And because of the scheduling nightmare that comes from scheduling 480 league games and planning around some arenas that book other events, the schedule isn't perfect.

The Stars' two-game series against Waterloo was over after back-to-back games three weeks into the seven-month season.

Lincoln currently is in a stretch where 10 straight games are in conference. The Stars won both of their games last weekend and host Tri-City on Friday night.

The stretch comes as Lincoln is close to getting its record back to .500 and slowly working out of the bottom of the conference standings.

Stars coach Chad Johnson subscribes to the coach's cliche that all games are important, but also knows the extra meaning of conference games. Hockey coaches call it the four-point swing. A win in regulation gives you two points in the standings and keeps your opponent from getting any points.

That's important because there are eight teams in each conference and only the top six will make the playoffs.