SHARKSPAGE

A closer look at the WorSharks 2014-15 schedule

Never let it be said I wouldn’t steal a blogging idea to help Worcester Sharks fans get a better understanding of what the team faces in the upcoming season. Good friend Michael Fornabaio over at the Connecticut Post wrote a blog post where he looked at the number of three-in-three weekends the Bridgeport Sound Tigers have this season and the road the Sound Tigers and that Sunday afternoon opponent would take get to that game. Noticing that the WorSharks made Fornabaio’s list I was curious to see how such a list would look for Worcester. I took it one step further and added any game where one team could have an advantage over the other due to travel.

This list makes a couple of presumptions. It presumes that teams will be traveling the day before to games that are more then three and a half hours (give or take) away if possible. That would seem to negate the traveling disadvantage the road team would have. It also doesn’t take into account the “outpost” franchises of St John’s or Norfolk that spend larger amounts of time away from home, and conversely, longer home streaks. Just their previous couple games are taken into account.

Sun, Oct 26, 2014 Portland at Worcester
WorSharks have Saturday off while Portland plays at Manchester Friday and home vs Syracuse Saturday. Advantage: Worcester

Sat, Nov 1, 2014 Hershey at Worcester
WorSharks are off Friday night while Hershey plays at Manchester. Advantage: Worcester

Sun, Nov 2, 2014 Worcester at Hartford
WorSharks play at home Saturday night while Hartford has to make a mad dash from Lehigh Valley for Sunday’s game. Advantage: Worcester

Sat, Nov 8, 2014 Providence at Worcester
WorSharks are off Friday while Providence hosts Portland. Advantage: Worcester

Sat, Nov 22, 2014 Worcester at Hershey
WorSharks play at Lehigh Valley Friday while Hershey is idle. Advantage: Hershey

Fri, Dec 12, 2014 Worcester at Hartford
WorSharks idle Thursday while Hartford hosts Albany. Advantage: Worcester

Sun, Dec 14, 2014 Portland at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks play at Hartford and then host Manchester. Portland hosts Manchester and then at Providence. Advantage: Push

Sun, Dec 21, 2014 Worcester at Bridgeport
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks play at Manchester and Portland while Bridgeport has a pair in Norfolk and then has to make a long trek home. Advantage: Worcester

Sat, Dec 27, 2014 Worcester at Syracuse
WorSharks host Manchester and then has to make a mad dash to Syracuse, who are at home vs Albany on Friday. Advantage: Syracuse

Sun, Jan 4, 2015 Worcester at Providence
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Manchester and then at Springfield, Providence hosts Bridgeport and then plays at Portland. Advantage: Push

Sat, Jan 17, 2015 W-B/Scranton at Worcester
WorSharks host Manchester while Wilkes-Barre has Friday night off. Advantage: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Sun, Jan 18, 2015 Worcester at Manchester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Manchester and Wilkes-Barre while Manchester plays at Worcester and then hosts Providence. Advantage: Push

Sun, Feb 22, 2015 Worcester at Manchester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Norfolk twice. Manchester hosts two for St John’s. Advantage: Push

Sun, Mar 1, 2015 Worcester at Manchester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host St John’s for a pair. Manchester hosts Hartford and then goes to Portland. Advantage: Push

Sun, Mar 8, 2015 Worcester at Providence
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks host Hartford and Bridgeport. Providence hosts Hershey and Springfield. Advantage: Push

Sun, Mar 29, 2015 Springfield at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks play at Springfield and then host St. John’s while Springfield hosts Worcester and Hartford. Advantage: Push

Sun, Apr 12, 2015 Albany at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks are home and home vs Providence while Albany is at Binghamton and Hartford. Advantage: Worcester

Sun, Apr 19, 2015 Portland at Worcester
Three-in-three for both. WorSharks are at Providence and Manchester while Portland is at Manchester and hosts Providence. Advantage: Push

My totally subjective count has the WorSharks with the scheduling advantage seven times while their opponents have it on just three occasions. Eight times, all being three-in-threes, both teams have it pretty much equal with the scheduling. It will be interesting to look back this spring to see how Worcester did in each of these games.