The National Hockey League has announced the full preseason slate for the 2015-16 season. 104 games will take place over 15 days, starting on Sunday, September 20.
Highlights include a game between the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks in North Saanich, B.C, the city that won this year’s Kraft Hockeyville Canada competition, on September 21. The first Kraft Hockeyville USA game will played on September 29 in Johnstown, PA when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning face off.
Quebec City will get their first taste of NHL hockey since being named a finalist for NHL expansion when the Montreal Canadiens take on the Penguins on September 28. Las Vegas, the other finalist for expansion, will get the same treatment, with an October 3 match-up between the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche.
The Islanders will be kicking off their inaugural season in Brooklyn with a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on September 21. While they played a preseason exhibition there against the New Jersey Devils last season and held their Prospects Camp Scrimmage there, this will be the launch of their first season at the Barclays Center.
The NHL also announced a number of other neutral site games including games in Allentown, PA; Bakersfield, CA (where they will get a new AHL team this year); Halifax N.S; Providence, RI; St. John’s, NL; and Saskatoon, SK, who will see Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oiler face the Minnesota Wild.
After those 104 matches, the NHL regular season kicks off on October 7. We’re almost there.
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