glen Sather won't be making a homecoming as the NY Millionaires are not making a stop this year in Edmonton.
The NHL has expressed that it wanted to focus the matchups this year more on divisional play and rivalries. People agreed that they would rather see more matchups between divisional rivals. For example, Islanders fans would rather see a game against the hated-Rangers as opposed to seeing Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and the Mighty Ducks.
I agree. I don't care if we face Jagr this year in Edmonton. He doesn't seem to score much against us, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't break his Oiler-funk this year. Heck, he'd probably score a hat-trick and knock us out of the bloody playoffs! Instead of playing Pittsburgh, we get one more matchup with the weakling Wild; a more certain springboard into the playoffs, and an easy victory. I think Oiler fans everywhere can agree that seeing the Oilers win a game is more desireable than watching Pavel Bure score 4 goals against us. So, we won't get to see Jagr, Bondra, Fleury or LeCavalier this year in Edmonton, but I'm not complaining!
The middle of the season is, of course, a jumble of good and bad teams; the Oilers stand to lose as many as they win there. Therefore it's more important to study the beginning and the end of the Oilers' season and analyze how it will affect the Oilers:
Click here to see the Oilers Schedule
The Oilers play 7 of their first 10 games at home, so one could assume that the Oilers should start well. Not necssarily. In those first 10 games, they play Detroit twice, Colorado once, and the Oiler-killing Cujo and the Maple Leafs. Optimistically, we could walk away with 2 wins there. On the flipside though, we play the Corson-less Canadiens, the expansion-Wild and the sadsack-Bruins during that sretch as well. Barring any misfortune, I predict the Oilers to finish 5-4-1 to start the season's first 10 games.
The end of the season looks a little shakier for the Oilers. The only bright spot comes from February 16 to March 19, where the Oilers play 9 of 14 games at home against some weak opponents. It is then that the Oilers should be thinking about solidifying a playoff spot in the Western Conference. They need to do this, because their remaining 9 games of the season from that point include some tougher matchups, with games against the Avalanche, Kings, Coyotes and Stars. As well, 3 of their last 4 games are on the road, and we certainly don't want those games to be do or die games like they have been the last 4 years.
The oddest thing about this schedule is that our last game against the Calgary Flames comes on February 24. The last two seasons have produced heated late-season battles between these two rivals, and I can't for the life of me understand why the NHL neglected this. Our last game of the season comes against the Canucks, and the NHL is obviously praying for another nail-biter like the 2nd last game of the 1999/00 season where the 'Nucks and Oilers faced of in a memorable tilt that went to overtime. The Canucks are on the rise, and that last game of the season could prove crucial for both clubs.
It still would have bee nice for them to squeeze Calgary in at least in March, if not April though for one more Battle of Alberta.
Agree, disagree? Talk about it on the message board.