Ad Disclosure
Would it be a Flyers Schedule Without the Lengthy Holiday Road Trip?
Published:
We forgot to post something on the Flyers’ schedule, which came out the other day. Russell Joy of The Russ Joy Show was one of the many people who shared it on social:
At Florida, at Carolina, vs. Florida, vs. Winnipeg. Woof. The Flyers might start 0-4. At least they get the two-time defending champs out of the way early. Maybe Sasha Barkov and company will still be hungover on October 9th and 13th and the Fly Guys will catch ’em snoozing.
We typically look for two things whenever the Flyers’ schedule comes out. 1) The Western Canada + Seattle road trip, and 2) The obligatory departure through Christmas and New Year’s, when Disney on Ice comes to the Wells Fargo Center Xfinity Mobile Arena.
This year, the Edmonton/Calgary/Vancouver/Seattle swing doubles as the holiday road trip, which is preceded by another road trip. That is an outrageous stretch of games between Sunday, December 14th, and Saturday, January 3rd. They play at Carolina, at Montreal, at Buffalo, and at the Rangers. Then they come home for a one-game home respite against Vancouver, only to turn around on the second night of a back-to-back and fly to Chicago. There’s a short break to celebrate Christmas at home, then they go out to Seattle, there’s a back-to-back with the Canucks and Flames, then two days off in Alberta before playing Connor McDavid and company. Maybe they can do a team-bonding activity in Banff.
Overall, that’s 10 games in 21 days, nine on the road and one at home, with a home/away back-to-back and a road/road back-to-back. Par for the course, though. Last year, the Flyers did a Pittsburgh/Anaheim/LA/San Jose/Vegas/Toronto trip through the holidays, and the year prior it was the Western Canada/Seattle trip, preceded by a Detroit road game in which they lost 7-6 in a shootout.
Snarkiness aside, this should be a compelling Flyers season. There are no expectations. But Rick Tocchet and Trevor Zegras are in town, the cap is mostly clean for the first time in forever, and they’re moving forward in the rebuild. It should not be dissimilar from the 2016-2017 season the Sixers had, when there were glimpses of the future as they exited the process era. Whether or not the Flyers are on the same trajectory is up for debate, but the vibes feel alike.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com