The general feeling is that San Jose Sharks management seemed on the verge of panic this summer, yet for the most part, the team’s core remains intact. Looking at their schedule, one cannot help but ask: will they overreact to a slow start?
The New York Rangers played the first nine games of the 2013-14 season on the road, and while they ended up fine, they looked shaky for much of the campaign ... especially as Alain Vigneault settled in. With 16 of their first 21 games away from “the Shark Tank,” one wonders if things could get rocky.
Here’s the full run, which looks that much more daunting to begin the month of November (home games in bold):
Oct. 8: at Los Angeles
Oct. 11: vs. Winnipeg
Oct. 14: at Washington
Oct. 16: at New York Islanders
Oct. 18: at New Jersey
Oct. 19: at New York Rangers
Oct. 21: at Boston
Oct. 23: vs. Columbus
Oct. 25: vs. Buffalo
Oct. 26: at Anaheim
Oct. 28: at Colorado
Oct. 30: at Minnesota
Nov. 1: vs. New York Islanders
Nov. 6: vs. Vancouver
Nov. 8: at Dallas
Nov. 9: at Chicago
Nov. 11: at Florida
Nov. 13: at Tampa Bay
Nov. 15: at Columbus
Nov. 16: at Carolina
Nov. 18: at Buffalo
Things turn around for the Sharks after that run, as they’ll play six home games in row beginning on Nov. 20 and 11 of 13 in San Jose from Nov. 20 through Dec. 20, so hopefully management (or perhaps even ownership) will keep that in mind.
While they were better at home (29-7-5) last season, the Sharks were still pretty strong on the road (22-15-4), so it’s not crazy to imagine this talented group weathering the storm anyway. That’s especially true if the West continues its domination of the East in 2014-15, as 10 of those 15 road contests come against squads from the other conference.
(H/T to NHL.com’s fantasy crew for pointing out this tough start.)