Fri 16 Nov  NEW JERSEY
Sat 24 Nov  at Rochester
Sat  1 Dec  PHILADELPHIA
Sat  8 Dec  at New Jersey
Fri 21 Dec  NEW YORK
Sat 12 Jan  ROCHESTER
Sat 19 Jan  OTTAWA
Sun 27 Jan  at Calgary
Sat  2 Feb  at New York
Fri  8 Feb  COLUMBUS
Sat  9 Feb  at Buffalo
Sat 16 Feb  at Washington   
Sat 23 Feb  BUFFALO
Sat  9 Mar  at Columbus
Fri 15 Mar  at Montreal
Sun 24 Mar  MONTREAL

HOME    ROAD
VANC -- VANC
TORO -- TORO
CALG    OTTA
WASH    PHIL

Open weekends:      4
Two-game weekends:  1

The Albany Attack this season has the league's most spread-out schedule, playing in both the season opener and the season finale. Along the way, the Attack opens with a reasonably soft slate of games and watches the schedule progressively get more difficult. Although matches against Rochester and Philadelphia come early, they are joined in the first half of the season by New Jersey twice, New York, Ottawa, and Calgary. The Roughnecks might have found their niche by then, though, providing a perfect segue into a tough February, where the Bandits appear twice and the Power once. March remains an enigma, with all three games against the two teams which emerged from the Columbus breakup -- the new Landsharks once and the Express twice. Not facing Toronto will be a good thing for the Attack, and depending on how new coach Bob McMahon constructs the team, it could be a good thing for the fans, too -- no more 7-4 snoozefests like last season.

After last season's treacherous late-season schedule, with most of the games away from HSBC Arena, the Bandits asked for relief. They got relief, but not as much as they would have liked. Ottawa and New Jersey appear reasonably easy, but "easy wins" against them can't happen -- neither team made the cut. A choppy start, with two weeks between most games instead of the usual one, could leave the team out of rhythm. However, the first three games of the season could be good for the team's win-loss record. After Christmas, though, it's downhill for a long time. Four games in nine days, spanning the end of January and the beginning of February, could be painful -- a trip to Philadelphia launches the marathon lacrosse session, and a war with the Wings could wear the team down in advance of a busy week. Then again, the stretch run could be equally perilous, with four of the final five matches will be away from home, including a closing threesome of the Rock, Knighthawks, and Power -- all defending playoff teams.

Sat 24 Nov  WASHINGTON
Sat  1 Dec  MONTREAL
Sun 16 Dec  at New York
Sat 29 Dec  PHILADELPHIA
Sat  5 Jan  ROCHESTER
Fri 18 Jan  at Calgary
Fri 25 Jan  at Philadelphia 
Sat 26 Jan  VANCOUVER
Fri  1 Feb  at Montreal
Sat  2 Feb  COLUMBUS
Sat  9 Feb  ALBANY
Sat 16 Feb  at Columbus
Sat 23 Feb  at Albany
Sat  2 Mar  TORONTO
Sat  9 Mar  at Rochester
Sat 23 Mar  at Washington

HOME    ROAD
NEWJ -- NEWJ
OTTA -- OTTA
CALG    TORO
NEWY    VANC

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

Sat 24 Nov  MONTREAL
Fri 30 Nov  at Montreal
Sun  2 Dec  at Ottawa
Sat  8 Dec  at New York
Sat 15 Dec  COLUMBUS
Fri 21 Dec  NEW JERSEY
Fri 28 Dec  at New Jersey
Sat 29 Dec  at Rochester
Sat 12 Jan  TORONTO
Fri 18 Jan  BUFFALO
Sun 27 Jan  ALBANY
Sat  2 Feb  at Washington   
Sat  9 Feb  OTTAWA
Sat 23 Feb  at Toronto
Sat 16 Mar  at Vancouver
Sat 23 Mar  VANCOUVER

HOME    ROAD
PHIL -- PHIL
NEWY    ALBA
ROCH    BUFF
WASH    COLU

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

The Roughnecks will have to gel quickly or they could be left in the dust. Eight games in the first seven weeks make this a schedule not for the slow of foot. The faint of heart might get by, though, since none of the first seven games are against teams that made the playoffs in the NLL era. Once they roll into Rochester, though, the situation changes and the Roughnecks had better be ready to go. If they can survive the stretch from that point to the end of January, they could be in very good position to grab a playoff berth. Notice that in both meetings with Toronto, the Roughnecks have off the week before, providing extra time to prepare. Between that and the two-week break prior to the season-closing home-and-home series with Vancouver, the Roughnecks could have enough breaking their way to make a playoff run.

