Compression in the NHL Schedule
With the NHL and NHLPA likely to come to an agreement on a shortened season, it is worth taking a look at what a compressed schedule could mean for fantasy hockey. One approach to measuring schedule compression is to compute the number of games played per week (GP/W) during the season (per team). We’ve done this calculation for 20 seasons including the 2012-2013 season (based on a suggestion by James Mirtle). We’ve updated this post to reflect the latest information about the NHL schedule (Jan 13, 2013):
| Season | Games | Start | End | Days | GP/W | GP/W* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-2013 | 720 | 19-Jan-13 | 27-Apr-13 | 99 | 3.39 | 3.39 |
| 2011-2012 | 1230 | 06-Oct-11 | 07-Apr-12 | 185 | 3.10 | 3.19 |
| 2010-2011 | 1230 | 07-Oct-10 | 10-Apr-11 | 186 | 3.09 | 3.17 |
| 2009-2010 | 1230 | 01-Oct-09 | 11-Apr-10 | 193 | 2.97 | 3.22 |
| 2008-2009 | 1230 | 04-Oct-08 | 12-Apr-09 | 191 | 3.01 | 3.09 |
| 2007-2008 | 1230 | 29-Sep-07 | 06-Apr-08 | 191 | 3.01 | 3.07 |
| 2006-2007 | 1230 | 04-Oct-06 | 08-Apr-07 | 187 | 3.07 | 3.15 |
| 2005-2006 | 1230 | 05-Oct-05 | 18-Apr-06 | 196 | 2.93 | 3.15 |
| 2004-2005 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2003-2004 | 1230 | 08-Oct-03 | 04-Apr-04 | 180 | 3.19 | 3.26 |
| 2002-2003 | 1230 | 09-Oct-02 | 06-Apr-03 | 180 | 3.19 | 3.26 |
| 2001-2002 | 1230 | 03-Oct-01 | 14-Apr-02 | 194 | 2.96 | 3.22 |
| 2000-2001 | 1230 | 04-Oct-00 | 08-Apr-01 | 187 | 3.07 | 3.14 |
| 1999-2000 | 1148 | 01-Oct-99 | 09-Apr-00 | 192 | 2.99 | 3.05 |
| 1998-1999 | 1107 | 09-Oct-98 | 18-Apr-99 | 192 | 2.99 | 3.05 |
| 1997-1998 | 1066 | 01-Oct-97 | 19-Apr-98 | 201 | 2.86 | 3.19 |
| 1996-1997 | 1066 | 04-Oct-96 | 13-Apr-97 | 192 | 2.99 | 3.05 |
| 1995-1996 | 1066 | 06-Jan-95 | 14-Apr-96 | 192 | 2.99 | 3.05 |
| 1994-1995 | 624 | 20-Jan-95 | 03-May-95 | 104 | 3.23 | 3.23 |
| 1993-1994 | 1092 | 05-Oct-93 | 14-Apr-94 | 192 | 3.06 | 3.13 |
| 1992-1993 | 1008 | 06-Oct-92 | 16-Apr-93 | 193 | 3.05 | 3.11 |
The seasons highlighted in orange represent lockout-shortened seasons. The seasons highlighted in green represent Olympic years. The column labeled as GP/W* corrects for days taken off during All-Star and/or Olympic breaks. Considering that the GP/W and GP/W* for a 48-game season don’t differ too much from a handful of other seasons, you shouldn’t expect a huge impact on player production in your fantasy leagues (certainly not one you could prepare for).
Mike -
The new schedule won’t be released until Saturday at the earliest. We’ll update this post if appropriate at that time.