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Post by SteveUL on Dec 11, 2008 9:59:56 GMT -4
I think Moncton has had a pretty slack schedule so far.They've had the luxury of playing alot of games against teams that have been busy while Moncton was home resting.I think a big part of the slack schedule comes from the Maritime division being so weak....not many tough matchups in that division. I must say I can't remember very many teams having an entire week off 4 times before the Christmas break even starts.Even the road trips so far have been easy.....their 3 in 3 in Quebec they managed to face Montreal who was also on a 3 in 3 (and4 in 5).They had a 3 in 4 road trip also that was pretty slack (A-B,Chi,B-C)all weak teams. I know diehard fans would never admit it but Moncton has had a very slack schedule so far.The funny thing is though that the games have to be played eventually so I would have to assume that the 2nd half of the year won't be so easy....they're already behind by 5 games on some teams(games in hand).I think January and Febuary will be when we see the true makeup of this team. A comment re: the divisional matchups being easy because of the weak Atlantic Division - I disagree with that one ... for Moncton, 3 of the 5 matchups (PEI, Halifax, and A-B) can be considered easy while two are tough ... so 40% of our divisional games are tough and 60% are easy ... If you look at Shawinigan, Drummondville is a tough opponent, but Victo and Lewy are on par with our weak teams ... so 33% of their divisional games are tough, and 67% are easy. Same thing with Quebec - 33% of divisional games vs. Riki are tough, while the remaining 67% are against Chicoutimi and B-C, and not so tough. Overall, if our schedule has been easier it may be because we have a few games in hand on most teams, meaning we have had the luxury of a few more days off. The other big advantage we have in the Atlantic division is geographic - with the exception of C-B, all of our division roadtrips are a 2.5 hour bus trip or less. For all of the other teams, they are looking at 2.5 hours or less only to play us, all other road trips in the division are 4 hours plus. While this is a relative advantage compared to other Atlantic teams, I don't think it is all that different than the travel demands placed on most of the Quebec teams. What is the schedule set up for a typical Quebec based team ? How many times do they play divisional teams ... and how many times do they play the other Telus teams not in their division ? How often does Quebec play Drummondville and Shaw ?
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Post by jimmy on Dec 11, 2008 10:11:14 GMT -4
A comment re: the divisional matchups being easy because of the weak Atlantic Division - I disagree with that one ... for Moncton, 3 of the 5 matchups (PEI, Halifax, and A-B) can be considered easy while two are tough ... so 40% of our divisional games are tough and 60% are easy ... If you look at Shawinigan, Drummondville is a tough opponent, but Victo and Lewy are on par with our weak teams ... so 33% of their divisional games are tough, and 67% are easy. Same thing with Quebec - 33% of divisional games vs. Riki are tough, while the remaining 67% are against Chicoutimi and B-C, and not so tough. Overall, if our schedule has been easier it may be because we have a few games in hand on most teams, meaning we have had the luxury of a few more days off. The other big advantage we have in the Atlantic division is geographic - with the exception of C-B, all of our division roadtrips are a 2.5 hour bus trip or less. For all of the other teams, they are looking at 2.5 hours or less only to play us, all other road trips in the division are 4 hours plus. While this is a relative advantage compared to other Atlantic teams, I don't think it is all that different than the travel demands placed on most of the Quebec teams. What is the schedule set up for a typical Quebec based team ? How many times do they play divisional teams ... and how many times do they play the other Telus teams not in their division ? How often does Quebec play Drummondville and Shaw ? No idea - but if they get extra matchups against Drummondville and Shawinigan, they are probably also picking up the same number of easy matchups against Lewiston and Victoriaville.
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Post by gongshow on Dec 11, 2008 10:29:43 GMT -4
Quebec plays the following amount of games against other Quebec teams(I've included Lewiston)
B-C- 8 RIM- 8 CHI- 8 MTL- 5 DRU- 4 LEW- 4 GAT- 4 R-N- 4 SHA- 3 VIC -3 VD'O-3
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Post by catnut on Dec 11, 2008 10:31:49 GMT -4
What is the schedule set up for a typical Quebec based team ? How many times do they play divisional teams ... and how many times do they play the other Telus teams not in their division ? How often does Quebec play Drummondville and Shaw ? No idea - but if they get extra matchups against Drummondville and Shawinigan, they are probably also picking up the same number of easy matchups against Lewiston and Victoriaville. Out of curiosity, I checked for Quebec They play 8 times against division rivals Rimouski, Chicoutimi and Baie-Comeau. They play 3 or 4 times against Central division teams (4 against Drum and Lew - 3 against Shaw and Victo) They play 3 times against VDO, 4 against Gat and R-N and 5 against Mtl (probably to create interest in MTL at first). Plus 14 times against Maritime div. teams
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Post by catnut on Dec 11, 2008 10:34:10 GMT -4
Quebec plays the following amount of games against other Quebec teams(I've included Lewiston) B-C- 8 RIM- 8 CHI- 8 MTL- 5 DRU- 4 LEW- 4 GAT- 4 R-N- 4 SHA- 3 VIC -3 VD'O-3 You beat me to it buy I put more details.
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Post by gongshow on Dec 11, 2008 10:43:55 GMT -4
I noticed another unusual stat when looking at the standings....
There are currently 4 teams playing above .700 including 2 above .800.Last season no team finished above .700.
Right now there are 7 teams playing below .400 including 3 that are below .300.Last season only Mctn,Drum and Vd'O were below .400 and Drum was the only team below .300(Mctn was .300 on the dot).
There's obviously a large gap between the top teams and the bottom feeders this year.
Of the 4 teams above .700 3 are Quebec based teams.
Of the 7 bottom feeders 4 are Quebec based teams.
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Post by hockey1981 on Dec 14, 2008 10:41:55 GMT -4
Rio in Nets for Cats.
I wonder if Roy will play for CB, He played Wednesday, Friday and last night so I think you might see Holden.
I'll say 4-3 Cats
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