A choppy start to the rebirth of indoor lacrosse in mid-Ohio could leave the Landsharks out of tune or could provide valuable time to smooth out any problems on a team that will markedly different than last year's squad. The last team to begin the season, the 'Sharks have a fortnight off following each of their first two games, and the early matches aren't the toughest that could have been drawn -- two fellow expansion teams. After New Year's, the scatter-shot schedule is replaced by one where the team plays every weekend but one. However, this is also where a six-of-nine-games road swing begins, and Columbus better be prepared to face five teams that finished above .500 a year ago and a sixth (Vancouver) which is expected to contend. If the 'Sharks still have something left in the tank, six of the last eight are against Central Division foes, giving Ron Roy's squad full control of its own destiny. The March homestand could then turn into a last-ditch playoff push.

Sat  1 Dec  NEW JERSEY
Sat 15 Dec  at Calgary
Fri 28 Dec  NEW YORK
Fri  4 Jan  at Ottawa
Fri 11 Jan  at Montreal
Sun 13 Jan  WASHINGTON
Sat 19 Jan  at Rochester
Fri 25 Jan  VANCOUVER
Sat  2 Feb  at Buffalo
Fri  8 Feb  at Albany
Sat 16 Feb  BUFFALO
Sat 23 Feb  at Philadelphia 
Sat  2 Mar  MONTREAL
Sat  9 Mar  ALBANY
Fri 22 Mar  ROCHESTER
Sat 23 Mar  at New Jersey

HOME    ROAD
TORO -- TORO
CALG    NEWY
OTTA    VANC
PHIL    WASH

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

Sat 24 Nov  at Calgary
Fri 30 Nov  CALGARY
Sat  1 Dec  at Buffalo
Fri 14 Dec  VANCOUVER
Fri 11 Jan  COLUMBUS
Fri 25 Jan  OTTAWA
Sun 27 Jan  at Ottawa
Fri  1 Feb  BUFFALO
Sun  3 Feb  at Toronto
Sat  9 Feb  at Rochester
Sun 17 Feb  ROCHESTER
Sat 23 Feb  at Vancouver    
Sat  2 Mar  at Columbus
Fri  8 Mar  TORONTO
Fri 15 Mar  ALBANY
Sun 24 Mar  at Albany

HOME    ROAD
NEWJ -- NEWJ
NEWY -- NEWY
PHIL -- PHIL
WASH -- WASH

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

Between their intradivisional games (as a Central Division club, there's eight of those) and their intranational games (home-and-home vs. the four other Canadian teams), the Express gets to play no games against the Eastern Division. Perhaps that's for the best, with last season's champion, a semifinalist, and perhaps the league's most-improving team all falling off the schedule. Opening with a pair of games against the Roughnecks should offer an early gauge of what this team can do, and if that turns out to be not a lot, the Express have only two games in December -- plenty of time to cure any ills. Playing four home-and-home sets won't be beneficial to retooling for the second matchup, nor will the four-of-five-away stretch spanning the month of February. Slightly intersecting that road swing are four games in ten days -- it could get ugly. The last five weeks include four games against expansion or rebuilding clubs, opening the door to a desperation run at the postseason.

