NHL announces national TV schedule for 2011-12

More than 300 of the NHL's regular season contests will be televised by the League's national broadcast partners during the 2011-12 season.

The League unveiled the national television schedule for the upcoming season Thursday, highlighted by the 2011 Compuware NHL Premiere games and a Friday matinee on NBC the day after Thanksgiving.

The defending champion Boston Bruins open the NHL season by welcoming Philadelphia to TD Garden on Oct. 6 on Versus, while CBC will broadcast Montreal at Toronto. Both networks have a doubleheader that night, with Pittsburgh at Vancouver acting as the nightcap for both.

The Compuware NHL Premiere games start the next day, with the New York Rangers playing the Los Angeles Kings on TSN and Versus at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, while the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks play at Hartwell Arena in Helsinki. On Oct. 8, Anaheim and New York square off in Stockholm on TSN and Versus, while Buffalo and Los Angeles will play at World Arena in Berlin on TSN2.

Boston will play host to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, Nov. 25 in the first NBC broadcast of the season. It will be the first of 11 dates on the NBC schedule. There is a new wrinkle in the NBC flex scheduling -- the games that aren't shown on NBC will be televised on Versus.

Hockey Day in Canada is set for Feb. 11, 2012, with Prince Edward Island as the host. CBC will broadcast four games that day -- the Winnipeg Jets' first appearance on Hockey Day will be at Pittsburgh against the Penguins in an afternoon contest, while the other three matchups are Edmonton at Ottawa, Montreal at Toronto and Vancouver at Calgary.

That day is part of CBC's 104-game broadcast schedule. The Canadiens lead the way with 28 appearances and the Maple Leafs are second with 24, but Winnipeg fans will be happy to see their Jets on CBC a total of 21 times this season.

Boston and Philadelphia are tied for the most scheduled appearances on NBC or Versus, which will be rebranded as NBC Sports Network on Jan. 2, this season with 13, while Pittsburgh, Detroit and the Chicago Blackhawks will appear 12 times.

Toronto leads the way with 17 scheduled appearances on TSN. Montreal is next with 15, while Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver will all be on 10 times.