Huzzah!  We have a schedule!

Here’s a link to it!  Opening night is Friday October 12th in Grand Rapids, and the home opener is Friday the 19th against Charlotte.

And here are some assorted stats about the slate:

– The Matchups:

Chicago, Rockford, Peoria x 12
Grand Rapids, Charlotte x 8
Houston, Lake Erie, Oklahoma City, Abbotsford x 4
Texas, San Antonio, Toronto, Hamilton x 2

Surprised that we get Houston four times, and the other Texas teams just twice.  Also a bit surprised that we get non-division Charlotte eight times….The Admirals will begin and end their home schedule against the Checkers.

– Ten 3-in-3’s this season.  The first one is the second week of the season, and the final one is closing weekend.  One 3-in-3 is all away games, one is all home games, 5 have two home games, and 2 have one home game.  The Admirals are home for the third game in only four of those sets.

– Early road trips.  The Admirals only make one trip to Texas this season, and they get it out of the way in October.  And 14 of their first 18 games are on the road.  Just four games at home before November 30th.  But look on the bright side….it’ll be a good bonding experience right out of the gate for the guys.  That may pay off later on.

– Mid-season homestands.  From December 14th through Februray 17th, the Admirals will play  20 of 26 games at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.  The road games in that stretch are three trips to Peoria, one trip to Rockford, and a pair of games in Abbotsford.  Other than that, a whole lot of home cookin’.

– Avoiding the Packers.  Just one Sunday home game during the Packer regular season.      The only conflict is Week 15, Sunday December 16th at da Bears, while the Admirals entertain the Hamilton Bulldogs.  But it shouldn’t be a problem because that football game will be meaningless anyway, right?  Right.  Right.

– One super crazy start time.  Wednesday November 7th at Grand Rapids….10am CT start time.  I wish I had school field trips to hcokey games when I was young.

– NO HOME GAME DURING THE DAYTONA 500!  I’m surprised too.

– Unpleasant travel schedule.  Just a couple of spots, which is probably better than a lot of the other Western Conference teams.  After the Admirals home opener on October 19th, they complete the 3-in-3 with games in San Antonio and Houston.  And after entertaining Rockford on April 5th, the Admirals play the next two nights in Charlotte.

– Regional road games.  16 out of 18 road games against Rockford, Chicago, and Peoria are on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays….if you’re in the mood to make the trip.  (Beef-A-Roo beckons…..do it!)

-Familiarity breeds contempt.  In December, there’s a stretch where 7 out of 8 games will be against either Rockford or Peoria.  This includes a back-to-back home games against Rockford 12/19 and 12/21, and then back-to-back home games against the Rivermen 12/27 and 12/28.  But overall, the schedule does a nice job spacing out the opponents, so we won’t be getting like, 8 out of 12 games against Rockford between March 1st and April 15th this year….

Back-to-back opponents.  The Admirals will play 8 opponents in back-to-back games.  Half of those are when the Admirals spend the weekend in Abbotsford or OKC or Charlotte.

Hello and goodbye.  The Ads season series with the Texas Stars will be done by December 5th.  We don’t see Abbotsford for the first time until January 19th.  No Toronto until February 23rd.

Promotional schedule.  Now that we have a season schedule formalized, they’ll start slotting some promotions in.  Expect some announcements within the next couple of weeks.  Expect Old Orchard/Pick N’ Save schedule magnets on opening night, and Greeny already announced the presedential bobblehead giveaways on November 2nd.

What else strikes you about the schedule, outside of the usual lack of Eastern Conference or Rochester teams? Anything you really like?  Anything you really hate?  Is the waiting the hardest part?

(Also – speaking of “The Slate”……..Admirals Roundtable officially endorses The Loaded Slate — a restaurant on Old World 3rd street between Highland and Juneau.  Looking for a new place to dine before the next Admirals game?  Try The Loaded Slate.  There’s even a menu item named after the Admirals.  And the tater tots are super good.  I don’t know anybody that works there…but enjoyed my last dining experience there and I’d like to see it survive!)