Preseason Index

Unlike the regular season schedule, which is released in one piece by the NHL itself, each team's preseason schedule is released by the individual team in question at different dates. And, unlike the regular season, there is no uniformity as per the "format" of each team's preseason schedule. For example, last year had the Carolina Hurricanes playing only four preseason games while the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, and Florida Panthers each played nine. In short, each team is responsible for arranging its own preseason schedule and the outcomes can differ wildly.

With the preseason schedule for the upcoming season only partially released, I decided to look at last year's preseason slate, hoping to unearth any patterns displayed by the league's 30 teams. More specifically, I tried to assess the health of each franchise by awarding one point for each preseason home game, each preseason home game that was sold out, and each preseason home game that was televised on a widely-available network in the home market (i.e. CBC, TSN, RDS, etc.). To be fair, I also awarded half points for games that weren't sold out but reached at least the 90% mark as well as half points for games that were televised via less traditional means (i.e. TSN2, LEAFS TV, internet streams, etc.). The results were quite predictable (note that teams with an * travelled to Europe during the preseason):


All five of the top spots were taken by Canadian franchises: The Montreal Canadiens came in first place, with a total of 13 points. They were followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs (12 points), Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames (10 points each), and Edmonton Oilers (8 points). The only Canadian team not to make the top five was the Ottawa Senators (6.5 points), which was good enough for a seventh place tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. Also not surprising were the results at the bottom, with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning all tied for last place with only one point each.

As the 2010 Preseason Schedule continues to be released over the coming days, it will be interesting to see if last year's scheduling trends continue into next season. Considering that the stability (or lack thereof) of the league's 30 franchises is pretty much where it was at this point last year, there's every reason to believe that the Panthers, Islanders, and Lightning of this world will once again find themselves at the bottom of the pile.