The Montreal Canadiens schedule for the 2023-24 season begins on October 11th when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs. That will be the start of their 82 game schedule where they face every other team in the NHL at least twice.
The American Hockey League runs things a little differently. The Laval Rocket had their schedule released earlier today but they will not play everyone in the league next season. To save on travel costs, the AHL does not have a balanced schedule, and teams play their division rivals far more often than teams in other divisions.
The Rocket are in the North Division and will face the other six teams in their division frequently. Their season opener will take place on Friday, October 13th when they host the Abbotsford Canucks. They will host the Canucks again the following night, and will travel to Abbotsford in December for a pair of games. Oddly, the Rocket will not face any other teams in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
One team they will see often are the Belleville Senators. The division rivals will face each other a total of 12 times in the upcoming season. The Rocket will also play the Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies, Rochester Americans, Utica Comets eight times, but will only play the Cleveland Monsters four times even though they are also in the North Division.
The Rocket’s regular season wraps up on April 20th when they face, you guessed it, the Belleville Senators to close out a home and home series. The Rocket ended last season in fifth place in the North Division which put them in a three game play-in series against the Utica Comets.
They lost both games, 4-1 and 2-0 and it ended their season after a 33-29-10 record in the regular season. They hope youngster like Joshua Roy, Jared Davidson, Riley Kidney and Logan Mailloux can give them a shot in the arm and get them a little further in the 2024 postseason.
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