The StatMan  

I love the day the NHL Schedule is released.  In the middle of summer, my thoughts suddenly turn to crisp autumn evenings, the Holiday season, and the only way to get through the cold winter: the hockey season.  But, this is better than football's mini-camps and baseball's Winter Meetings.

If the first day of the NHL free agency signing period is Hockey Christmas, the day the NHL schedule is released is Hockey New Year.  The schedule was released after some long-since leaked news was made official by Commissioner Gary Bettman: the Winter Classic, the yearly NHL outdoor showcase, will be played in Boston's Fenway Park and feature the Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers.

When the schedule is released, the 1,230-game schedule for the new season is like a clean sheet of ice, untouched and undisturbed.  For those of us with season tickets to an NHL franchise, the schedule acts as a day planner with 41 dates filled in.  Road trips are planned and lives are negotiated through 26 weeks (actually, 28 weeks because of the Olympic Break).

NHL.com earmarked a slew of league-wide dates to "circle" on your day planners.

But, here are some important dates to wet your whistle:

DIVISIONAL HOME-AND-HOMES
ATLANTIC DIVISION (5)
* November 28: NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh; November 30: Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers
* December 15: Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh; December 17: Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
* December 16: NY Islanders @ NY Rangers; December 17: NY Rangers @ NY Islanders
* February 8: Devils @ Flyers; February 10: Flyers @ Devils
* April 9: Philadelphia @ NY Rangers; April 10: NY Rangers @ Philadelphia

NORTHEAST DIVISION (0)
* NONE (!)

SOUTHEAST DIVISION (5)
* November 6: Washington @ Florida; November 7: Florida @ Washington
* December 18: Carolina @ Florida; December 19: Florida @ Carolina
* January 14: Florida @ Tampa Bay; January 16: Tampa Bay @ Florida
* March 27: Atlanta @ Carolina; March 29: Carolina @ Atlanta
* April 10: Florida @ Tampa Bay; April 11: Tampa Bay @ Florida

CENTRAL DIVISION (5)
* October 2: Detroit @ St. Louis; October 3: St. Louis @ Detroit (1st 2 games for both clubs)
* December 26: Chicago @ Nashville; December 27: Nashville @ Chicago
* December 26: Columbus @ Detroit; December 28: Detroit @ Columbus
* April 7: Columbus @ Detroit; April 9: Detroit @ Columbus
* January 14: Columbus @ Chicago; January 16: Chicago @ Columbus

NORTHWEST DIVISION (1)
* November 27: Colorado @ Minnesota; November 28: Minnesota @ Colorado

PACIFIC DIVISION (1)
* April 3: Anaheim @ Los Angeles; April 6: Los Angeles @ Anaheim

HOLIDAYS & MATINEES
* Columbus Day Matinees: Colorado @ Boston (1pm ET), Los Angeles @ NY Islanders (2pm ET)
* Thanksgiving Day Games: Columbus @ Ottawa (7:30pm ET), Los Angeles @ Vancouver (10pm ET)
* 7 teams have Thanksgiving Eve and Day After Thanksgiving home games (Anaheim, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, NY Islanders, Tampa Bay)
* 6 teams have home games that bookend the Christmas break (December 23 & 26) (Carolina, Detroit, Minnesota, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Washington)
* New Year's Eve has 11 games.  The earliest is in Florida, where everyone in and around Sunrise, Florida, goes to bed before 9pm.  The game there starts at 5pm.  Local teams in action have the Islanders in Ottawa (7pm ET), the Rangers in Carolina (8pm ET), and the Devils in Chicago (8:30pm ET).  The latest game to start is Edmonton @ Calgary, which starts when Southern Floridians go to sleep (9pm ET).
* New Year's Day Games: Philadelphia @ Boston (1pm ET at Fenway), Atlanta @ Buffalo (7:30pm ET)
* Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Matinees: There are two this year, as Boston hosts Ottawa at 1pm and the Islanders welcome the Devils at 2pm.
* Valentine's Day: My wife will kill me.  The Islanders have a home game at 5pm against Ottawa on the last day of play before the Olympic Break.  There are 6 games in all, so hockey-hating spouses in Long Island, New York, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Columbus, and Edmonton will be upset, though I cannot imagine too many hockey-hating spouses in Minnesota or Edmonton.  And, women just love Crosby...but I digress.
* Easter Sunday falls on April 4th, one week before the last day of the season.  There are 4 games on Easter - Detroit @ Philadelphia (3pm ET), Calgary @ Chicago (3pm ET), San Jose @ Colorado (8pm ET), Minnesota @ Vancouver (10pm ET).

FIRST CONTACT AGAINST OLD MATES (not covered in the NHL.com article)
* Francois Beauchemin TOR (October 26 at Anaheim)
* Jay Bouwmeester CGY (February 5 at Florida)
* Mike Cammalleri MTL (October 6 at Calgary)
* Brian Gionta MTL (December 16 at New Jersey)
* Nikolai Khabibulin EDM (October 14 at Chicago)
* Mike Komisarek TOR (October 1 vs Montreal - first visit to Montreal, October 31)
* John Madden CHI (December 31 vs New Jersey - first visit to New Jersey, April 2)
* Paul Mara MTL (October 24 vs NY Rangers - first visit to the Rangers, January 17)
* Mattias Ohlund TBY (February 9 vs Vancouver - no visits to Vancouver in 2009-10)
* Colton Orr TOR (October 12 at NY Rangers)
* Mike Rupp PIT (October 24 vs New Jersey - first visit to New Jersey, December 30)
* Rob Scuderi LAK (November 5 vs Pittsburgh - no visits to Pittsburgh in 2009-10)

The last team to have its home opener is: Montreal (October 15 vs. Colorado)
The first teams to play its last home game is: Buffalo and Toronto (April 6)

To see the full NHL schedule, click here.