Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Some unimportant Wild schedule gripes

There's something I've meant to blog about since the Wild season started. I just figured it'd blow over and wouldn't be an issue. But it keeps coming up and is a slight annoyance. It's the Wild's schedule and mostly the fact that the team is always behind in the number of games played.

I know, I know. It doesn't seem like a huge deal on the surface, right?

Let me be clear about something. This blog post isn't to suggest that scheduling has some great bearing on the outcome of games for the Wild. I'm not saying, "Oh, the Wild has a messed up schedule, and that's why it is lower in the standings or that's why it's not winning games or reason XYZ." That wouldn't make sense.

I just think it's worth noting, mostly because I keep noticing it. More of a gripe, if you will. Like the whole Stadium Series instead of a Winter Classic or the 3-on-3 format for the All-Star Game.

Searching the standings
The NHL season isn't half over yet, so you could argue it's too early to look at the standings anyway. There's still plenty of hockey left. However, the Wild is in the toughest division in the league, so that makes things a bit more interesting.

Anyway, this year when I look at the standings, I've noticed one thing: The games-played column. Minnesota is consistently two, three, sometimes even four games behind the rest of the teams in the division. So really, it's tough to say where they fall in the standings.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. As points are precious and as the end of the season comes up, teams are in a much better position if they have games in hand. They have a chance to control their own fate that way.

The issue really started in the beginning of the season. The first few weeks felt like a series of season openers because of all the long breaks in between games. They started in Colorado, opened at home a couple days later, had four full days off before three games out west, then another three days off before the second home game nearly two weeks after the home opener.

That was just October. Early November saw some breaks, too.

It was just weird. Too much time off at the beginning of the season when everyone, theoretically, is healthy and energized. Plus, it can be a huge momentum killer.

The dreaded back-to-back games
While I'm at this schedule thing, I want to touch on back-to-back games, too. The Wild will play 14 back-to-backs this season, meaning games two nights in a row. I think there's too much focus on them. I'm not sure if it's the teams that focus on it, or if it's an easy angle for broadcast teams and analysts.

The fact is, back-to-backs exist for all teams. Sometimes you'll be home-and-home, sometimes it will involve travel. Sometimes you'll be in a homestand and face an opponent traveling on the second night of a B2B. Logic can work both ways. If you play well, you have momentum from the night before. If you play slow and terrible, you're tired from the night before.

You can always spin it, but I get frustrated with hearing about it. Teams have to learn how to manage these B2B scenarios because they're around. I guess what I'm getting at is there seems to be an easy excuse for losses on the second game. I don't agree with that. You can always make excuses in losses, but I'd prefer if "back-to-back games" isn't one of them.

Of course, this all comes from a fan who doesn't have to worry about traveling and playing in a short span of time. But hey, that's what I'm here for, to give my opinion.

So there you have it. Probably not the most intriguing topics to write about, but those are my thoughts. Just wanted to put them out there.

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