It’s that time of year again with a new NHL season: the hockey world is set to hit the ice, putting an end to the offseason break
The 105th NHL season is back to its normal October-April scheduling and hockey fans in Canada are eager to watch their teams out on the ice. With Preseason already underway, all attention is on the start of the regular season which will feature a full, 82 game calendar running from October to the end of June.
Read on below to find a comprehensive breakdown of everything you need to know about the 2021-2022 NHL season.
Key dates and games
The official start date of the regular season is October 12th which will feature a doubleheader set to air on ESPN. Here, opening night will see reigning champs the Bolts take on the Penguins. Then the Las Vegas headliner will see the Knights face off against the Kraken, the league’s brand-new Seattle-based team that was just initiated as a member of the Pacific Conference this year. The Kraken’s first home game will take place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. They will play the Vancouver Canucks and it is sure to be quite the spectacle since the two franchises are located within a 3-hour drive of each other. Future rivals, perhaps? Only time will tell.
Other crucial dates fans should know about are the annual NHL Winter Classic, which is slated for New Year’s Day, and the NHL All-Star game which will take place in Vegas. Although the date of the All-star matchup has not been officially confirmed, it will most likely happen halfway into the season. As far as the postseason goes, playoffs will begin on May 2nd, returning to the standard format which includes the top 8 teams from the Western and Eastern Conference. All of this will cumulate in the Championship Stanley Cup Finals, with playoffs running until June 30th at the very latest.
Lastly, the most important recruitment event in hockey, the NHL Draft, will be hosted by Montreal, Quebec’s favourite vacation destination, from July 7th-8th. With all of these events one after the other, it’s sure to be an action-packed season of professional hockey.
Stanley Cup Contenders
Although the league contains more US-based teams than Canadian ones, the most successful franchise in the sport, the Montreal Canadiens, hail from the Great White North. With 24 Stanley Cup titles to their names, the Habs are one of the most celebrated teams in the country with an extremely loyal fanbase behind them.
Although they were ultimately defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Finals series last season, they are back again this year with a refreshed determination. Other serious Cup contenders include the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, and the Las Vegas Knights, a team that was inaugurated just a few years ago in 2017.
With the new season just about to kick off, fans can check out all the latest odds and predictions from this list of Canadian Sportsbooks, where expert pundits lay out their thoughts on every game from opening night all the way up to the playoffs. If the Canadiens do manage to snag another title next year, it will be their 25th Stanley Cup, a record accomplishment in the sport from the longest continually operating franchise.
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Division Layout
There are now 32 total teams in the NHL which are spread out between four different divisions: Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, and Pacific. Since the league has returned to the original structure with East and West conferences, there has been some realignment in the overall layout of the divisions. To make room for the new franchise the Settle Kraken, the Arizona Coyotes have been moved from Pacific to Central division. Each team in the league will play one game at their home arena and one game away.
2022 Winter Olympics
In addition to all the new games that are about to begin, NHL players will also have an ‘Olympic break’ in which some will be invited to play at the 2022 Winter Olympics from February 7th through to February 22nd. These dates have been officially set apart in the regular season schedule so that players can have a chance to participate in and travel to the prestigious quadrennial event as well as rest/recover from the games. This is especially exciting news as the league and its talent were not able to attend the Pyeong Chang games in 2018. The 2022 Winter Olympics are set to take place in Beijing, with the NHL poised to release more information on the official proceedings as the season moves onward.
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