Even without Toronto, Buffalo, and Rochester (all with winning records last season) complicating matters, the Storm get the bum rush from this year's schedule. Ignoring the franchise's youth, this is a killer slate, with seven bye weeks and four two-game weekends. We can't ignore that this is a first-year team, though, since such clubs hope for soft entry into their debut season and a quicker pace later on. New Jersey has the exact opposite. Aside from New York, though, which could ruin the Storm's home opener, the first few weeks aren't too difficult. The three road games, spanning just eight days, could turn the Storm into the Partly Cloudy, though, especially if the western teams have their acts together. A one-game January could do just about anything to the team's chances this season -- the Storm will have loads of time to either ponder its December miseries or boast about some pretty big upsets. Because of that light month, a four-game homestand ends up spanning eight weeks. The last eight days of the season could mean a late surge in the wild card chase.

Fri 16 Nov  at Albany
Fri 30 Nov  NEW YORK
Sat  1 Dec  at Columbus
Sat  8 Dec  ALBANY
Sat 15 Dec  at Washington
Fri 21 Dec  at Calgary
Sun 23 Dec  at Vancouver
Fri 28 Dec  CALGARY
Sun 20 Jan  PHILADELPHIA
Fri  8 Feb  VANCOUVER
Fri 15 Feb  WASHINGTON
Sat 16 Feb  at Philadelphia 
Sat  9 Mar  at New York
Sat 16 Mar  OTTAWA
Fri 22 Mar  at Ottawa
Sat 23 Mar  COLUMBUS

HOME    ROAD
BUFF -- BUFF
MONT -- MONT
ROCH -- ROCH
TORO -- TORO

Open weekends:      7
Two-game weekends:  4

Fri 30 Nov  at New Jersey
Sat  8 Dec  CALGARY
Sun 16 Dec  BUFFALO
Fri 21 Dec  at Albany
Fri 28 Dec  at Columbus
Sat 12 Jan  PHILADELPHIA
Fri 18 Jan  at Philadelphia 
Fri 25 Jan  WASHINGTON
Sat 26 Jan  at Washington
Sat  2 Feb  ALBANY
Sat  9 Feb  VANCOUVER
Sat 16 Feb  at Vancouver
Sat 23 Feb  at Rochester
Sat  9 Mar  NEW JERSEY
Fri 15 Mar  at Toronto
Sat 23 Mar  OTTAWA

HOME    ROAD
MONT -- MONT
COLU    BUFF
ROCH    CALG
TORO    OTTA

Open weekends:      4
Two-game weekends:  1

One of the league's more consistent schedules awaits the New York Saints, who face only one two-game weekend and just two open weekends after their first game. An early Friday-dominant schedule yields to a Saturday-dominant schedule later on, and the earliest starting time is 5:00 PM -- no messing around with short weeks between games or switching between afternoon to evening games. The first five games allow the Saints a chance to ease into the season while the other Eastern Division teams face challenges. January provides a segue into more difficult matchups, with home-and-home series against Philadelphia and Washington. As tough as those four divisional games might be, the weight of three late-season road games against solid opposition (Vancouver, Rochester, and Toronto) might be a little too much to bear. If the Saints can hold their own in February and March, though, they'll be playoff-bound.

How will two weeks between games help the Ottawa Rebel? Last year, it had a front-loaded schedule and quickly plunged to the bottom of the league; the first ten weeks of this season, though, the Rebel plays on consecutive weekends only once. Also unlike the 2001 season, there are plenty of early-season games being played at Corel Centre. Ottawa pays for these luxuries later, with only one open weekend in the second half of the season and a pair of two-game weekends. The first, a twice-in-48-hours series with Montreal might not be so bad; the second, featuring New Jersey and New York on consecutive nights, probably will not be so good. Oddly, the six intradivisional games come in a pair of three-game spurts (one to start the season, another at midseason), the five Central Division games are all in the first eight games, and the final five contests are against Eastern Division teams.

