Winnipeg Jets 2012-13 Schedule Analysis

When the NHLPA rejected the divisional realignment proposal that the NHL Board of Governors had approved earlier this year, arguably the team that was impacted the greatest was our hometown Winnipeg Jets. Last year, the Winnipeg Jets’ stay in the Southeast Division was accepted as a small price to pay for being back in the NHL. However, it was expected that the pain would be a temporary, one year experience, and by year two of Jets 2.0, the team would be in a more geographical sensible division, and playing a more travel appropriate schedule.

Ever since the fateful Friday night in January when the NHLPA rejected the realignment proposal, we knew the Jets would once again be faced with a challenging (some would say burdensome) schedule. Earlier today, with the release of the 2012-13 NHL regular season schedule, we finally get to see in living colour what the schedule looks like for the Winnipeg Jets in year two of Jets 2.0.

NB: A work stoppage would obviously throw this schedule into disarray. For the purposes of this analysis, we will assume a new CBA is agreed to relatively painlessly, and this schedule will remain as valid for the entire season.

The details  

• Jets open the season Saturday October 13 home versus Carolina
• Jets close the season Saturday April 13 at Ottawa
• Final home game on Thursday April 11 versus Florida
• Traditional New Year’s Eve game at 400 PM on Monday, December 31 versus Tampa Bay
• Weekday home games (excluding New Year’s Eve) are at 7 PM Central, except for January 2 versus the Minnesota Wild (630 PM Central)
• Jets play on Black Friday (day after US Thanksgiving) at 2:00 PM in Philadelphia
• No Teemu game in Winnipeg
• 3 games in 4 nights versus Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jose
• A Saturday night home game versus Vancouver with a 9:00 PM puck drop in Winnipeg
• 19 Saturday games (12 at home, 7 on the road)
• Of the 12 home Saturday games, 6 are in the afternoon, 1 is at 9:00 PM, 5 are 6 PM puck drop
• 6 Monday games (one is in the afternoon at NYI on Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
• 19 Tuesday games
• 5 Wednesday games
• 16 Thursday games
• 9 Friday games (one is in the afternoon at Philadelphia on Black Friday)
• 19 Saturday games (7 in the afternoon—6 at home and one on the road in Los Angeles)
• 8 Sunday games (3 at home in the afternoon, 1 at home in the evening, 2 on the road in the afternoon)
• Five out of seven October games on home ice
• Longest road trip is six consecutive games (November 17 – November 27)
• Longest home stand is five consecutive games (January 11 – January 19)
• Three, five game road trips
• Visits from Western Conference teams Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, St. Louis, Columbus, Minnesota, Phoenix, Calgary, and Vancouver
• Visits to Western Conference teams: Edmonton, Colorado, Columbus, St. Louis, Dallas, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Detroit,

Which game are you most looking forward to?  Which team do you wish was visiting the MTS Centre but won’t be next season.  Sound off in comments.

For those wanting to take a look at the complete Jets 2012-13 schedule here is a pdf.