Rangers Open 86th Season on October 7 against Los Angeles In Stockholm
New York, June 23, 2011 – The New York Rangers will open the 2011-12 season with a back-to-back set against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the 2011 Compuware NHL Premiere™. This will mark the second time New York will open the regular season outside of North America. The Blueshirts last competed in a regular season game overseas as part of the 2008-09 NHL Premiere in Prague, Czech Republic. This will be the fourth consecutive season New York begins on the road. Following a season-high, seven consecutive games on the road to begin the season, the Rangers’ home opener at MSG will be on Thursday, October 27, with an Original Six matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Rangers will face each NHL team at least one time over the course of the season. New York will face Atlantic Division foes New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the Islanders six times each. The Blueshirts will face all other Eastern Conference opponents a total of four times apiece, including the newly relocated Winnipeg franchise – on November 6 and January 24 at MSG, and October 24 and March 28 in Winnipeg. Also, the Rangers will host four teams each from the Central and Pacific Divisions – Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, and Nashville from the Central, and Dallas, San Jose, Anaheim, and Phoenix from the Pacific – while also hosting the Colorado Avalanche from the Northwest Division. Meanwhile, the Blueshirts will travel to meet four Northwest Division opponents – Calgary, Edmonton, Minnesota, and Vancouver – as well as visiting St. Louis from the Central Division. In addition, the Rangers will travel to meet Chicago and Phoenix.
The schedule features six Saturday contests at MSG, including the season finale vs. Washington on April 7, and eight Sunday contests at home. The Rangers will play 14 back-to-back sets, including two back-to-back home sets on November 5 and 6 vs. Montreal and Winnipeg, and again on December 22 and 23 vs. Atlantic Division rivals the New York Islanders and Philadelphia. The team’s longest homestand will be seven games, from March 11 vs. the Islanders to March 23 vs. Buffalo. The Blueshirts’ busiest month is March, featuring 17 games including a season-high, nine contests at home, and the busiest night on the Rangers’ home schedule is Thursday, with 10 dates. In addition, the Rangers will play five home games on Mondays, seven on Tuesdays, one on Wednesdays, and four on Fridays during the season. The longest break in between home games for New York is 14 days from November 12 to November 25. The Rangers will finish the regular season with 19 of their last 33 games at MSG, including 10 of their last 15 contests.
Starting times for all games at MSG will be 7:00 PM, except for the following eight dates: Sat., Oct. 29 vs. Ottawa (3:00 PM); Sat., Nov. 26 vs. Philadelphia (2:00 PM); Sun., Feb. 5 vs. Philadelphia (1:00 PM); Sun., Feb. 12 vs. Washington (TBD); Sun., Mar. 4 vs. Boston (TBD); Wed., Mar. 21 vs. Detroit (7:30 PM); Sun., Apr. 1 vs. Boston (TBD); and Sat., Apr. 7 vs. Washington (TBD).
Single-game tickets will be put on-sale to the public in September. No date has been set at this time.
Here is the schedule itself: (Double click to enlarge)
