The schedule - by the numbers

Hello, Happy Thursday, and thanks for stopping by the blog.

First and foremost to just get this out of the way immediately - this isn't complaining, or whining or an attempt to make excuses. It's simply an observation that I looked into.

It hasn't just "felt" like the Bulldogs have been travelling frequently. I'm just the broadcaster and I'm not out there going through the battles and bumps and bruises....yet I've still felt road weary myself.

The basic argument in regards to any team saying anything about the schedule is "all teams go through it at some point" and for the most part, it's true and a valid rebuttal. However in this instance and at this point in time, the numbers prove otherwise. As they say, the numbers don't lie and in this case only the Bulldogs have been through this when it comes to the rest of the BCHL's teams.

Going into play this week NO team has played as few home games as the Bulldogs. NO team has played MORE road games as the Bulldogs and NO team has played fewer divisional games.

That's not to say that travel within one's division is a piece of cake, because it isn't. For the most part travel within the Island Division isn't tough - but it also cannot be argued that it's even comparable to multi-day trips involving the Interior or Mainland. The Bulldogs have only a single road trip remaining this season outside of the Island Division....and it's only the early days of November.

It's also not to say that it's going to be easy going forward because that's certainly not going to be the case. It always gets exponentially tougher through the stretch to the end of the season BUT in the Bulldog case when it comes to their travel schedule - the worst is indeed over. They've fought through with a respectable road record, and they've suffered their share of bumps/bruises and injuries. Here's hoping that moving forward on their first extended home stand of the season with the worst of their schedule behind them, they can find some consistency, and more wins than losses.

Hammer