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The 2021-22 Schedule for the Vancouver Canucks looks...pretty good?? |
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In my last blog, I looked at the Vancouver Canucks' schedule for training camp and preseason, and how February's All-Star/Olympic break fits into the NHL calendar.
Today, I'll dig into the details of the regular-season schedule itself.
Broadly speaking, it looks like one of the better schedules I've seen for the Canucks. For the most part, the games seem reasonably well spaced out. There are some nice, long homestands, and the road trips don't look that terrible, and they seem to have some R&R time built in when they come back from the Eastern time zone. I also like the idea of getting out East for a long trip early, when everyone should be relatively fresh and healthy. Having Seattle in the mix helps, too.
When you compare it to the North Division adventure from last season, this looks much more team friendly.
October
For the third-straight year, the Canucks will kick off their regular season on the road in Edmonton. They lost 3-2 to open the 2019-20 campaign, and beat the Oilers 5-3 to start last year.
But this time, instead of heading home to Vancouver after a couple of Alberta games, the Canucks will continue to head East. They'll start the year with their longest road trip of the season — a six-gamer that will wind through Philadelphia and Detroit, back to back, then on to Buffalo and Chicago before finishing up at Climate Pledge Arena for the home opener of the new Seattle Kraken.
Given what we've heard about demand for tickets in Seattle, I wonder if any Vancouverites are going to be able to get into the building to support their team — at least in the beginning, when the hype machine is at its highest?
Are you planning to make the trip South — right away, or at some point during the year? I'm really curious about this: please let me know in the comments.
To be honest, I'm a little surprised about the skepticism surrounding the Kraken's initial roster.
I'm not automatically expecting them to match what Vegas did in Year 1 — but no one expected the Golden Knights to be good out of the gate, either. Remember, their initial plan was to deal away all those veterans on short contracts for picks and prospects at the trade deadline — until they found themselves so high in the standings that they decided to double down and became the perennial contender that we know today.
I see a Seattle team with a strong defense and solid goaltending, at the very least. In the Pacific Division, I think that'll give them a chance to win right out of the gate.
The Canucks will see what it's like to play in front of a Seattle crowd on Saturday, October 23. Then, it's home to Rogers Arena for seven straight games — hopefully the first games with fans in the stands since they beat the New York Islanders 5-4 in a shootout on March 10, 2020.
The homestand will stretch from Oct. 26 - Nov. 9. It's nicely spaced out, so the team should get lots of practice time to help figure out how the revamped lineup will fit together.
Opponents on the homestand: Minnesota, Philly, Edmonton, the Rangers, Anaheim, Nashville and Dallas.
Yes, the season series with the Flyers will be complete by Oct. 28.
November
From there, the Canucks hit the road for a three-in-four Western road trip that starts on Nov. 11 and goes through Colorado, Vegas and Anaheim, with the latter two games on a back to back. They return to Rogers Arena on Nov. 17 for a three-in-five homestand against the Avalanche, Jets and Blackhawks.
Then, it's time to head back out East. From Nov. 24 - Dec 1, they'll hit five cities: Pittsburgh, Columbus, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa, with the Boston and Montreal games running back to back.
After enduring so much travel out to Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa during their North Division debacle last season, it doesn't seem quite so daunting that they'll get two days to re-acclimate after they head home from Ottawa. Then, they'll play nine of 11 at home in the run-up to Christmas, with two quick one-game trips to San Jose mixed in.
December
During the month of December, when people are eager to get out and socialize during normal times, Vancouver is set to host some high-profile opponents who can draw fans of their own as they welcome Pittsburgh, L.A., Boston, Winnipeg, Carolina and Columbus — with those games all nicely spaced two days apart. Then, it's down to San Jose on Dec. 16, back home for back-to-backs against Toronto and Arizona, and back to San Jose again on Dec. 21 before closing out the pre-Christmas schedule at home against Anaheim.
