London calling: Ducks, Kings to open NHL regular season
July 11th, 2007
New York, NY (Sports Network) - The National Hockey League will open its 2007-08 regular season overseas, as the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings will play in London at the O2 Arena.
The two-game series between the Ducks and Kings will be the first-ever regular season NHL contests played in Europe. The event will be a home-and-home series that will take place on September 29 and September 30.
The NHL has traveled to London before, having played preseason games at Wembley Arena in 1992 and 1993.
Following the series, the Ducks will return to the United States to help raise the curtain on the regular season schedule when they take on the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday, October 3.
Anaheim opens its home schedule on October 10 versus Boston, when the team will raise the 2007 Stanley Cup championship banner. The Ducks host Ottawa in a rematch of the Stanley Cup finals on Monday, March 3.
There will be four games on season-opening night in North America, as Montreal visits Carolina, Ottawa takes on the Maple Leafs in Toronto, and Colorado hosts Dallas.
The busiest night of the season will be that Saturday, October 6, as 14 games are on the docket. Three weeks later the New Jersey Devils will play their first game at their new arena by taking on the Senators at the 17,625-seat Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
The Hall of Fame game will be on Saturday, November 10 between the New York Rangers and Maple Leafs in Toronto. Two nights later, the Hall will celebrate the induction of longtime captain Mark Messier, along with fellow players Ron Francis, Al MacInnis, Scott Stevens, and builder Jim Gregory.
The All-Star Game will be held in Atlanta on Sunday, January 27.
The playoffs will start Wednesday, April 9 and will finish no later than Monday, June 9.