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Urbandale (IA)The Des Moines Buccaneers, in conjunction with the United States Hockey League, announced their 2012-2013 regular season schedule on Wednesday morning. The 64-game slate will begin Friday September 28th at Team USA and conclude Saturday April 14th at home versus Dubuque.
The home opener is scheduled for Saturday October 6th against Sioux Falls.
Fans will notice a schedule similar to last season as the USHL retains the same 16 teams and divisional alignment. The Buccaneers are in the Western Division and will play 41 of their games within the division.This includes six each against rivals Omaha, Lincoln and Sioux City and four versus Waterloo.
The 64-games features a new high for both the Buccaneers and USHL as the league expands its season by four games without extending the calendar the season runs within. As a result, while the majority of Buccaneer games will be on traditional Friday and Saturday nights, there will also be three Sunday home games.
In all, the Buccaneers will play 14 Friday home games and 14 Saturday home games. The other four games will be made up with the Sunday dates and a home game on Thanksgiving Eve versus Waterloo.
For the first time since 2009-2010, the Buccaneers will begin the season on the road the last weekend of September with games at the U-17 Team USA squad and Youngstown.Following a game at Lincoln on Friday October 5th, the Bucs make their Central Iowa debut the next night against Sioux Falls.
Other highlights on the schedule include the Buccaneers’ first visit to the Omaha Lancers new arena in Ralston, NE on Sunday October 28th. In addition to the Thanksgiving Eve matchup with Waterloo they will also have a home game on Black Friday versus Indiana. New head coach Jon Rogger makes his return to Green Bay (where he’d previously been an assistant) on December 7th.
The Buccaneers will have a shorter than usual holiday break with a home game against Lincoln on December 22nd and then returning to action December 28th versus Cedar Rapids.
