AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > August > 07
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Scheduling an improved record
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s not only whom you play. It’s when you play them. And the Thrashers appear to have a slight edge this season compared with last season in that department.
Here’s some analysis, using Microsoft Excel and a PowerBook G4.
The Thrashers had to play games on back-to-back days 18 times last season. They went 2-13-3 in those games. Contrast that with their 32-27-5 in other games, and you see a significant difference.
They were 17-16-5 when they played following a single rest day, 11-6-0 following two rest days, 2-2-0 following three rest days, 0-2-0 following four rest days and 2-0-0 following five rest days. (They lost their opener, but I’m not sure how you count the rest before that game.)
So, how does this season compare? They have 15 times when they play on back-to-back days, three fewer than in 2007-08. They have 41 times when they play on a single rest day, three more than in 2008-09. That difference, if their rest-day-effect stays the same, could be worth an extra victory, maybe even an extra three points in the standings.
OK, so that’s not much. But it’s something.
Other scheduling tidbits:
—Longest road trip: The four-game swing in February to Anaheim, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose.
—Coldest road trip: Probably Colorado, Edmonton and Buffalo in March.
—Longest gap between games (not counting the All-Star break): Five days, from a Nov. 9 game at Carolina to a Nov. 14 game against Carolina.
—Toughest month: December, with a stretch of 15 games in 30 days. Four of those games are the back ends of back-to-backs.
—Toughest turnaround, mileage-wise: Playing a game at Philips Arena one night, then playing in Boston the next. The good news for the Thrashers is that the game in Philips is also against Boston.