That December 6 game against the Kings should be the first time we see Alex Edler at Rogers Arena in an opposing uniform.
After the holiday break, the Canucks return to Rogers Arena for their first-ever regular-season home date against the Kraken on Dec. 27. Then, they'll finish out 2021 with a trip to California and back-to-back games against the Ducks and Kings on Dec. 29-30.
The Canucks will not be playing on Halloween or New Year's Eve this year.
They'll ring in 2022 by stopping off in Seattle on their way home from California, playing the Kraken for the second time in less than a week on New Year's Day — the same day that Minnesota Wild are set to host the St. Louis Blues at Target Field for the 2022 Winter Classic.
January
The New Year starts off easy. After the Canucks head home from Seattle, they'll have just two games at home over the next nine days, against the Islanders and Ottawa.
They should be well-rested before they head to the Southern U.S. for a five-game trip that will take them through Florida, Tampa, Carolina, Washington and Nashville. Pretty good routing for Jan. 11-18, even if the games against the Hurricanes and Capitals are back to back.
Like with Philadelphia, the season series against the Panthers will be over in the blink of an eye. The two teams will meet up again on Jan. 21, as the Canucks open a three-game homestand where they'll also host St. Louis and Edmonton.
Before the Olympic break, they'll wrap up with a four-in-six on the road. They'll visit Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago and Nashville, with the last two games back to back, between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1.
February
As I mentioned in the last blog, the 2022 All-Star Weekend is set for Feb. 4-5 in Vegas. And the Olympic hockey tournament is set for Feb. 15-20 in Beijing.
If that holds, and NHL players do go to China, the Canucks will be off from Feb. 2-23. If that doesn't happen — and that's still possible — it's expected that the schedule for the rest of the season will be reconfigured. I imagine they'll just move up the dates by a week or two so the regular season doesn't run as late.
With the Olympic break baked in, the NHL regular season is scheduled to run until April 29, 2022. That's significantly later than we saw the last two times the league sent its players to the Games. When they went to Sochi in 2014, the regular season ended on April 13; for the Vancouver Games in 2010, it ended on April 11.
The season start is also a bit later, but there's still more time allocated for the regular season than we've seen in previous Olympic years. That's good for the Canucks and other teams with heavy travel.
As things currently stand, the Canucks will get back on the ice after the break on Feb. 24, with a single home game against Calgary before another Eastern road trip.
This one lasts just a week, from Feb. 27 - Mar. 5, and takes the team through the three New York teams. They'll start with a back-to-back against the Rangers and Devils before visiting the Islanders at their new UBS Arena, then stopping in Toronto for a Saturday game before heading back home.
March
After three days to re-acclimate from the trip, the Canucks will host another seven-game homestand from Mar. 9-20. Just one set of back-to-backs, at the end, as Montreal, Washington, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Detroit, Calgary and Buffalo come to town. The Red Wings get St. Patrick's Day.
From there, it's a four-in-six road trip through the Central Division, starting with a back-to-back against Colorado and Minnesota, followed by games in Dallas and St. Louis.
Then, both the Canucks and the Blues will travel to Vancouver, playing a home-and-home as they face off at Rogers Arena on March 30.
April
By April 1, 70 games will be in the books. The Canucks will play 12 games in April, all against Western Conference teams, with playoff spots presumably on the line.
The month opens with a home-and-home against the Golden Knights, on April 3 in Vancouver and April 6 in Vegas. Then, it's on to Arizona on April 7, for the only back-to-back of the month.
The Canucks will return to Rogers Arena on April 9 to play the Sharks, then the Golden Knights and Coyotes again. Then, they'll fly up to Edmonton for a game, return home to host Dallas, then head back out for their last two road games of the year, in Minnesota and Calgary.
The 2021-22 regular season will wrap up with two games at Rogers Arena — on April 26 against the Kraken, and April 29th against the Kings.
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