Cleveland Barons Announce 2002-2003 Schedule
August 2, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release
Season Opens October 12th at Grand Rapids
CLEVELAND â The Cleveland Barons today announced their 2002-2003 AHL regular season schedule. The 80-game schedule will consist of 40 home and 40 away games.
The Barons sophomore season will open up on October 12th at Grand Rapids. The game will mark the Griffins inauguration into the Central Division of the AHL's Western Conference. Last year, Grand Rapids won the West Division of the Western Conference with 95-points. Cleveland will battle with their new divisional foe six times throughout the season.
The Barons home schedule starts October 19th at 7:00pm against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The first 5,000 fans through the gates will receive a magnet schedule.
As the season rolls along, the Barons will become quite familiar with their cross-state rival, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. The Barons and Mighty Ducks will do battle for state supremacy ten times over the course of the 2002-2003 campaign. The "Battle of Ohio" is part of 32 games played against Central Division opponents.
The first look at the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves will take place on December 17th at Gund Arena. This season will feature a couple of new opponents for the Barons as they face the Worcester IceCats twice and the San Antonio Stampede six times. The 2002-2003 season will be the Stampede's inaugural year in the AHL as they enter the West Division of the Western Conference. The Barons will host the IceCats on December 14th and San Antonio on January 24th.
The Barons will get a taste of the NHL on Friday, February 7th when they take on the Syracuse Crunch at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus Blue Jackets, parent club of the Syracuse Crunch, have invited the teams back following the Barons 1-0 loss in front of 6,998 fans at Nationwide last year.
A more balanced schedule will keep the team fresh. "If you look at the format of last year's schedule, we were destined to be a first half team," stated Barons Vice-President of Hockey and Business Operations, Michael Mudd. "Twenty-four of our first 37 games were at home, leaving us with 27 away games over the last three months. We have worked hard to avoid over-loading the schedule this season, and we feel that we have accomplished that."
The balanced schedule will see the Barons compete in 18 home games during the first three months of the season, while finishing the remaining 3 months with 22 home contests.
This season, the Barons will play three-games-in-three-nights eight times. Last year, the team endured the same situation 11 times. Also, the Barons will play four games in five days on six occasions compared to last year when they hit the same stretch eight times.
"It looks like we will avoid the back-loaded schedule from last year," said Head Coach Roy Sommer. "That definitely should improve the energy and health of our guys this year."
The Barons longest road trip of the season will be nine games (January 3rd through January 22nd). They will also hit the road for an eight game stretch early in the season between October 25th and November 9th. "The early road trip should be a great opportunity for our young club to gel," continued Sommer.
Barons fans will be treated to a lengthy home stretch at Gund Arena in December. The longest home stand of the year will be a seven-game stint that begins on December 10th and concludes December 26th.
Details on the Barons partial ticket plans for the season will be unveiled soon. Season tickets and Group packages are currently on sale. More information is available by emailing the Barons at info@clevelandbarons.net or by calling the Barons ticket department at 216-420-0000.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from August 2, 2002
- The Icemen Returneth - Norfolk Admirals
- Two IceHogs Executives Accept Expanded Roles - Rockford IceHogs
- Bell Nabs Nicklin - Rockford IceHogs
- P-Bruins announce 2002-03 schedule - Providence Bruins
- Cleveland Barons Announce 2002-2003 Schedule - Cleveland Barons
- Pirates Release 2002-2003 Schedule - Portland Pirates
- Wolf Pack to Host Chamber of Commerce Event - Connecticut Whale
- Flames Sign Three to Contracts - Saint John Flames
- Rivermen Sign Brooks and Booth - Peoria Rivermen
- 2002-2003 Monarchs Regular Season Schedule Announced - Manchester Monarchs
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
