gfmorris
New member
This was originally posted in the Save UAH Hockey thread, but it does make sense to have this in a new topic. It has been lightly edited from that original post for clarity.
The tentative 11-12 schedule is out. Ahem.[1]
I expect that's "tentative" because:
1. It's only 29 games, and I know that the goal was 32-34.
2. After the Merrimack series this past January, the Nashville folks wanted to do another series at Bridgestone. The 2011-12 NHL schedule won't be out for a few weeks, though, and I'm sure the Nashville folks want to combine a two-game UAH series with a Saturday night Predators game. There's enough fire around them wanting to do a Regional and/or Frozen Four that they will want to keep that fire going, and putting UAH in it means they've got a better shot at getting the gate they want.
3. The contracts aren't signed.
4. No matter where that series is, I don't see not playing the second AND fourth weekends of January. February is the conference wasteland [note again that it's a CCHA school with a free weekend that will host], so you've got to get games in January if you can.
That's a tough schedule, but that's not surprising. Figure you can split with the three October home opponents. WMU will be hard to beat, but perhaps easier early in the season.
Do you pick the Buckeyes off at home? Not sure what their recruiting is doing with BTHC a reality. Providence is a possibility given that they'll have a new coaching staff this year. The Thanksgiving stuff will be interesting: an RPI team we played 2-1 twice at home last year[2], a new-coach UML team that was terrible last year, and UNH.
December will be a slog, even if the team gets to stay in Minnesota. The interesting thing will be to see how UAH fares against a post-Matt Read BSU squad. It feels like the boys could sweep MC at home to end 2011.
DU and UMD will both be very difficult trips.
MU won't be any easier in February, for sure. U-18 comes in to finish out the schedule, and those kids are Danton's squad. DC already knows that I'm going to blister him for six periods.
I like UAH for 10-11 wins, more if this big recruiting class pans out. All three returning goalies have ice time on their resumes. Baxter is the main scoring punch you lose. The boys have a puncher's chance.
GFM
[1] That's the permalink to the schedule, regardless of season. Don't get me started on uahchargers.com's Joomla implementation. It works after a fashion, but the structural underpinnings were done by someone who doesn't understand how a CMS works. Not that I'm a snob about such things.
[2] One of the fine RPI gentlemen indicated that RPI is full and cannot accommodate the Chargers. I'm just reporting what I've been told.
The tentative 11-12 schedule is out. Ahem.[1]
I expect that's "tentative" because:
1. It's only 29 games, and I know that the goal was 32-34.
2. After the Merrimack series this past January, the Nashville folks wanted to do another series at Bridgestone. The 2011-12 NHL schedule won't be out for a few weeks, though, and I'm sure the Nashville folks want to combine a two-game UAH series with a Saturday night Predators game. There's enough fire around them wanting to do a Regional and/or Frozen Four that they will want to keep that fire going, and putting UAH in it means they've got a better shot at getting the gate they want.
3. The contracts aren't signed.
4. No matter where that series is, I don't see not playing the second AND fourth weekends of January. February is the conference wasteland [note again that it's a CCHA school with a free weekend that will host], so you've got to get games in January if you can.
That's a tough schedule, but that's not surprising. Figure you can split with the three October home opponents. WMU will be hard to beat, but perhaps easier early in the season.
Do you pick the Buckeyes off at home? Not sure what their recruiting is doing with BTHC a reality. Providence is a possibility given that they'll have a new coaching staff this year. The Thanksgiving stuff will be interesting: an RPI team we played 2-1 twice at home last year[2], a new-coach UML team that was terrible last year, and UNH.
December will be a slog, even if the team gets to stay in Minnesota. The interesting thing will be to see how UAH fares against a post-Matt Read BSU squad. It feels like the boys could sweep MC at home to end 2011.
DU and UMD will both be very difficult trips.
MU won't be any easier in February, for sure. U-18 comes in to finish out the schedule, and those kids are Danton's squad. DC already knows that I'm going to blister him for six periods.
I like UAH for 10-11 wins, more if this big recruiting class pans out. All three returning goalies have ice time on their resumes. Baxter is the main scoring punch you lose. The boys have a puncher's chance.
GFM
[1] That's the permalink to the schedule, regardless of season. Don't get me started on uahchargers.com's Joomla implementation. It works after a fashion, but the structural underpinnings were done by someone who doesn't understand how a CMS works. Not that I'm a snob about such things.
[2] One of the fine RPI gentlemen indicated that RPI is full and cannot accommodate the Chargers. I'm just reporting what I've been told.
