Thoughts on the 2015 Ticats Schedule: Sucky

I knew with the Pan Am games that there were going to be some issues with the Ticats this year. But I didn't think it would be as bad as last year. And maybe worse.

The fact the first regular season home game isn't until August, namely on the Civic holiday is crazy. That's a tough start to the season in a league that historically has been quite biased towards the home team. There's actually four home games in August. That's not going to be an easy sell ticket-wise.

The rest of the season isn't so bad. The Cats do get two home games against the Argos, which is nice.

The pre-season home game is also quite early taking place on June 8th. More weirdly, that's a Monday. Not great.

A lot of this stems from the fact that the league is unbalanced with nine teams. Adding a tenth team to the East would make schedule making a lot better.

Drew Edwards Reporting Stadium to Open July 26

The Spec's Drew Edwards is reporting that the Ticats' new Tim Horton's Field will open with a game on July 26 with the pre-season game at Ron Joyce Field at McMaster.

July 26 seems like an OK date for the first game and having the stadium done on time although currently I'm a little skeptical of whether the date will be met. A few weeks ago it was announced that the stadium was two weeks behind schedule. Since then, the weather has been awful with considerable snow and below freezing temperatures. The rest of February isn't looking great compared to weather over the last five years. How is this affecting the stadium construction?

Expect another announcement about delays from the heavy winter soon.

Cats Schedule

We already knew the Cats open in Winnipeg. The home opener the next week is Calgary on Saturday afternoon. Calgary was a pretty crappy draw last year (19448) in a game after Labour Day so it makes sense for the Stamps to be the opponent as the opener is its own draw. If Hamilton can win the week before in the Peg hopefully it will be a decent crowd. I personally will probably try and pick up a few extra tickets for that game and try and get some people out early.

The following week it is Winnipeg at home on a Friday. Do not like back to back home games. Bad for attendance, but maybe the Cats can grab two early from the Bombers. Not sure if Friday night games or weekend day games do better in the summer attendance wise. That's followed by Montreal and then Saskatchewan on the road, probably both tough games and then Winnipeg at home again. Probably no so great for attendance with two Peg games so close together. The Cats then go to Winnipeg. That's a lot of the Peg in the first half. Sadly Mike Kelly is not around for our amusement in 2010.

Next it is Hamilton at Toronto, bye week and then the Labour Day game. I suppose maybe the Argos didn't want the Cats on the following Friday after Labour Day like last year as the Cats only drew 26,421 fans, but are instead travelling to BC. Hopefully the game in Toronto can attract some Cat fans, especially with the bye week following immediately after.

Hamilton then hosts the Alouettes. No doubt the Cats would prefer a road game in between for drawing purposes, but if the Cats are doing well and the Alouettes presumably, it could be a grudge match that draws. If the Cats are really lucky, maybe an aged Anthony Calvillo is out. One can only hope.

This is followed by Hamilton in BC at their crappy temporary stadium and then probably the second biggest draw after Labour Day, the Riders on a Saturday night. An afternoon game would probably be better for the maximum amount of Saskatchewan fans, but should be good for a second half of the season game. We'll see if the Cats can draw a non-Labour Day crowd over 25K.

Hamilton then has a back to back with Edmonton, with the first game being in the city of dirty oil. Probably a crappy draw. That is followed by Hamilton in Toronto, which might not be a bad game to go to. Hamilton then hosts Montreal for hopefully a meaningful late season game.

The season ends with Hamilton in Calgary, with Hamilton inexplicably hosting the Lions at home. Likely not a great draw, especially compared the home closer last year with the Riders.

For the preseason games, Hamilton is on the road the first week against the Double Blue, followed by Winnipeg at home. Good for the totally crazed Cat fans if they want to see both preseason games.

Not a terrible schedule for the Cats both draw wise and standings wise, although I would argue that probably the Cats would like it most from the competitive aspect, especially the first couple of games against Winnipeg. In terms of attendance, there is some good and some bad, the bad being the back to back home games and BC at the end. Hopefully the Cats sell more season tickets this year bumping up their attendance and end up with a better record.

I'll make another post later, commenting on the games not involving the Ticats. There's one in particular that seems flatout moronic.

Ticats Opener, July 2nd At The Peg

Hamilton opens in Winnipeg on Friday, July 2nd. Montreal travels to Riderville for a rematch of the last game of 2009 on Canada Day, while Toronto goes to Calgary the same day, no doubt to get massacred. BC goes to Edmonton on the Sunday for some Printers versus Ray action.

This is a pretty decent matchup for the Cats as their first game. They get a chance for a valuable road win against what will likely be a weak Bomber team, especially earlier in the year. Major coaching changes, plus having Michael Bishop as the starter probably will lead to a feeble offence. Of course the players could be so glad to get rid of Mike Kelly they could actually play well. We'll see what the opening line is.

The full schedule is out on Monday and I will have an analysis when it comes out, although it might not be much more than "hey the Cats are at home on Labour Day against the Argos." One thing to look for is where the league places the away Rider games. For pretty much every team in the league this is a guaranteed draw so the other teams will probably want to have the Rider game on a good day. For instance, the Cats would probably like the Riders game to be later in the year (like last year's final home game, which drew 24586 fans, the second most after Labour Day), when drawing can be tough. The Cats would probably prefer the Argos not be their home opener, as the opener is a draw itself. From a ticket selling perspective, the Lions wouldn't be a bad opponent, as they tend to draw poorly, especially if the Cats can win in week one.