TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: SCHEDULE SPECIAL!
Jul 13, 2023
Hello, friends. Hopefully, you’ve all been enjoying the summer months and your ‘vacation’ from hockey. We’ve still got quite a bit of time to enjoy the nice weather, the company of family and friends, and of course, the beach. That said, we got a reminder yesterday that the 2023-24 Hartford Wolf Pack season is waiting right around the corner. The club’s 27th season in downtown Hartford will kick off in mid-October, and we now have the official 2023-24 schedule in hand.
For those of you that missed the news yesterday, our official schedule release can be seen here, and the entire 2023-24 schedule can be viewed here.
We’re back with the first of two summer editions of the blog, this week breaking down the new Wolf Pack schedule.
The Additions
Last year, the Wolf Pack made an extremely rare trip to the Western Conference. The Wolf Pack played a home-and-home set with the Milwaukee Admirals, Grand Rapids Griffins, and Rockford IceHogs. This year, those three teams will come off the schedule. There will be no Western Conference foe on the docket this year.
With those three teams off the slate, three Eastern Conference teams return. After not facing the Laval Rocket or Belleville Senators a season ago, both teams will return to the slate this year.
Hartford will face Laval four times, then take on Belleville twice. The Pack and Rocket will meet for a weekend in Laval on December 8th and 9th, then the Rocket will come to town on February 16th and March 1st. If you’re a big Wolf Pack fan, the Laval weekend represents a terrific road trip opportunity for the 2023-24 season.
The Senators, meanwhile, will make their lone trip to Hartford on November 25th. The Pack will conclude a four-game road trip in Belleville on March 24th, their lone visit of the season.
Speaking of additions, the Cleveland Monsters will come to town for the first time in over a decade. The sides will play four times this season, with the Monsters arriving in Connecticut on December 6th and February 24th. The Pack will play two on a weekend in Cleveland on January 26th and 27th.
It’s the first time the Wolf Pack and Monsters will meet since the 2008-09 season. In fact, their home-and-home set that season represents the only other times they have faced off in their respective franchise histories.
Hartford’s only other appearance in Cleveland came against the then-Lake Erie Monsters on November 16th, 2008. The Monsters’ only appearance in Hartford was on February 13th, 2009.
Old Friends Meet Again
While there are no Western Conference foes on the schedule this season, the Wolf Pack will face every team in the Eastern Conference at least once in 2023-24.
In the Atlantic Division, the Wolf Pack will have four chances to get revenge against the Hershey Bears after their playoff series in May. The sides will meet in Hartford on January 19th and March 30th, with battles in Chocolatetown set for January 6th and March 17th. That’s down from six meetings a season ago.
Speaking of playoff foes, the Wolf Pack will see the two teams they eliminated in the spring plenty of times this season. The Pack will face the Providence Bruins ten total times, five in Rhode Island and five in Hartford. In fact, the season kicks off in Providence on October 13th when the Bruins raise the banner for their regular-season Atlantic Division title. The B’s make their first visit to Hartford on November 11th.
Fittingly, the season ends where it began, as the Wolf Pack will visit the Bruins in the season finale on April 21st.
The ‘I-91 Rivalry’ was dominated by the Springfield Thunderbirds in the regular season in 2022-23, but the Pack swept their best-of-three playoff series to get the last laugh. The sides won’t wait long to renew their rivalry, as the Thunderbirds host the Wolf Pack in their season opener on October 14th. The T-Birds’ first visit to Hartford comes on October 27th, while their second visit is the ‘School Day Game’ on November 15th.
In all, the sides will meet ten times during the season.
The ‘Battle of Connecticut’ will also go ten times in 2023-24, five in Hartford and five in Bridgeport. The sides will first meet on November 10th in Bridgeport, with the Islanders’ first visit to Hartford not occurring until December 22nd.
Shifting to Pennsylvania, the Wolf Pack will face both the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms six times during the 2023-24 campaign. In a weird coincidence, the Penguins will be the opponent for both the home opener and regular-season home finale for the second consecutive season. Those dates are set for October 20th and April 19th. The Pens also pay a visit on February 2nd.
The Phantoms, meanwhile, will be seen often in the early portion of the schedule. They’ll make their three visits on October 21st, December 1st, and December 2nd. The Pack head to Allentown on October 29th, November 3rd, and January 12th. They’ll meet five times in the first 20 games, then just once in the final 52.
Lastly, for the Atlantic Division, the Wolf Pack will face the Charlotte Checkers eight times for the second straight season. The Pack makes two trips to Charlotte, heading south on for games on March 12th and 13th and then again for games on April 6th and 7th.
In the North Division, the Wolf Pack will face the Monsters and Rocket both four times, twice at home and twice away. They’ll face the Utica Comets, Syracuse Crunch, Rochester Americans, Toronto Marlies, and the Senators twice each, with all five series being home-and-home sets.
The Pack will play a true home-and-home with the Crunch on November 17th and 18th, starting the weekend in Syracuse. They’ll face the Marlies at home on December 17th, then visit Toronto on March 23rd. That will be one of just three Saturday afternoon tilts this season, as puck drop is set for 4:00 p.m. The club’s other Saturday afternoon games are in Laval on December 9th (3:00 p.m.) and in Charlotte on April 6th (4:00 p.m.).
The Comets will be in town on March 16th, while the Amerks make their lone visit on December 15th.
Quick Hits
Okay, so now that the long breakdown is complete, let’s take a look at some quick fun facts in regard to the 2023-24 schedule for the Wolf Pack, shall we?
* This is the second season in a row that the Wolf Pack will open on the road. They went 0-1-1-0 in two games last October in Charlotte. Prior to last season, the Wolf Pack hadn’t opened a season on the road since 2014-15.
* This is just the second time in franchise history that the Wolf Pack open a season in Providence against the Bruins. The club played their first-ever game as the Wolf Pack in Providence on October 3rd, 1997, to open the inaugural 1997-98 campaign.
* This is just the second time in franchise history that the Wolf Pack have hosted the Penguins in their home opener. The last time? Last season, a 4-3 shootout win for the Penguins on October 22nd, 2022.
* The club’s longest road trip is a five-game trip starting on October 28th in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and ending on November 10th in Bridgeport. The club will also visit Lehigh Valley twice during that trip, and Utica once.
* The club’s longest homestand is a six-game stretch that starts on January 31st when the Charlotte Checkers come to town. The Pack will also host the Penguins (2/2), Springfield Thunderbirds (2/3), Bridgeport Islanders (2/9), Providence Bruins (2/10), and Laval Rocket (2/16).
* The ‘School Day Game’ returns to Hartford on November 15th (11:00 a.m.) against the Thunderbirds.
* The Wolf Pack will have four three-in-three sets on their schedule this season. They’ll play a three-in-three on October 27th – 29th, November 10th – 12th, February 16th – 18th, and April 19th – 21st.
For the full schedule, and for tickets, be sure to visit our website! The full promotional schedule will be released at a later date, so be sure to stay on the lookout for that!
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and play at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.