***Official 2007-2008 NHL Season Thread***

[g-bebe]

Ducks reciprocate with a 4-1 win of their own! Looked a lot better.

Oh well, here's to the real season starting on Wednesday! (except it's going to have to take a lower priority than mlb playoffs)

[gusmahler]

I haven't followed hockey for years, so pardon me if this is a silly question. But what's the deal with the hockey schedule? The teams play each other many times consecutively.

For example, the Coyotes have the following stretch of games:

@ SJ
@ SJ
SJ
@LA
LA

Home and home series at least sort of makes sense. But two games in a row on the road against the same team?

Also, why is the schedule so unbalanced? They only play Pittsburgh once and never play Washington, but they play San Jose 8 times.

[Triumph36]

That's some terrible scheduling. The Devils played two games at home consecutively vs. the Flyers last year, which was similarly confusing.

As for the unbalanced schedule, the NHL adopted it after the lockout to enhance local rivalries. They have voted to change it - probably the West complained about not seeing Crosby and Ovechkin enough. I like it the way it is - interconference games are usually terrible.

[DonkeyKongSr]

That's not normal. Teams don't play back to backs that often and when they do it is usually a home & home. 3 in a row isn't usual.