NHL opens 2005-06 season with busiest night in League history
NEW YORK (July 27, 2005) - All
30 clubs will be in action, and the new rivalry-based schedule format
will be very much in evidence, as the National Hockey League raises the
curtain on its 2005-06 regular-season Wednesday, October 5 (click to see full schedule), with the
busiest playing date in its 88-year history. NHL teams have combined to
play as many as 14 games on nine occasions, the most recent of which
was Nov. 1, 2003, but Opening Night will surpass that figure.
Ottawa and Toronto will renew the "Battle of Ontario" on opening night.
Division rivals will play eight times this
season, and Opening Night delivers an array of divisional contests. The
Pittsburgh Penguins visit the New Jersey Devils in a meeting of
Atlantic Division clubs, the Montreal Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins
in a Northeast Division match-up that harkens to the "Original Six"
era, and the Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs to resume
the "Battle of Ontario," another Northeast Division showdown.
In other intra-division games on Opening Night, the Philadelphia Flyers
host the New York Rangers (Atlantic), the Florida Panthers host the
Atlanta Thrashers (Southeast), the Detroit Red Wings host the St. Louis
Blues (Central), the Edmonton Oilers host the Colorado Avalanche
(Northwest), the Minnesota Wild host the Calgary Flames (Northwest) and
the Los Angeles Kings visit the Dallas Stars (Pacific).
The Tampa Bay Lightning will provide another Opening Night highlight.
The 2004 Stanley Cup champions will raise a commemorative banner to the
ceiling of the St. Pete Times Forum prior to their Southeast Division
game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Divisional play represents 32 of each club's 82 games this season. Each
club also will play four games against each of the 10 non-division
clubs in its conference (40 games), plus 10 inter-conference games --
five at home against all the clubs in a designated division and five on
the road against all the clubs in a different designated division. For
inter-conference play in 2005-06, Northeast Division clubs will host
the Pacific Division and visit the Northwest; Atlantic Division clubs
will host the Northwest and visit the Central, and Southeast Division
clubs will host the Central and visit the Pacific.
Divisional assignments will rotate annually.
Also of note on the 2005-06 schedule:
After lifting the Stanley Cup in 2004, the Lightning will raise their championship banner on opening night.
The Lightning visit the Maple Leafs Saturday,
Nov. 5, in the Hockey Hall of Fame Game. Two nights later, the Hall of
Fame induction ceremony will honor Cam Neely and the late Valeri
Kharlamov in the Players category and Murray Costello in the Builders
category.
The "Hockey Day In Canada" triple-header is scheduled for Saturday,
Jan. 7. Ottawa visits Montreal, Toronto is at Edmonton and Calgary is
at Vancouver.
Regular-season action pauses following the games of Feb. 12 so NHL
players can participate in the Olympic Winter Games at Turin, Italy.
Play resumes Feb. 28.
The regular season concludes April 18. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are
scheduled to begin April 21 and conclude no later than June 19.
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