Scheduling the unknown

While we still don’t know what positions they will end up in, we do know that 2 of these 3 teams (Seattle, Spokane, Everett) will end up in a 4 vs 5 series against each other. Based on arena availability and historical scheduling, here’s my best guess as to what those series may look like:

(* – if necessary)

Seattle #4 vs Spokane #5

  1. Friday March 21 @ ShoWare Center
  2. Saturday March 22 @ ShoWare Center
  3. Tuesday March 25 @ Spokane Arena
  4. Wednesday March 26 @ Spokane Arena
  5. Friday March 28 @ ShoWare Center*
  6. Sunday March 30 @ Spokane Arena*
  7. Tuesday April 1 @ ShoWare Center*

Seattle #4 vs Everett #5

  1. Friday March 21 @ ShoWare Center
  2. Saturday March 22 @ ShoWare Center
  3. Monday March 24 @ Comcast Arena
  4. Wednesday March 26 @ Comcast Arena
  5. Friday March 28 @ ShoWare Center*
  6. Sunday March 30 @ Comcast Arena*
  7. Tuesday April 1 @ ShoWare Center*

Comcast Arena has a concert scheduled for Tuesday March 25th.

Everett #4 vs Seattle #5

  1. Friday March 21 @ Comcast Arena
  2. Saturday March 22 @ Comcast Arena
  3. Tuesday March 25 @ ShoWare Center
  4. Wednesday March 26 @ ShoWare Center
  5. Friday March 28 @ Comcast Arena*
  6. Sunday March 30 @ ShoWare Center*
  7. Tuesday April 1 @ Comcast Arena*

With regard to the Everett/Seattle series, I thought about the teams maybe wanting another Saturday game considering it would most likely be a sellout for either a game 5 or 6. However, the Sounders are home on March 29 and the teams aren’t going to want to compete with that nor would they want the visiting fans to be caught in the traffic. So I think them not having a Saturday game on the second weekend is almost a given. I also gave some thought to Everett moving their first two games around if they are the 4th seed. Going Saturday/Sunday for games 1 and 2 would help Seattle fans avoid Friday night traffic and may get larger attendance numbers into Comcast Arena. Certainly something to think about when you are talking about teams that are so close to each other and how small playoff crowds tend to be.

Spokane #4 vs Seattle #5

  1. Friday March 21 @ ShoWare Center
  2. Saturday March 22 @ ShoWare Center
  3. Tuesday March 25 @ Spokane Arena
  4. Wednesday March 26 @ Spokane Arena
  5. Friday March 28 @ Spokane Arena*
  6. Sunday March 30 @ ShoWare Center*
  7. Tuesday April 1 @ Spokane Arena*

As has been previously mentioned, the NCAA basketball tournament kicks the Chiefs out for opening weekend. I believe one of the requirements of hosting the NCAA tournament is not hosting events the day before or the day between games so it wouldn’t be possible for Spokane to do a Thursday/Saturday to start the series.

On the off-chance that the Thunderbirds end up 6th, this is what their series vs Victoria may look like:

Victoria #3 vs Seattle #6

  1. Saturday March 22 @ Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
  2. Sunday March 23 @ Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
  3. Tuesday March 25 @ ShoWare Center
  4. Wednesday March 26 @ ShoWare Center
  5. Friday March 28 @ Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre*
  6. Sunday March 30 @ ShoWare Center*
  7. Tuesday April 1 @ Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre*

All of this prognosticating will be moot by the end of this weekend. No matter what happens, single game playoff tickets go on sale Monday morning at 10 am, both online and at the ShoWare Center box office. And if you have friends coming, be sure to check out the group deals the Thunderbirds are offering for the playoffs. Group discounts start with groups as small as 6.