The NHL has a lot of positives going for it, the schedule isn't one of those.

I wrote a commentary about this very subject two months before the season started and basically thought that the NHL was making a big mistake back then (www.umm.ca/sports/week28.php). To summarize, under the new schedule, teams will now play 32 of their 82 games within their division and an additional 40 games against teams within their conference. Which means only 10 games are left for inter-conference games - 5 of which will be played as host to a specific cross conference division and 5 will be played on the road visiting all the teams of a specific division.

I'm not big on quoting myself but bear with me and my inflated ego for a moment here.

"Just because you pair two teams up 8 times during a season, does it mean a natural rivalry will ensue? If two completely opposite and incompatible people are hooked up on a blind date the number of dates the two have becomes inconsequential after about the first date when there's zero spark or chemistry. Pitting Nashville against St. Louis over half a dozen times is not an automatic means to creating a Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. "

About the only rivalry this new schedule is going to conjure up is the one between irate fans and the NHL schedule maker. How do you think Detroit and Chicago fans felt after watching their teams playing each other three straight times between October 27th and November 1st? It might has well been a Tigers-White Sox series.

This year's schedule has also introduced to the new trend of two games being played in a row in the same city. Concert promoters do this all the time but that's if they know there's an audience for it. Do you think the Blackhawks organization will be able to convince already skeptical fans to come watch the Calgary Flames play twice in three nights in late January. Let's just say that patching up the Terrell Owens- Eagles situation is an easier sell than this one.

Here are a few other schedule oddities of which the Vancouver Canucks seem to be in the centre of:

- In less than a three week span the Vancouver Canucks have had to play the dreaded role of visitor in three separate Away-Away instances against the Wild, the Avs and the Flames.
- Vancouver returns the favour later in the year by hosting the Flames and Wild in Home-Home situations.
- Finally the Canucks will play the Oilers three straight times between March 21st and 25th including two home games in a row.
- Between March 12th and March 21st the Wild will have four straight home games although oddly they'll only have two opponents over that span. The Wild host the Oilers back to back and follow that up by hosting the Flames back to back.
- Eric Staal and Alexander Ovechkin are terrific players but for all their talents they'll still struggle to motivate fans to come out and watch the clubs play each other 5 times between March 25th and April 7th. That's right Canes vs. Caps 5 times in a week and a half. Why not just bury these franchises now.

Let me reiterate again that I don't want to be too critical of the NHL because the product on the ice and business off the ice are succeeding. I applaud the fact that the league drew average crowds of 16,820 per game as crowds in October but it also wouldn't surprise me to see attendance dip a little later in the season, as fans grow tired of watching the same teams play night after night.

Let's all hope that the NHL abandons this scheduling format for next season, I'm not sure how long the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes will be able to hang on.