The NHL will open its 2022-23 regular season on October 11 with a heavyweight doubles header, which will see a rematch in the Eastern Conference Finals between Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers and the Pacific Division in Los Angeles and Vegas comes.
That and more was revealed Wednesday afternoon as the NHL unveiled its full schedule for the coming year.
In a break with tradition, reigning Stanley Cup winners Colorado Avalanche will not be on the league’s opening board. The Ball Arena was previously booked for an October 11 concert, so the Avalanche will raise their trophy banner on the rafters on October 12 before taking on the Chicago Blackhawks.
Colorado defeated the Lightning in Game 6 of last month’s cup finals to win their first title since 2001 and block Tampa Bay’s hopes of a third repeat as league champions. These two will see each other twice a week during the regular season, on February 9th in Tampa Bay and February 14th in Colorado.
This is right after the NHL’s February 2-5 All-Star break. The annual skill contest and star-filled game will be held February 3-4 at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
The league’s annual schedule of outdoor games also continues. The Winter Classic takes place Jan. 2 between Boston and Pittsburgh at Fenway Park, and Carolina hosts Washington on Feb. 18 at NC State’s Carter-Finlay Stadium in Raleigh for a Stadium Series matchup.
In addition, the NHL is bringing back its Global Series, which will take four clubs across the pond. Nashville and San Jose will play their season-opening games on October 7th and 8th at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. Columbus and Colorado will face off in a duel on November 4th and 5th at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.
Some other highlights on the NHL agenda:
• Montreal opens its regular season at home to Toronto on October 12, with the potential to have this year’s Entry Draft No. 1 dressed for action. Will it be Shane Wright in the middle? Juraj Slafkovsky on the wing? There’s no better time than an Original Six matchup for an NHL debut.
• Arizona will have six straight games earlier in the year before Winnipeg hosts its new – and somewhat divisive – arena on October 28th. The Coyotes lease space at Arizona State University where a 5,000-seat venue is yet to be built (hence the preseason away game list). Arizona has had to invest millions in building NHL-legal add-ons at ASU, and the Jets will make the first attempt at testing the ice — literally.
• Edmonton limped out of the postseason after the eventual Cup winners clinched a win in their Western Conference finals series. Colorado meets the Oilers again on Jan. 7 in a Saturday night showdown destined for slugfest territory.
• Fired (or unrenewed) coaches will make their various returns to familiar barns: Bruce Cassidy leads the Golden Knights back to Boston on December 5th, John Tortorella brings Philadelphia to Columbus on November 10th, Paul Maurice is with him on December 10th Florida in Winnipeg Jan. 6 Peter DeBoer returns to Vegas behind Dallas’ bench on Jan. 16, Rick Bowness leaves early with the Winnipeg Jets to face off against his former stars on Oct. 17, and Jim Montgomery brings the Bruins on Valentine’s Day back to Dallas.
• Some rivalry is brewing over Thanksgiving weekend when Pittsburgh visits Philadelphia on November 25 before another showdown between Tampa Bay and St. Louis that evening.