Three in Three
Each of the last three weekends I’ve watched a hockey game with one team playing their third game in three nights or their fourth game in four. The home team has won all of those contests, so it got me thinking: Is it possible to win on the road in that situation? . Well when I crunched the numbers I was quite surprised with what I found.
By my (albeit) unofficial count, teams playing their third game in three nights are actually 9-8-0-1 this season. The road team is 7-5-0-1 in those contests and surprisingly the home team is only 2-3. That doesn’t hold true for the four in four though. When a road team plays their fourth game in four days their record is 0-2-0-1 so far this year.
In the Island Division, Victoria has their four game trip this month when they visit the Interior. Nanaimo started the month with a three game Mainland swing and they have another three in three at the end of the month, although two of them will be at home.
Both the Bulldogs and Capitals have one three-game trip later this month and for both clubs it’s part of four games in a row on the road.
With the new scheduling this season everyone has a four game trip to contend with this year, but the Bulldogs get the biggest break. Alberni will head to the Interior in early November but will have the luxury of playing four games in five nights. All the other Island Teams have to go four in four. Cowichan will end the month of November with their Interior trip while the Clippers will do the four-in-four in mid January.
I know that for economic reasons and to keep the players in their school classes as much as possible playing three in three and four in four is a necessary evil. But I have yet to see a truly entertaining game this year with one or both teams in that predicament.
As we go forward watch the schedule for those three and four game trips closely. I’ll keep tabs and do a report in the blog later on down the road.
Dan Marshall, the radio voice of the Nanaimo Clippers, will be blogging the BCHL's Island Division during the 2008/09 season. Check back often for Dan's insights and the latest news from Vancouver Island.