Sun 18 Nov  VANCOUVER
Sun  2 Dec  CALGARY
Fri 14 Dec  at Toronto
Fri 21 Dec  ROCHESTER
Fri  4 Jan  COLUMBUS
Sat 19 Jan  at Albany
Fri 25 Jan  at Montreal
Sun 27 Jan  MONTREAL
Sat  2 Feb  at Vancouver
Sat  9 Feb  at Calgary
Sat 16 Feb  TORONTO
Fri 22 Feb  WASHINGTON
Sat  2 Mar  at Philadelphia 
Sat 16 Mar  at New Jersey
Fri 22 Mar  NEW JERSEY
Sat 23 Mar  at New York

HOME    ROAD
BUFF -- BUFF
ALBA    COLU
NEWY    ROCH
PHIL    WASH

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

Sat  1 Dec  at Albany
Sun  9 Dec  at Vancouver
Sat 15 Dec  at Rochester
Sat 29 Dec  at Buffalo
Sat 12 Jan  at New York
Fri 18 Jan  NEW YORK
Sun 20 Jan  at New Jersey
Fri 25 Jan  BUFFALO
Fri  1 Feb  ROCHESTER
Sat 16 Feb  NEW JERSEY
Sat 23 Feb  COLUMBUS
Sat  2 Mar  OTTAWA
Sat  9 Mar  at Washington   
Sat 16 Mar  WASHINGTON
Fri 22 Mar  at Toronto
Sat 23 Mar  TORONTO

HOME    ROAD
CALG -- CALG
MONT -- MONT
ALBA    COLU
VANC    OTTA

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

If any other team was the one under discussion, this schedule would be torn to shreds as the worst in league history. However, this is exactly what Wings owner Russ Cline wanted (he believed that early-season home games wouldn't sell), and knowing the Wings' skill at ignoring the hostilities of road crowds, it could work out all right. Even if the Wings drop each of the first four games, it's not fatal, because (essentially) ten straight home games follow. Seven matches at the First Union Center, plus short road trips to New York, New Jersey and Washington carry the defending champs from New Year's Day through the penultimate weekend of the season (and knowing the Wings' fans, don't bet against them outnumbering the home crowd in any of those three away games). Mark your calendars for the last weekend of the regular season -- the Wings and Rock could be playing a home-and-home series for home floor advantage throughout the postseason.

The schedule makers gave the Knighthawks several valuable gifts with this schedule, the most obvious of which is the total absence of two-game weekends (every other team faces at least one). Look a little deeper, and you'll notice that after the road trips to Toronto and Philadelphia, the level of difficulty drops off steeply and the tougher late-season games are at home. Perhaps you've also noticed the lengthy separation of the first and second games in home-and-home series against the league's elite teams, allowing plenty of time to evaluate successes and fine-tune their game plan for each rematch. Dig even deeper, and you may notice that five of the eight home games (Wings, Roughnecks, Landsharks, Bandits, and Rock) come at a bad time for the visitors -- amid a long road string, at the back end of a two-game weekend, etc.

Sat 24 Nov  ALBANY
Sat  1 Dec  at Washington
Sat 15 Dec  PHILADELPHIA
Fri 21 Dec  at Ottawa
Sat 29 Dec  CALGARY
Sat  5 Jan  at Buffalo
Sat 12 Jan  at Albany
Sat 19 Jan  COLUMBUS
Sat 26 Jan  at Toronto
Fri  1 Feb  at Philadelphia 
Sat  9 Feb  MONTREAL
Sun 17 Feb  at Montreal
Sat 23 Feb  NEW YORK
Sat  9 Mar  BUFFALO
Sat 16 Mar  TORONTO
Fri 22 Mar  at Columbus

HOME    ROAD
NEWJ -- NEWJ
VANC -- VANC
OTTA    CALG
WASH    NEWY

Open weekends:      3
Two-game weekends:  0

Sat 17 Dec  VANCOUVER
Sat  1 Dec  at Vancouver
Fri 14 Dec  OTTAWA
Sat  5 Jan  at Washington
Sat 12 Jan  at Calgary
Sat 26 Jan  ROCHESTER
Sun  3 Feb  MONTREAL
Sun 10 Feb  WASHINGTON
Sat 16 Feb  at Ottawa
Sat 23 Feb  CALGARY
Sat  2 Mar  at Buffalo
Fri  8 Mar  at Montreal
Fri 15 Mar  NEW YORK
Sat 16 Mar  at Rochester
Fri 22 Mar  PHILADELPHIA
Sat 23 Mar  at Philadelphia 

