Isles schedule quirks

The Isles will open their 40th anniversary season with a 4-game homestand. It's
the first time since the Original Islanders opened with 7 straight at home that
the Isles have played their first 4 games at home. It's one of two 4-game
homestands on the schedule, with the other coming in mid-January.

Unlike last season, where the Isles established multiple club records for fewest
home games in the first __ games, the Isles will play 6 of 9 games at home in
October. They will also play 8 of first 11, 13 of first 20 and 17 of first 29
at home.

The Isles have two four-game road trips, and a 5-game road swing to Montreal,
Toronto, Tampa, Florida and Pittsburgh in late-March.

In addition to the unprecedented three-straight games against New Jersey in
early March, the Isles and Devils will face off for a home-and-home over
Thanksgiving weekend. The Isles also have two home-and-home series with the
Penguins and one with the Maple Leafs.

The Islander-Ranger match-ups are fairly spread out through the season, although
the Isles will visit the Garden on both December 22 and December 26.

The Isles will play only one late game all season -- a 10:00 ET start in
Anaheim. They visit both Vancouver and Phoenix this season as well, but the
games are at 9:00 ET and 8:00 ET respectively.

Families will have lots of home games to choose from as the Isles will play 10
afternoon home games, including Columbus Day, Black Friday, New Years Eve Day,
MLK Day, and Presidents Day. The Isles will play back-to-back home matinees on
February 11/12 and March 31/April 1. All night games will start at 7:00, with
the exception of an 8:00 start for the home opener, which will be played about
an hour after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur ends.

The Isles will have a mid-west road trip to Winnipeg and St. Louis on February
14/16. They do not leave the Eastern Time Zone the remainder of the season,
playing their final 25 under Eastern Time.

The NHL also scheduled the Islanders at home on January 21 (vs Carolina). The
game will mark the 30th anniversary of the first game of the Islanders' 15-game
winning streak, which was my first game on Islander TV.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick