Sentinels Announce 2026-2027 Regular Season Schedule

by Andy Poetzinger

Finally, the time has come!

The Indiana Sentinels have announced their full regular season schedule for the 2026-2027 season. Just like last year, the Sentinels will open the season on home ice on October 9th, and just like last year, that game will introduce a brand-new team to the FPHL in the Minnesota Northern Lights.

This season has been promised to be a much more successful year for the Indiana Sentinels. Now that the schedule is available, let’s take a quick glance at some key takeaways:

1. Unfamiliarity: With last year being the inaugural season for the Indiana Sentinels, they quite obviously had a lot of firsts. That trend will continue this season as the FPHL has expanded out west with three new teams in California in Fresno, Oceanside, and Stockton and to the tip of Minnesota with the Minnesota Northern Lights. The Motor City Rockers will also be returning this season after spending last year dormant. Indiana will also play Baton Rouge, Monroe, and Twin City for the first time in franchise history. 

All in all, the Sentinels will play a grand total of 26 of their 56 games against teams they have never seen before. It is always incredibly important to make a good first impression on teams you have never seen before. Those teams need to know whenever they play the Sentinels, they are in for a long night.

2. Home Cookin’ First Half: It is no secret that the Indiana Sentinels struggled on home ice last year. With only five total victories at the Hamilton Community Center & Ice Arena in the 25-26 season, that is a statistic that needs to change this upcoming year if the Sents want to have a chance at making the postseason. 

The first half of the year will determine a lot for the Sentinels as they play on home ice 16 times in the first 28 games of the season. Indiana will need to be at .500 or above on home ice after the first 28 games of the season to put themselves in the best position for a playoff push in the second half.

3. Playoff Prepared: The goal for this year for the Indiana Sentinels is undoubtably to make the playoffs. They showed bursts in the 25-26 campaign of being a playoff caliber team by playing their best hockey against teams who made the playoffs last season like Port Huron, Topeka, and those two incredible games against Athens towards the end of the year. 

This season, the Sentinels will play a total of 20 games against teams who played in the playoffs last year. Their most important stretch of those games will be from January 22nd to February 13th with the Sentinels playing in 8 straight games against opponents who went to the 2026 playoffs in Port Huron, Blue Ridge, Topeka, and the three-time reigning champions Binghamton Black Bears. How they perform in that stretch of games will be a clear indicator of whether the Sentinels are playoff ready or not.

4. Rivalries Renewed: There was a special feeling in the rink whenever the Sentinels played against their two biggest rivals in the Port Huron Prowlers and Topeka Scarecrows. The crowds were alive, there was a buzz in the locker room, and the guys on the ice had long, long memories. 

You always had to be on your toes whenever the Prowlers and Scarecrows were on the docket. That trend will continue this season as the Indiana Sentinels will play Port Huron and Topeka more than any other team in the league. We will see Port Huron 6 times this year (twice at home, four on the road), and Topeka 8 times (four on the road and four at home). Of the Sentinels 15 wins last year, 10 of them came between the Scarecrows and Prowlers

5. California Dreamin’: It was announced this offseason that the FPHL would be expanding to the west coast with three teams in California: Fresno Falcons, Stockton Thunder and the yet to be named team in Oceanside. The Sentinels will see Fresno and Stockton this year with the Sents hosting Fresno on February 19th and 20th, and then a road trip to Stockton April 2nd and 3rd. 

That weekend in Stockton could prove to be very important for the Sentinels if they are in the playoff picture at that stage. With only five games remaining after that weekend, the Sentinels will want to make the most of their weekend in Cali and not leave any points on the table to hopefully solidify themselves in the FPHL Playoffs.

6. New 2-1-0 Points Format: The FPHL will be adapting the 2-1-0 points format that the NHL has used for the past nearly 30 years, meaning the days of 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overtime/shootout win, and one point for an overtime/shootout loss are gone. 

Moving forward, 2 points will be awarded for any win, 1 point awarded for an overtime/shootout loss and 0 points for a regulation loss. With this change, that means that every point in every game matters. Here is what the standings would look like in the Empire Division last year with the new point system:

Binghamton Black Bears - 143 points to 98 points

Port Huron Prowlers - 107 points to 76 points

Blue Ridge Bobcats - 96 points to 67 points

Topeka Scarecrows - 90 points to 66 points

Danbury Hat Tricks - 75 points to 55 points

Indiana Sentinels - 46 points to 34 points

Watertown Wolves - 45 points to 34 points

So, instead of finishing 44 points out of a playoff spot, the Sentinels would have finished 32 points out of a playoff spot. That may not seem like much when you look at the finished product, but take a look at the standings back in mid-January when the Sentinels were 6-17-4-0. At that time, the Sentinels had 26 points and were 15 points behind the Blue Ridge Bobcats who were in the final playoff spot in the Division. With the new point system, the Sentinels would have had 16 points and been only 11 points back of Blue Ridge. Minimizing that gap with the new point system makes the playoff race much tighter and brings even more importance to games in the “doldrums” of the season come January/February.

 Last year, the Sentinels created a bad habit of leaving important points on the table which led to them being out of the playoff picture by the start of March. This season, it is absolutely essential for the Indiana Sentinels to finish as many games as possible in regulation time in order to put themselves in a position of success. It also means they must improve on the overtime/shootout record. While they were a perfect 2-0 in the shootout last year, the Sents were 0-3 on games decided in overtime. That will need to change in the 2026-27 season.

7. Division Changes: With the three new California teams and Minnesota joining the league along with Motor City returning this season, the league was in desperate need of divisional realignment. 

It was announced that the Indiana Sentinels would be playing in the Great Lakes Division in the Eastern Conference alongside the Motor City Rockers, Port Huron Prowlers as well as the Watertown Wolves. Against the Prowlers and the Wolves last year, the Sentinels had a 7-11-2-0 record. With six of those games coming before the Sentinels got hot last year, that record is bound to improve this season. 

The first half of the season for the Sentinels is very division heavy with the Sents playing 15 (8 vs Watertown, 6 vs Motor City, 1 vs Port Huron) of their first 28 games against divisional opponents. In the second half, the Sentinels only play 7 (5 vs Port Huron, 2 vs Watertown) inter-division games. 

Knowing all of this, Everett Thompson will be sure to send the message to his group that there will be an extra importance on all games within the Great Lakes Division. However, it is crucial to have a good record against the division in those first 15 games of the first half of the season to put themselves in a good position for the playoff push in the 2nd half.

So, the stage is set! We are under two months until Free Agent camp is nearly upon us, and training camp comes just after that. It’s almost here, folks! What are your predictions for the 26-27 season for the Sents? Do you think they will make the playoffs in year two? Only time will tell.

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