HOME    ROAD
ALBA -- ALBA
COLU -- COLU
NEWJ -- NEWJ
BUFF    NEWY

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

To reach the NLL championship game for a fourth straight season, the Toronto Rock will have to build its record in the first twelve games of the season. The final quarter of the schedule spares no mercy on the Rock, which hosts New York, visits Rochester, and conducts a home-and-home series with Philadelphia in just nine days. That might not be so much to ask, considering that there are two games each against Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa. All five bye weeks come in the first half of the season, allowing time for the Rock to ease into the swing of things. Whether Vancouver is up to the task of crushing Rocks in the first few weeks will go a long way towards setting the tone of Toronto's season. So, too, will playing pretty much the entire month of February at home, where the Rock is nearly unbeatable. The last six games of the season are all interdivisional, complicating a rally in the standings if the Rock somehow falls behind Calgary or Vancouver by the start of the stretch drive.

Opening with two road games in twenty-four hours will be tough on the Vancouver Ravens. Having to turn around and host both 2001 NLL finalists in the next two games could be just as hard. What might really clip the Ravens' wings is a month-long hiatus after the sixth game. If Vancouver has a losing record at that point, the holidays won't be very happy in British Columbia. The good news is that, once the Ravens return to play in 2002, they play Washington at home and then don't face another 2001 playoff team the rest of the season. With a pair of two-game road weekends a fortnight apart, however, it could be a very long midseason for the Ravens. After fourteen games, one opponent remains -- and if the Ravens and Roughnecks are chasing Toronto for the Northern Division title, that home-and-home will be as critical as (if not more so than) the Rock-Wings series at about the same time.

Sat 17 Nov  at Toronto
Sun 18 Nov  at Ottawa
Sat  1 Dec  TORONTO
Sun  9 Dec  PHILADELPHIA    
Fri 14 Dec  at Montreal
Sun 23 Dec  NEW JERSEY
Sat 19 Jan  WASHINGTON
Fri 25 Jan  at Columbus
Sat 26 Jan  at Buffalo
Sat  2 Feb  OTTAWA
Fri  8 Feb  at New Jersey
Sat  9 Feb  at New York
Sat 16 Feb  NEW YORK
Sat 23 Feb  MONTREAL
Sat 16 Mar  CALGARY
Sat 23 Mar  at Calgary

HOME    ROAD
ALBA -- ALBA
ROCH -- ROCH
BUFF    PHIL
COLU    WASH

Open weekends:      6
Two-game weekends:  3

Sat 24 Nov  at Buffalo
Sat  1 Dec  ROCHESTER
Sat 15 Dec  NEW JERSEY
Sat  5 Jan  TORONTO
Sun 13 Jan  at Columbus
Sat 19 Jan  at Vancouver
Fri 25 Jan  at New York
Sat 26 Jan  NEW YORK
Sat  2 Feb  CALGARY
Sun 10 Feb  at Toronto
Fri 15 Feb  at New Jersey
Sat 16 Feb  ALBANY
Fri 22 Feb  at Ottawa
Sat  9 Mar  PHILADELPHIA
Sat 16 Mar  at Philadelphia 
Sat 23 Mar  BUFFALO

HOME    ROAD
MONT -- MONT
COLU    ALBA
OTTA    CALG
VANC    ROCH

Open weekends:      5
Two-game weekends:  2

What a difference a year makes. A year ago, the late-arriving Washington Power found itself stuck with some very bad home dates, both because the autumn finality of its move from Pittsburgh and its ugly stepsister status with the MCI Center's primary tenants. The result was two-home-game weekends, matinees, and the like. This season, though, the Power has moved out to the suburbs and has become the only major tenant at Capital Centre. As a result, all eight home games will be on Saturday evenings. The schedule makers give no charity with the quality of opposition, with three games out of the first four against teams with winning records a year ago. A Christmas vacation splits a three-game homestand over six weeks, while the ensuing road trip leads into a home-and-home with the rising Saints in late January. The division title, though, may be decided in March, when the Power and Wings hook up for a pair of games.