What to Look For: 2011-12 AHL Schedule

 The AHL announced today that, pending a review from the Board of Governors, the 2011-12 AHL schedule will be released at 4 p.m. EST time tomorrow.

I will post a quick update on the blog with reactions and insights as well as initial thoughts on the blog's Twitter feed, but here's a few things you should be on the lookout for when the schedule is released tomorrow afternoon.


Back in mid-July, the WBS Penguins released five guaranteed home dates:

Saturday, October 8, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, January 20, 2012

As Penguins broadcaster Scott Stuccio pointed out to us at Highland Park Hockey, the AHL season begins on Friday, October 7th. So the possibility that Saturday's October 8th home game could be both the home opener and season opener seem highly likely. That is certainly a date you should look for when breezing through the Penguins schedule tomorrow.

Another date to watch for is January 6th, 2012. There has been a lot of rumbling on the Twitter side about the prospects of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins playing the Adirondack Phantoms in an AHL outdoor game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on January 6th. The Phantoms did have January 6th on their releasing of guaranteed home dates back in July.

A source close to the situation told Highland Park Hockey that a Flyers ticket representative called the WBS Penguins Booster Club last week to tell them about tickets for the supposed outdoor game scheduled on January 6th.  This could all be shot down tomorrow if the Penguins aren't playing the Phantoms on the 6th, but if the teams are scheduled to play on that date in 2012 then things could get very interesting in the very near future.

For those who missed it here's the WBS Penguins preseason schedule for 2011-12, with one more road game to be announced soon. The last preseason game could even be released tomorrow with the league's regular season schedule.

Friday, September 30th vs. Hershey Bears at 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, October 1st at Hershey Bears at 7:05 p.m.

Sunday October 2nd vs. Adirondack Phantoms at 5:05 pm.

Either way, it's getting closer and closer to the 2011-12 season and the release of the regular season schedule is just another hurdle to get to the starting line of what should be a great season of hockey.

Highland Park Hockey will be the best place to keep up to date with the happenings of the AHL's Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. We will have game previews, recaps and open threads for each game along with all the breaking news, highlights, stats, practice updates, interviews from players & coaches and much more.