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Dayton Gems Officially Release 2011-2012 Regular Season Schedule

August 15, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Dayton Gems News Release


DAYTON, OHIO - The Dayton Gems professional hockey team has announced their regular season schedule for the upcoming 2011-2012 Central Hockey League regular season.

This season will feature a number of highlights for the Gems, including games around the holiday seasons, three major road trips and 14 games against Fort Wayne.

Dayton will start the season on the road, traveling to Bloomington for their first regular season game on Oct. 22. It will be the first of four road games the Gems will play before playing a home game.

The home schedule will have a much later start than a year ago. Dayton will not play its first home game until Nov. 5.

"Our fans have been waiting anxiously for the schedule to be released, and we hope they are pleased with what we've put together," said Dayton Gems President Joe Greene. "With 12 Saturday home games and numerous home dates not necessarily on holidays, but surrounding holidays, we think that our fans will appreciate it. We built this schedule in the best interest of our fans."

The main highlight of the schedule are the 14 games against Fort Wayne. Over the past two seasons, the Gems and Komets have developed one of the best rivalries in the CHL. The rivalry came to a head last season when the two teams had to play each other four consecutive times during the month of December.

This season, the two teams will face each other three times during the final week of the regular season.

"I think the league and our front office have done a tremendous job in crafting the schedule for the 2011-2012 season. We still retain the games with our regional rivals like Fort Wayne, Evansville, Bloomington and Quad City, but now the fans will get to see even more new teams this season," said Head Coach and General Manager Brian Gratz. "In the end it is a challenging schedule and one that will provide a lot of parity in the standings and entertainment for the fans."

While Fort Wayne is a common opponent, Dayton will be facing four different teams than a year ago. This year, the Gems will be facing all four of the CHL's Texas teams - the Allen Americans, Laredo Bucks, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and Texas Brahmas. Last season Dayton played a home game against Odessa, but did not face any of the Texas teams on this season's schedule.

In addition to the new opponents, there will also be three new destinations on the regular season schedule. In October and January the Gems will be going to Rapid City, SD to take on the Rush. The Gems went to Rapid City last season for a pair of playoff games, but did not make the journey during the regular season.

Also on the schedule is a trip to Oklahoma and Texas in February. In March, the Gems will travel to Prescott Valley, Arizona to take on the Sundogs. The Arizona trip will be the team's longest of the season.

Home games have been scheduled around all three of the major holidays that take place during the regular season. The Gems will have two games around Thanksgiving Day, a game on Dec. 23 and a game on New Year's Eve.

Game times inside Hara Arena are set for 7:00pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday home games, while Sundays will feature a 4:00pm start. Gates will open one hour before faceoff for all home games.

The Gems are also pleased to announce that their series of Tuesday night home games will have a new earlier start time of 6:30 pm. On the change, Team President Joe Greene noted "we realize that families are an important asset to the success of our franchise and the goal with the new start time is to get our kids home at a decent hour since most have school early the next morning."

The Kettering Medical Center is proud to be the official title sponsor of the Dayton Gems.

*Important game dates*

Season opener: Saturday, Oct. 22 at Bloomington

Home opener: Saturday, Nov. 5 vs Quad City

Holiday games:

Thanksgiving week

Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs Quad City

Saturday, Nov. 26 vs Fort Wayne

Christmas week

Friday, Dec. 23 vs Fort Wayne

New Year's Eve vs Quad City

Final home game: March 24 vs Fort Wayne

Final game of the season: March 25 vs Fort Wayne

*New regular season opponents*

Allen Americans

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

Laredo Bucks

Texas Brahmas

*Teams the Gems face the most*

Team Games played against

Fort Wayne 14

Bloomington 10

Quad City 10

Evansville 10

*Breakdown of game days*

Monday 0

Tuesday 4

Wednesday 1

Thursday 5

Friday 7

Saturday 12

Sunday 4

Regular season schedule

# Day Month Date Visitor Home

1 Saturday October 22 Dayton Bloomington

2 Friday October 28 Dayton Rapid City

3 Saturday October 29 Dayton Rapid City

4 Friday November 4 Dayton Quad City

5 Saturday November 5 Quad City Dayton

6 Tuesday November 8 Fort Wayne Dayton

7 Friday November 11 Evansville Dayton

8 Saturday November 12 Evansville Dayton

9 Sunday November 13 Dayton Evansville

10 Thursday November 17 Bloomington Dayton

11 Friday November 18 Dayton Fort Wayne

12 Saturday November 19 Dayton Bloomington

13 Wednesday November 23 Quad City Dayton

14 Friday November 25 Dayton Bloomington

15 Saturday November 26 Fort Wayne Dayton

16 Thursday December 1 Missouri Dayton

17 Friday December 2 Dayton Missouri

18 Saturday December 3 Dayton Missouri

19 Friday December 9 Dayton Evansville

20 Saturday December 10 Quad City Dayton

21 Sunday December 11 Dayton Fort Wayne

22 Friday December 16 Dayton Bloomington

23 Saturday December 17 Dayton Bloomington

24 Sunday December 18 Bloomington Dayton

25 Thursday December 22 Texas Dayton

26 Friday December 23 Fort Wayne Dayton

27 Tuesday December 27 Dayton Evansville

28 Thursday December 29 Bloomington Dayton

29 Friday December 30 Dayton Quad City

30 Saturday December 31 Quad City Dayton

31 Friday January 6 Dayton Fort Wayne

32 Saturday January 7 Fort Wayne Dayton

33 Sunday January 8 Dayton Fort Wayne

34 Friday January 13 Dayton Quad City

35 Saturday January 14 Dayton Quad City

36 Sunday January 15 Evansville Dayton

37 Friday January 20 Dayton Rapid City

38 Saturday January 21 Dayton Rapid City

39 Thursday January 26 Dayton Evansville

40 Friday January 27 Rapid City Dayton

41 Saturday January 28 Evansville Dayton

42 Tuesday January 31 Rapid City Dayton

43 Saturday February 4 Dayton Fort Wayne

44 Tuesday February 7 Dayton Quad City

45 Thursday February 9 Bloomington Dayton

46 Friday February 10 Dayton Evansville

47 Saturday February 11 Fort Wayne Dayton

48 Tuesday February 14 Dayton Tulsa

49 Wednesday February 15 Dayton Texas

50 Friday February 17 Allen Dayton

51 Saturday February 18 Bloomington Dayton

52 Friday February 24 Missouri Dayton

53 Saturday February 25 Arizona Dayton

54 Sunday February 26 Evansville Dayton

55 Friday March 2 Dayton Arizona

56 Saturday March 3 Dayton Arizona

57 Tuesday March 6 Fort Wayne Dayton

58 Friday March 9 Bloomington Dayton

59 Saturday March 10 Bloomington Dayton

60 Friday March 16 Rio Grande Valley Dayton

61 Saturday March 17 Dayton Bloomington

62 Sunday March 18 Laredo Dayton

63 Tuesday March 20 Quad City Dayton

64 Friday March 23 Dayton Fort Wayne

65 Saturday March 24 Fort Wayne Dayton

66 Sunday March 25 Dayton Fort Wayne



Central Hockey League Stories from August 15, 2011


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