Walleye open 5th season Oct. 19 at Fort Wayne
6/20/2013The Toledo Walleye will begin efforts to reach the playoffs in consecutive seasons when the team opens its fifth season at Fort Wayne on Saturday, Oct. 19 as the ECHL announced its 2013-14 schedule on Wednesday.
Toledo's home opener is slated for Oct. 26, when the Walleye host Wheeling with a Saturday night contest at the Huntington Center.
Home games on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays have been moved from 7:05 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Sunday games will begin at 5:15 p.m.
For the first time, the 72-game regular season is being extended into the second week of April.
The league's opening weekend is highlighted by the Reading Royals raising their first Kelly Cup championship banner on Oct. 19 when they host South Carolina.
The Walleye play Reading four times. They host the Royals on Nov. 17 and play at Reading on Jan. 17 and 18 before taking on the Royals again at home on Jan. 25.
The Walleye play four games in the opening month of October with two scheduled at home. Toledo hosts Cincinnati for a special 10:35 a.m. game on Oct. 30.
Toledo plays five home games in November, including four straight during a stretch from Nov. 3-15.
Of the team's 36 home games, 30 fall on either a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
The team plays a rare game on a Monday when the Walleye host Kalamazoo on Dec. 30. Eight games will take place on Sundays.
“We can't wait to kick off the 2013-14 season and welcome our fans back to the Huntington Center,” said Erik Ibsen, the team's assistant general manager. “Last season our fans set records in attendance, group ticket sales, youth hockey, and school day tickets. We look forward to providing them with another season of fun events, both on and off the ice, and of course, great hockey.”
The opponent the Walleye will face the most times this season is Kalamazoo.
The teams will play 13 times with seven at home and six on the road for Toledo.
The teams will have two home-and-home series during the season.
Toledo will play Cincinnati 11 times. The teams met in the first round of the playoffs last season. Six are home games for Toledo, which lost four games to three to the Cyclones in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
The Walleye will play another North Division foe, Fort Wayne, nine times with six games on the road against the Komets.
The Walleye take on division opponent Evansville eight times.
Last year, the team put together the most successful season in the franchise's four years. Toledo went 37-26-9 and finished second in the North Division.
The organization set a single-season attendance record with 226,743 fans attending the 36 regular-season games last season.
The Walleye are at home the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29) and have two games during the Christmas holiday season (Dec. 28 and 30).
Seven of the team's 11 games in the month of January will be played at home.
In contrast, seven of Toledo's 11 games in February will be played on the road.
The regular season finale is at home against Cincinnati on April 13.
Contact Mark Monroe at:
mmonroe@theblade.com,
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