Sports

The Aces' upcoming schedule is awful; gotta love the ECHL (and notes)

The Alaska Aces' upcoming schedule provides one of those glimpses into life in the lower minor leagues -- the schedule is ridiculous, not fair to fans or players, and puts player safety at stake.

Think that's an exaggeration? Consider that the Aces play nine games in 12 days, and spend two of their "off'' days traveling to Boise, Idaho, and traveling home from Boise, respectively.

The stretch begins next Wednesday with a home game against the Bakersfield Condors. That game opens a four-game series, which is ridiculous in itself.

Here's the stretch:

Wednesday, Nov. 5 -- home vs. Bako.

Thursday, Nov. 6 -- off day.

Friday, Nov. 7 -- home vs. Bako.

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Saturday, Nov. 8 -- home vs. Bako.

Sunday, Nov. 9 -- home vs. Bako.

Monday, Nov. 10 -- travel day to Boise, Idaho.

Tuesday, Nov. 11 -- road game at Idaho.

Wednesday, Nov. 12 -- road game at Idaho.

Thursday, Nov. 13 -- travel home from Boise, Idaho.

Friday, Nov. 14 -- home game vs. Stockton.

Saturday, Nov. 15 -- home game vs. Stockton.

Sunday, Nov. 16 -- home game vs. Stockton.

Playing four games in five nights blows. The quality of play in that fourth game, odds are, will not be great -- players will be fatigued and they won't be at their sharpest mentally, either. And nine games in 12 days provides virtually no time for rest or rehab, and literally zero time for practice. Sure, teams have game-day skates, but that's usually 20-30 minutes and designed to break a sweat and get a feel for the puck. It is generally not enough time for coaching or teaching, or working on systems. (AHL teams also play what are known as three-in-threes -- three games in three nights -- but the NHL's collective bargaining agreement prohibits three-in-threes.)

Look, we get it's the ECHL, that scheduling is sometimes compacted to save on costs or because teams often share their home building with other enterprises. Just know that, as a fan, you are getting short-changed. You think a team playing its fourth game in five days, or its eighth in 11 days, is full value for your entertainment dollar? Please.

Yeah, we know, it's not a perfect world. In this case, not even remotely close.

OK, now we will get off the soapbox for a minute to note some, well, Aces notes. Veteran winger Justin Johnson should be good to go for the Bako series after missing five games because his fight with Ontario's Derek Couture in the season opener opened up stitches JJ already had in his left hand. So, he's back, but the Aces have placed winger Bryan Cameron on the 21-day injured reserve with a upper-body injury suffered on the team's road trip last week.

The Aces, who have not played since last Saturday, practiced this week at Ben Boeke Arena while UAA practiced at Sullivan. The Aces have Saturday off from practice, but return to practice Sunday.

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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