Speculating on a Texas Stars Second Round Schedule

Milwaukee and Manitoba face off in their Game 3 on May 3rd in Wisconsin (Credit: Admirals)

UPDATE: Texas has confirmed the home dates we postulated below.

With a series sweep of the IceHogs, Texas is once again waiting for their opponent in the coming round. The Stars will face the winner of the Milwaukee-Manitoba series, currently led by the Moose at 2-1. Those two teams play Friday and Saturday to decide the series.

No matter what, the Stars will start on the road for the best-of-five with a 2-3 format. Based on building scheduling it appears that May 11, 12 and 13 are all available in both buildings. I would guess that the league can't resist a Saturday night for either case and then the question is Game 1 on either Thursday, which is preferable from a rest and recovery standpoint, or Friday, which would be a bigger crowd draw.

Back in Cedar Park, the H-E-B Center has the Vive Chihuahua Fest 2023 concert on Saturday, May 20th. By my understanding of the timing, that would not wrap up until midnight. It would be a tight turnaround, but a Sunday beats a Monday most any week. For Game 3, you don't want to create a three games in four nights stretch in the playoffs, so it's likely to be a gap of one day between each game, which gives us a hypothetical schedule:

Game 1 - Thursday, May 11 or Friday, May 12 @ MIL/MTB

Game 2 - Saturday, May 13 @ MIL/MTB

Game 3 - Wednesday, May 17 @ TEX (CONFIRMED)

Game 4 - Friday, May 19 @ TEX (CONFIRMED)

Game 5 - Sunday, May 21 @ TEX  (CONFIRMED)

Texas has the ability to start selling tickets for their home games, when they announce them, regardless of opponent since they know they will have home-ice advantage.