As expected, the Newfoundland Growlers’ schedule for the 2019-20 ECHL season sees the team playing the majority of games against their North Division counterparts, but the frequency of Newfoundland’s matchups with each of the Reading Royals, Brampton Beast, Adirondack Thunder, Maine Mariners and Worcester Railers was increased even further when the Manchester Monarchs abruptly announced they were ceasing operations. That was in mid-May after the ECHL’s 2019-20 schedule had been all but completed.
In fact, the Monarchs were to have been the Growlers’ opponents on opening day.
Manchester’s departure meant some creative juggling was required, but Stanford said things worked out pretty well, adding the Growlers were able to maintain what he feels is a much-improved schedule for games at Mile One
“Obviously, we had to do a little bit moving around, but even then, our (home) schedule is much better,” said Stanford. “We don’t play any three-in-threes like we did last season.
“We still have teams coming in to play three games in a row, but it won’t be three games in three days. Instead, it’s going to be three games in five days, Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, for example.”
Next season's entire league schedule was released Thursday.
Newfoundland begins defence of the Kelly Cup Oct. 11 at Mile One with a season-opening game against Reading, which will be their most frequent opponent in 2019-20.
The Growlers square off against the Royals 14 times. Add in Brampton (12 games against Newfoundland), Maine (11), Adirondack (11) and Worcester (nine), and the Growlers will play 57 of their 72 games within the division.
Still there will be some variety. The Atlanta Gladiators, Kansas City Mavericks and Kalamazoo K-Wings, none of whom faced the Growlers this past season, will visit St. John’s, while there will be a rematch of the Kelly Cup final when the Walleye return to Mile One in November.
And there will be a new wrinkle on the road for the Growlers, who will travel nearly all the way across the continent to Salt Lake City, where they will play the Utah Grizzlies in December.
Of Newfoundland’s 36 home games, 22 are on weekends, 11 on Fridays and 11 on Saturdays. With the elimination of three-in-threes, there will be no games on Sunday. That also means there will be no afternoon games, save for a special New Years Eve matinee (4 p.m. start) Dec. 31 against Worcester.
Other than that, all games at Mile One will get underway at 7 p.m.
The longest homestand for Newfoundland is six games, which occurs twice, while the lengthiest stretch away from Mile One is a seven-game road trip Nov. 20-30
And while there will be no three-on-threes at home, the Growlers will have no less than seven of them as part of their road schedule.
Growlers’ 2019-20 schedule
The Newfoundland Growlers 2019-20 regular-season schedule as announced by the ECHL Thursday (all home games have 7 p.m. starts at Mile One Centre, except for Dec. 31):
HOME
October (5)
- Friday, Oct, 11 vs Reading
- Saturday, Oct. 12 vs Reading
- Tuesday Oct. 15 vs Reading
- Friday, Oct. 18 vs Brampton
- Saturday, Oct. 19 vs Brampton
November (4)
- Friday, Nov. 8 vs Atlanta
- Saturday, Nov. 8 vs Atlanta
- Friday, Nov. 15 vs Toledo
- Saturday, Nov. 16 vs Toledo
December (8)
- Tuesday, Dec. 3 vs Reading
- Wednesday, Dec. 4 vs Reading
- Friday, Dec. 6 vs Atlanta
- Saturday, Dec. 7 vs Atlanta
- Tuesday, Dec. 17 vs Adirondack
- Wednesday, Dec. 18 vs Adirondack
- Monday, Dec. 30 vs Worcester
- * Tuesday, Dec. 31 vs Worcester (4 p.m.)
January (5)
- Friday, Jan. 3 vs Adirondack
- Saturday, Jan. 4 vs Adirondack
- Tuesday, Jan. 14 vs Kansas City
- Wednesday, Jan. 15 vs Kansas City
- Friday, Jan. 31 vs Brampton
February (5)
- Saturday, Feb. 2 vs Brampton
- Friday, Feb. 14 vs Maine
- Saturday, Feb. 15 vs Maine
- Tuesday, Feb. 18 vs Maine
- Wednesday Feb. 19 vs Maine
March (9)
- Wednesday, March 4 vs Adirondack
- Friday, March 6 vs Adirondack
- Saturday, March 7 vs Adirondack
- Tuesday, March 17 vs Reading
- Wednesday, March 18 vs Reading
- Friday, March 20 vs Brampton
- Saturday, March 21 vs Brampton
- Friday, March 27 vs Kalamazoo
- Saturday, March 28 vs Kalamazoo
AWAY
October (3)
- Friday, Oct. 25 at Maine
- Saturday, Oct. 26 at Maine
- Thursday. Oct. 31 at Reading
November (9)
- Friday, Nov. 1 at Worcester
- Saturday, Nov. 2 at Maine
- Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Adirondack
- Friday, Nov. 22 at Reading
- Saturday, Nov. 23 at Reading
- Sunday, Nov. 24 at Reading
- Wednesday, Nov. 27 at Worcester
- Friday, Nov. 29 at Worcester
- Saturday, Nov. 30 at Maine
December (3)
- Wednesday, Dec. 11 at Utah
- Friday, Dec. 13 at Utah
- Saturday, Dec. 14 at Utah
January (6)
- Friday, Jan. 10 at Maine
- Saturday, Jan. 11 at Worcester
- Sunday, Jan. 12 at Maine
- Friday, Jan. 24 at Reading
- Saturday, Jan. 25 at Reading
- Sunday, Jan. 26 at Brampton
February (7)
- Friday, Feb. 7 at Adirondack
- Saturday, Feb. 8 at Adirondack
- Sunday, Feb. 9 at Worcester
- Friday, Feb. 21 at Reading
- Sunday, Feb. 23 at Maine
- Friday, Feb. 28 at Florida
- Saturday, Feb. 29 at Orlando
March (4)
- Sunday, March 1 at Jacksonville
- Tuesday, March 10 at Brampton
- Friday, March 13 at Kalamazoo
- Saturday, March 14 at Brampton
April (4)
- Wednesday, April 1 at Brampton
- Friday, April 3 at Adirondack
- Saturday, April 4 at Brampton
- Sunday, April 5 at Brampton
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