NEW YORK (June 21, 2012) – The NHL’s 2012-13 regular season will commence on Thursday, Oct. 11, with a quartet of games.

Opening night will feature nationally televised double-headers in both the United States and Canada. In the U.S., NBC Sports Network will air the 2011 Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins visiting the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center as well as the St. Louis Blues taking on the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center. In Canada, CBC will televise the Montreal Canadiens playing host to the Ottawa Senators at Bell Centre and the Calgary Flames battling the Vancouver Canucks at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Eastern Conference-champion Devils will play their home opener on Saturday, Oct. 13, against Boston.

The Detroit Red Wings will face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in front of a potential record-setting crowd in the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® on Tuesday, Jan. 1, at Michigan Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan. The game, the only NHL contest on New Year’s Day, will be broadcast live on NBC in the United States and on CBC and RDS in Canada.

The League’s 1,230-game schedule will pause from Jan. 24-28, 2013, so the world’s top players can gather in Columbus for the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend. Then, what is sure to be yet another furious stretch run will ensue until the final day of the regular season – Saturday, April 13 – when 28 teams will be in action in a 14-game fight to the finish.

Under the NHL scheduling matrix, each team plays six games against each team in its division (24 games), four games against the non-division teams within its conference (40 games) plus 18 non-conference games – including at least one game against each club in the other conference (15 games) and three other games against select teams.

Release of the national TV schedules (CBC, NBC, NBC Sports Network, NHL Network, TSN and RDS) will occur at a later date.

Schedule notes
Season-Opening Night: Thursday, Oct. 11 – Ottawa @ Montreal, Boston @ Philadelphia, Vancouver @ Calgary, St. Louis @ Colorado

All-Star Break: Jan. 24-28

Hockey Day in Canada: Saturday, Feb. 9

Hockey Day in America: Sunday, Feb. 17

Meeting of 2012 Stanley Cup Finalists: Los Angeles @ New Jersey – Saturday, Feb. 9

Meeting of Past Two Stanley Cup Champions: Los Angeles @ Boston – Monday, Dec. 17

No Teams Play: Monday, Nov. 12

Regular Season Concludes: Saturday, April 13