NHL Schedule 2017-18: Openers, All-Star Weekend and Key Dates Released

The National Hockey League announced the full slate of home openers for 2017-18 regular season Thursday afternoon.

Jon Rosen of LAKingsInsider.com shared the schedule of games: 

Games are also scheduled for next February, which confirms the league will not take a two-week break for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It marks the first time since the 1994 Games the NHL will not have an active presence in the marquee international event.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will enter the season as the reigning champions for the second consecutive year after beating the Nashville Predators in six games to win the Stanley Cup. It's also set to be the first season of competition for the Vegas Golden Knights, the league's new expansion club.

2017-18 Key Dates

Opening Night: Wednesday, Oct. 4

Winter Classic: Jan. 1 (New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres)

All-Star Weekend: Saturday, Jan. 27 — Sunday, Jan. 28 in Tampa, Florida

Notable Showcase Games

NHL Global Series: Ottawa Senators vs. Colorado Avalanche (Nov. 10-11)

The Senators and Avalanche are slated to play on back-to-back nights in November at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. Those contests will be the league's first regular-season games played in Europe since 2011.

It's a perfect matchup for the debut of the Global Series with both captains, Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson and Colorado forward Gabriel Landeskog, each hailing from Sweden.

Landeskog, who actually gets to play in his hometown of Stockholm, talked about the opportunity to play in such a unique game with NHL.com.

"It's really exciting," he said. "Who thought they would have been able to play NHL games in your hometown. It'll be surreal to do that. Stockholm is such a great hockey town and a great city overall. I'll be really excited to show the boys around and show the team staff around the city."

Being able to expand the league's fanbase internationally is a hot-button topic for not only the NHL, but all of the major American sports with the ability to stream games around the world. So making a concerted push in a hockey hotbed like Sweden comes as no surprise.

NHL 100 Classic: Ottawa Senators vs. Montreal Canadiens (Dec. 16)

Ottawa will be back in the spotlight in December for an outdoor game at TD Place Stadium in December. The Sens will host the rival Habs to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their first meeting as two of the league's original franchises.

The rivalry picked up some steam once again last year as the Senators and Canadiens finished with the two best records in the Atlantic Division. While Montreal got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, Ottawa advanced to the conference finals before losing to the Penguins.

Waubgeshig Rice of CBC News passed along comments from Senators owner Eugene Melnyk about the historic nature of the event.

"As the NHL celebrates 100 years, I can think of no better place to cap off the centennial celebrations than right here in Ottawa with an outdoor game," he said. "It will be an honor to try to recreate that very first game."

Between the outdoor element, both teams being in the midst of an upswing and the fact three of last year's five meetings were decided by a single goal, this has all the makings of a memorable battle.

Winter Classic: New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres (Jan. 1)

The Sabres, who hosted the first Winter Classic in 2008, are set to take part in their first outdoor game since their monumental event on New Year's Day 2018. They will take on the Rangers in a battle of New York teams at Citi Field in New York City.

Interestingly, Buffalo will be designated as the home team for the contest, even though its located nearly 400 miles from the home of the New York Mets. Jon Campbell of the Democrat & Chronicle noted tax exemptions prevent the Rangers from playing home games outside of Madison Square Garden.

It's still a chance for perhaps the United States' top hockey fanbase to take part in one of the league's trademark games. Buffalo center Jack Eichel remembers the picturesque scenery when the Sabres played the Penguins on a snowy day a decade ago, per Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.

"I was watching that at home a long time ago and what you remember most is the weather," Eichel said. "You hear all different things from guys who have played in it. You hear terrible experiences with conditions, whether it's too cold, or snowy or hard to see and rainy but I've heard guys say ice was nice and hard and good temperatures. It really all depends on the weather."

Although the NHL's overdependence on outdoor games to generate local buzz has taken away some of the Winter Classic's mystique, it's still one of the season's most interesting games on an annual basis.