[link_box id=”22277″ site_id=”17″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]It’s tradition for hockey fans and analysts to start breaking down the upcoming NHL schedule the moment it’s released. Aside from looking at all of the future matchups, the usual talking points involve road trips and back-to-back games. While these may help identify stretches which may be the most trying for a team, they don’t tell the full story.
Micah Blake McCurdy, or @IneffectiveMath on Twitter, took an interesting look at games between tired and rested teams. Here the term “tired” was defined as a team which played the previous night while the term “rested” was used to indicate a team which didn’t play the previous night.
In the chart below, you’ll see how many times a specific tired team will play a rested team (pink) and how many times a specific rested team will play a tired team (blue).
"Tired" (played last night") vs "rested" (did not play last night) for the 16-17 season. pic.twitter.com/QbiJUkuj6X
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 25, 2016
Based on the information above, the Edmonton Oilers have a distinct advantage over the rest of the NHL. They will skate rested against a tired opponent 19 times over the course of the season. On the flip side, they’ll only face a rested opponent while they’re tired eight times. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks drew the short stick when it comes to tired and rested scheduling. Most teams fall pretty close to .500 which is the ultimate goal, but it’s worth noting the outliers.
The info above doesn’t take travel into consideration, but it’s still a fun and interesting angle to consider heading into the new season.
