SAN JOSE, Calif. – If this is November, this must be San Jose ... or Phoenix ... or Anaheim ... or Los Angeles.

Waking up in a Pacific Division city has become old hat for the Stars under the division-heavy scheduling format of the NHL. Players say the familiarity of playing the same teams eight times a year can be good and bad.

On their four game road trip through the West, the Stars will play two teams – San Jose and Anaheim – for the second time this season and two teams – Los Angeles and Phoenix – for the third time.

Their meeting Wednesday with the Sharks was the second time the Stars had seen San Jose in nine days. Their game with Phoenix today will be the third contest between the two teams in 13 days.

"When you play division rivals eight times, it's just going to happen that you see them in games that are placed closely together on the schedule," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "So, you adjust and you adapt, and you find ways to get ready for these games."

Tippett said the actual job of preparing the team becomes both more simple and more complex. The fact the two teams know each other allows coaches to take the next step in detail planning – almost as if this were a playoff series.

"I definitely think the familiarity makes it easier to game-plan," he said. "There are trends that you want to exploit. There are positive things you want to build on or negative things you want to correct.

"When you see these teams so close together, the lineups are probably going to be very similar, and you're going to want to look at every trend. That's just coaching."

Stars goalie Marty Turco said you can't just roll out of bed and be ready to play, but maybe you can roll out of bed a little later for shorter meetings.

"I definitely think it makes it more familiar, and to some extent, maybe a little easier," he said. "I think our meetings are probably a little shorter, our video time is a little shorter, you just have an immediate idea of what the other team is trying to do."

LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN

Just when Brenden Morrow (10) and the Dallas Stars think they've topped a Pacific Division foe, they have to play another one.

Turco said his feedback from players and coaches is that nobody is in favor of the division-heavy schedule and that it will be changed fairly soon. He expects players to push for a schedule that includes 30 games against the opposing conference (currently, there are 10).

But defenseman Philippe Boucher said the current schedule isn't all bad.

"I don't mind it at all, especially when we play in a building like this one," he said after the morning skate at HP Pavilion, a loud and rowdy arena in which Sharks fans tend to vocally hate on the Stars. "The people get fired up; we're very familiar with their players. It's a good game.

"You want to see the other conference more, and there are changes coming, but I don't mind this. I think it's good when we can have a big game with the division lead on the line. It makes things exciting."

And with the Pacific teams all swimming at the same level this season, the division games take on even more importance.

The Phoenix game tonight, for example, is significantly bigger after the Coyotes won, 5-0, in Dallas on Friday.

"I definitely think the division helps make the games more important," Tippett said. "The division is very tight right now, and the division points are very valuable, so you take a little more into that game, because you know what's on the line."

The Stars are getting at least their second look at their division rivals on this four-game road trip and will see them again next week at home. Here are the amount of games and span of days Dallas will play against the Pacific Division rivals in the first two months:

Los Angeles – 4 games in 41 days

Anaheim – 3 games in 33 days

Phoenix – 3 games in 13 days

San Jose – 3 games in 17 days