The Portland Pirates are going to see a lot of Manchester, St. John’s and Worcester this season, but they’ll also get a variety of opponents in a schedule released by the American Hockey League on Thursday.
The team opens its season with a pair of home games at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, against the Providence Bruins on Oct. 12 and against the Hartford Wolfpack on Oct. 19.
The Pirates are scheduled to play their first 13 home games in Lewiston this season — up one from previous announcements — due to extensive renovations to the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.
Due to travel patterns and proximity, the Pirates will skated 12 times each against the Manchester Monarchs, Worcester Sharks and St. John’s (Newfoundland) Ice Caps.
The Pirates face the Bruins eight times, the Wolfpack and Springfield Falcons six times, Albany, Norfolk and Bridgeport four times each and Adirondack, Binghamton and Hershey twice.
The original schedule called for the first 12 games of the season — including the team’s annual New Year’s Eve game with an indoor fireworks display — to take place in Lewiston while the team’s home rink was reconstructed and updated. A schedule change pushed the ready date for the Civic Center in Portland back a week, and forced the Colisee to accommodate a 13th game, in Friday, Jan. 10.
Of the 13 games, 11 are on either a Friday or Saturday night, and one of the mid-week games is the New Year’s Eve contest.
Worcester will skate in Lewiston three times in the first 13 home games, Manchester, Providence and St. John’s will visit twice each while Hartford, Springfield, Bridgeport and Norfolk all making the trip to Lewiston once.
The Pirates have played 10 home games at the Central Maine Civic Center in recent years, some for marketing purposes and others out of necessity due to the renovation project. The team has fared well in Lewiston, posting an 8-1-1 record against a variety of opponents. In 2012-13, the Pirates played six games in Lewiston, selling out the arena five times and posting a 5-1 record at their home away from home.
Three of the team’s 2013-14 dates are in October on the 12th, 19th and 30th. November will be the Colisee’s busiest month with the Pirates, with home dates scheduled on Nov. 1, 8, 15, 16 and 29. The final four of the original 12 dates are on Dec. 7, 14, 21 and 31, with the added date of Jan. 10 against Norfolk completing the bakers’ dozen.
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