NHL releases 2011-12 schedule

The Boston Bruins will begin defence of their Stanley Cup title against the Philadelphia Flyers as part of an opening night tripleheader on Oct. 6.

The NHL announced its schedule for the 2011-12 season on Thursday on the day off between the league's awards ceremony that took place in Las Vegas and the draft that begins on Friday.

Hockey Night in Canada will release its official schedule next month.

Winnipeg, the new home of the former Atlanta Thrashers, returns to the NHL on Oct. 9 when the still unnamed team hosts the Montreal Canadiens.

The Winnipeg franchise will then hit the road for games in Chicago on Oct. 13 and Phoenix on Oct. 15 as the old and new Winnipeg franchises collide. The Coyotes come to Winnipeg on Dec. 1.

Montreal will also be a part of the opening night festivities when the Canadiens visit the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks will close out the night when they welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to town.

The Canucks and Bruins will have their first meeting since their seven-game Stanley Cup Final on Jan. 7 in Boston.

The New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks will start their seasons over two days in Europe. A total of four games will be played in Stockholm, Helsinki, and Berlin, marking the first time the NHL will stage a game in Germany.

The regular season ends Saturday, April 7, with a 15-game slate featuring all 30 teams.

The Rangers' season will include lots of travel at the start, beyond just their trip to Sweden. Because of renovations at Madison Square Garden, New York will begin on a seven-game road trip that will also take them to Long Island and a four-game jaunt to Western Canada — including their first visit to Winnipeg since the Jets left for Phoenix in 1996.

New York will finally hold its home opener Oct. 27 against Toronto. The Rangers will be rewarded for their tough start at the end of the season, when they play 10 of their final 15 and 19 of the last 33 at home.

Other teams have it even worse than the Rangers. The Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks both hit the road for nine-game trips. The circus will force out the Blackhawks, and tennis will send the Sharks packing in February.

Every club will get a break from the league's 1,230-game schedule from Jan. 26-30 for All-Star festivities that will be held in Ottawa.

In all, every team will play six games against each divisional rival, four games against the remaining clubs in its conference, and 18 nonconference games for a total of 82. Every team will face the other 29 teams at least once.

Winnipeg's new team will face a rugged travel schedule in its first season. Because of the late timing of the relocation from Atlanta, a sale and move approved by the NHL board of governors this week, the club will remain in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference this season before an expected shift to the West next season.

Winnipeg will face division rivals Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington six times each and the other teams in the Eastern Conference four times.

Here are brief snapshots of the schedules of the other Canadian teams.

Calgary

The Flames begin the season at home on Oct. 8 against Pittsburgh, and experience their first road game two nights later in St. Louis. Between Oct. 23 and Nov. 1, they'll have a season-long six game homestand against the following foes: Edmonton, New York Rangers, Nashville, Colorado, St. Louis and Vancouver.

Because the Saddledome is a site for the world junior hockey championships this year, the Flames will play seven road games between Dec. 23 and Jan. 5 and will not host a New Year's Eve game, as has been customary in recent years.

Edmonton

The Penguins are also the first opponent for the Oilers, on Oct. 9. During the first month of the season, the Oilers will travel to Madison Square Garden against the Rangers and play in Washington, visits that weren't done last season.

The Oilers will have one six-game home stand this year, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9. They will take on in succession: Nashville, Minnesota, Columbus, Calgary, Carolina and Colorado.

Like their provincial rival, Edmonton will see their building used for the world juniors. The Oilers play seven road games between Dec. 26 and Jan. 7.

Edmonton plays on consecutive nights a dozen times this season, and will also have a six-game road swing in early November.

Ottawa

Ottawa plays its first regular season game under new coach Paul MacLean on Oct. 7 in Detroit. Their first home game is four nights later, against Minnesota.

The Senators will host the NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Place on Jan. 29. The Senators play most of their regular season games on Saturday night, with Thursday the next most frequent.

There are also four Sunday matinees on the home schedule.

Montreal

The Canadiens open at Bell Centre on Oct. 13 against the Calgary Flames. October and January are months where the Habs will enjoy home cooking, playing fewer road than home games.

The club has a season-long string of six straight road games beginning mid-December.

They continue their traditional Super Bowl weekend matinee set beginning Feb. 4, hosting Washington and then Winnipeg the following day.

Toronto

The Leafs open on Oct. 6 against Montreal and close on April 7 against the Canadiens. They will start their new rivalry with Winnipeg beginning on Oct. 19.

The Maple Leafs have a challenge early in the schedule, with a span where seven of eight games in October are on the road.

Vancouver

The Canucks open on Oct. 6 against Pittsburgh and then play on the road the next four times.

November could be a challenging month, with nine of 13 games away from home.

The team's longest home stand is eight games, from Feb. 28 to March 17th, and they also have a six-game stint at home beginning in mid-January.

Vancouver will play on consecutive nights 11 times next season.