Barons opponents set
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
The Oklahoma City Barons released their opponent list Tuesday, with the most cames coming against their division rivals from Texas.
The Barons will face the Texas Stars, Houston Aeros and San Antonio Rampage 10 times each (five home, five away).
Oklahoma City will play 13 opponents during its inaugural season in the American Hockey League.
The Barons, the Edmonton Oilers’ affiliate, will play Chicago and Peoria eight times each and Rockford and Milwaukee, the other Western Conference Western Division foes, six times each.
Teams from outside the division make up 22 of the Barons’ 80 games. Oklahoma City will play Lake Erie six times, Abbotsford, Grand Rapids and Manitoba four times each and Toronto and Hamilton twice each.
The Barons will not face the Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears or the Springfield Falcons, the former AHL affiliate of the Oilers.
Oklahoma City’s season starts Oct. 9 at the Cox Center against a to-be-announced opponent. The complete AHL schedule is expected to be released in August.
Season tickets are available for the inaugural season by calling 232-4625 or at OKCBarons.com.
BREAKDOWN:
10 each (5 home/5 away): Texas Stars, Houston Aeros, San Antonio Rampage
8 each (4/4): Chicago Wolves, Peoria Rivermen
6 each (3/3): Rockford IceHogs, Milwaukee Admirals, Lake Erie Monsters
4 each (2/2): Abbotsford Heat, Grand Rapids Griffins, Manitoba Moose
2 each (1/1): Toronto Marlies, Hamilton Bulldogs
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Comments
The AHL scheduling is certainly different from any other league I’ve seen. Each team plays a different number of total opponents than the others. The AHL also uses what they refer to as “balanced” scheduling (although their definition is different from the balanced/unbalanced schedules they talk about in MLB). For the AHL, it means teams play each other the same number of times at home and on the road. So I’m not sure about playing 9 games against opponents. I’d certainly be in favor of playing the same number of games against every team in your division, though.
And here’s the Barons division: Chicago, Houston, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Peoria, Rockford, San Antonio, Texas
I don’t understand the logic behind the scheduling. Arent’ Chicago and Peoria in the same divison? If the season isn’t long enough for us to pay 10 games against each divisional opponent, wouldn’t it be more fair to play 9 games against 4 of these teams rather than 8 games against two of them?