Schedule follows familiar path

The Toledo Walleye will have a new opponent in their division next season and will play the expansion Bloomington Bison in the season opener.

The ECHL released the league’s 2024-25 season schedule on Tuesday.

The Bison franchise, located in Bloomington, Ill., is one of two new expansion teams that will join the ECHL this upcoming season. Bloomington joins the seven-team ECHL Central Division.

The Tahoe Knight Monsters, which will play their games in Stateline, Nev., will be members of the Mountain Division.

The Walleye will open the season at Bloomington on Saturday, Oct. 19. Toledo will have five road games to start the season before hosting Wheeling in the home opener on Friday, Nov. 1.

A total of 53 of the Walleye’s 72 games will be played against Central Division opponents.

This past season, 62 of the team’s 72 games were against Central Division foes.

Per custom, 33 of the Walleye’s 36 home games will be played on weekend dates — Friday (12), Saturday (12), or Sunday (9)

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s schedule release:

Familiar faces ... with a twist

Toledo will play the Cincinnati Cyclones more than any other team, with 12 meetings between the Central Division foes. The Walleye will play rival Fort Wayne eight times, with five of the meetings in Toledo.

The Walleye have 10 games against Kalamazoo, 10 against Bloomington, and nine against Iowa.

The twist? The Walleye will have fewer games against division foe Indy than they will have against Wheeling, which moves to the North Division for the 2024-25 season.

Toledo and Indy will face off just four times this season. The teams met eight times last season.

The Fuel are moving into the newly constructed Fishers Event Center this season. The Walleye will play just twice at the new venue.

Indy opens the season with a 15-game road trip and will not play their first game in the new venue until Friday, Dec. 6, against Iowa.

Meanwhile, Toledo is playing Wheeling more times this season (seven) than they did this past season (four) when both teams were in the Central Division.

Late home opener, more at home later

Once again, the Walleye will be one of the last teams in the ECHL to hold their home opener. Toledo, which opens with two games at Bloomington and three more at Idaho, will not play a home game in October.

It is the ninth straight season that the Walleye will start on the road. Only Wheeling has a later home opener (Nov. 2) this year.

One advantage to such a late home start includes the avoidance of conflicts with high school and college football games.

Toledo will have seven home games in March, which would give a team that is looking to make the playoffs more games on home ice. The Walleye play just five road games in March, while two of the team’s five games in April will be at home

How the rest of the calendar plays out: 9 of Toledo’s 14 November games will be at home. The 12-game December slate is split evenly between home and road games. Seven of the 12 games in January will be at the Huntington Center, while five of the 12 February games will take place at the Bank Tank.

Keeping it (mostly) close to home

Travel cost considerations often drive the formulation of the ECHL schedule. The Double-A league is acutely aware of the importance of limiting travel expenses.

The Walleye are no farther than 450 miles from their Central Division foes. Fort Wayne is closest (approximately 102 miles), followed by Kalamazoo (143), Cincinnati (211), Indy (226), Bloomington (342), and Iowa (447).

The proximity allows for the teams to travel by bus and play many games in short spans.

Last season, Toledo played Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, and Kalamazoo 13 times each, while facing Iowa 10 times, Indy eight times, and Wheeling five times.

This season, 74 percent of the Walleye’s games will be against Central Division foes. Last season that total was 86 percent.

This year’s slate does provide a few looks at out-of-division foes. In addition to the Idaho trip and multiple dates against Wheeling, the Walleye will host Orlando (Nov. 22, 23, and 24), Wichita (March 5) and Atlanta (March 9), and travel to Norfolk (Nov. 15-16) and Orlando (March 28-29)

Five key dates

■ Saturday, Oct. 19: Season opener at Bloomington

■ Friday, Nov. 1: Home opener against Wheeling

■ Friday, Nov. 8: First home game against Fort Wayne

■ Friday, April 11: Home vs. Fort Wayne, second-to-last home game of the regular season

■ Sunday, April 13: Home vs. Indy, regular-season finale

Contact Mark Monroe at mmonroe@theblade.com or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.