NHL to announce 2018-2019 home openers for each team on June 20 at 1:00 PM EST

[LeafsNation75]

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[Barrie22]

Can't wait to face the kings for there home opener for the 25th time in a row.

 

[islandersdynasty]

Banner night for us

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Do they make a spectacle of it every year? I don't care about a damn show, just give me the a picture of the schedule.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Eww

 

[Blue Goose]

Can't wait to face the kings for there home opener for the 25th time in a row.

I imagine that was due to NBC wanting two US teams in the Pacific time zone to play each other for the second half of their opening night double-header. Now that Vegas is here (and relevant), I wouldn't be surprised if their home opener (against either SJ or LA) would get that slot.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I imagine that was due to NBC wanting two US teams in the Pacific time zone to play each other for the second half of their opening night double-header. Now that Vegas is here (and relevant), I wouldn't be surprised if their home opener (against either SJ or LA) would get that slot.

Plus I'm sure NBCSN will want to show when Vegas raises their 2018 Western Conference Champions banner.

 

[Pilky01]

Can't wait to face the kings for there home opener for the 25th time in a row.

I wonder if Toronto will face Ottawa or whether they will face Montreal.

So many possibilities!

 

[talkinaway]

Do they make a spectacle of it every year? I don't care about a damn show, just give me the a picture of the schedule.

Same exact thing every year...at least in the recent past. Home opening games released on Wednesday. Complete schedule Thursday. Draft on Friday/Saturday.

Given the fact that the Bruins have released their preseason schedule, and the preseason's in the exact same slot as it was last year, we're probably looking at Wednesday 10/3 for the 4 opening games. The schedule usually features an Eastern US, Eastern Canadian, Western US, and Western Canadian matchup, and tends to feature the Stanley Cup champions. Not sure if Capital One Center will be able to clean up from Maroon 5 on 10/2, but it's possible. T-Mobile is also free for the runners up.

Most everyone else will play Thursday 10/4, and a small smattering of games will be on Friday 10/5. The last few years, they've had 15 games running on Saturday.

My Bruins won't be home for awhile. TD Garden is booked from 10/4 to 10/14 except for 3 days. The area around the Garden is in the final phases of some pretty heavy renovation called The Hub: direct indoor access from the subway has been shut off for the past 1-2 years. The Garden is literally on top of North Station, and as of last Saturday, 1 of the 2 main staircases from North Station to the Garden was completely closed for renovations as well. I think it has a lot to do with that: they don't mind inconveniencing a Nicki Minaj or Maroon 5 fan who comes to one concert a year, but the sports fans who come to 10, 20, or 41 games? They notice things.

 

[LeighDx59]

Finally. Ive been waiting on the schedule to drop.

 

[NYR94]

Let me guess the Rangers open in Washington for another team's banner raising ceremony.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Finally. Ive been waiting on the schedule to drop.

It's just the schedule for every teams home openers and not the full 82 game schedule.

 

[talkinaway]

It's just the schedule for every teams home openers and not the full 82 game schedule.

There's only 28 hours between the two announcements next week...which makes me wonder, why bother? I can't believe the complete schedule isn't already in the NHL vault in Toronto, guarded by a flock of Canadian geese. Yeah, I get not releasing it immediately, but...the "bits and pieces" thing is a little nuts. Does anyone really care when the home opener is, when there are 40 OTHER home games to be interested in? Besides, many teams probably know if they're having a super-early home opener or not by their arena's schedule.

I guess this is the quietest time for the NHL, so they're trying to make the artificial spotlight last longer...but I do agree, it's a little silly the way they do it.

 

[bur and 666 others]

Banner night for us

another banner year!!! please, be penguins

 

[tony d]

Will be fun to see, can't wait for the full schedule to be released.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

It almost has to be the Pens for Washington, right?

 

[X66]

Something tells me the Leafs are opening in Edmonton.

Or maybe the rematch of having Winnipeg in Toronto.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Something tells me the Leafs are opening in Edmonton.

Or maybe the rematch of having Winnipeg in Toronto.

I can't see the Leafs opening in Edmonton because it would mean them having to play the Flames and Canucks right after that. They usually save those games for later on in the season.

 

[Shockmaster]

another banner year!!! please, be penguins

Payback for the 2016 banner raising? You do realize for obvious reasons that would be nowhere near as awkward for the Penguins as it was for the Capitals 2 years ago?

Then again, maybe they'll give the Capitals a completely random opponent. Still not sure why the Penguins opened against St. Louis for last year's banner raising.

 

[Laineux]

Something tells me the Leafs are opening in Edmonton.

Unlikely as Edmonton will be playing New Jersey in Sweden 6th October.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Payback for the 2016 banner raising? You do realize for obvious reasons that would be nowhere near as awkward for the Penguins as it was for the Capitals 2 years ago?

Then again, maybe they'll give the Capitals a completely random opponent. Still not sure why the Penguins opened against St. Louis for last year's banner raising.

My guess is they didn't want the Capitals being in Pittsburgh 2 years in a row for another Stanley Cup banner raising.

Now given how much NBC/NBCSN loves to showcase Crosby vs Ovechkin I would be shocked if Washington's home opener is not against the Penguins coming off a Capitals Stanley Cup and having them raising a banner.

 

[Sniper99]

It's just the schedule for every teams home openers and not the full 82 game schedule.

June 21st is when the full schedule comes out. Nice

 

[Sniper99]

Something tells me the Leafs are opening in Edmonton.

Or maybe the rematch of having Winnipeg in Toronto.

Why would you think that?

Leafs usually dont play in Edmonton till around November/December Februaryish latest.

 

[X66]

Why would you think that?

Leafs usually dont play in Edmonton till around November/December Februaryish latest.

Someone pointed out that Edmonton will be in Europe to start the season.

My reasoning is that I think the NHL is going more towards trends.

Leafs played the Jets in Winnipeg game one last year, which was a weird scheduling thing that no one had predicted. I think the NHL wanted to capitalize on two up and coming Canadian teams and have the Matthews/Laine match-up.

Thought they might do that again and have a Matthews/McDavid headlined opening night etc.

 

[bur and 666 others]

Payback for the 2016 banner raising? You do realize for obvious reasons that would be nowhere near as awkward for the Penguins as it was for the Capitals 2 years ago?

Then again, maybe they'll give the Capitals a completely random opponent. Still not sure why the Penguins opened against St. Louis for last year's banner raising.

nope, just a great team, great fan base, will be cool to share the moment with them