From Canadiens.com:
The Canadiens and the NHL today released the schedule for the 2008-09 season. The team will open the season on the road, facing the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, October 10. The Canadiens’ home opener at the Bell Centre will be on Wednesday, October 15 against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens’ regular season will end on Saturday, April 11 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, at the Bell Centre, wrapping up an 82-game schedule covering 184 days.
All weeknight games at the Bell Centre will start at 7:30 p.m. The traditional Saturday night home games will start at 7:00 p.m. with the exception of four weekend afternoon games; Sunday, January 4 against Florida (1:00 p.m.), Saturday, January 31 against Los Angeles (3:00 p.m.), Sunday, February 1st against Boston (3:00 p.m.), and Saturday, February 21 against Ottawa (3:00 p.m.). The January 31 and February 1st games will take place on Super Bowl weekend.
As the adjusted NHL calendar kicks in in 2008-09, the Canadiens will face their division rivals (Boston, Buffalo, Ottawa and Toronto) six times (24 games). Four games will be played against each of the other 10 teams from the Eastern Conference (40 games). The remaining 18 games will be played versus Western Conference teams for a minimum of one game against each of the 15 Western teams, plus three (3) “at large” games featuring Canadian rivals (Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton) to be played at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens will play nine preseason games between September 22 and October 4, including five (5) games at the Bell Centre, as the team will host Ottawa, Florida, Detroit, Boston and Minnesota. Preseason games will be also be played in Halifax (September 22 vs Boston), in Roberval, Quebec featuring the Hockeyville promotion (September 23 vs Buffalo), in Detroit (September 24) and in Ottawa (September 27).
All Canadiens regular season games will be broadcasted on RDS, CJAD and CKAC. RDS will once again feature a number of Canadiens games for their Tuesday night broadcasts Les Méchants Mardis (17). Canadiens home games will be played at least once on each day of the week, with the exception of Fridays. Saturday remains the busiest day on the schedule with 23 games, including 17 home contests.
About the Centennial
The Montreal Canadiens Centennial, which will culminate in December 2009, will feature a comprehensive program of events, initiatives and products. It will be an opportunity for all fans to reminisce about the most storied franchise in the history of professional hockey and salute its heroes. It will also provide the Canadiens organization with a unique opportunity to express its gratitude to all supporters and hockey fans for their commitment and passion for the team, thus bestowing the community with an enduring mark of appreciation. The program of all Centennial activities will be released at a further date.
Habs Schedule:
http://canadiens.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=SubseasonSchedule
Habster:
It’s great to see a more balanced NHL schedule where the Canadiens will play two less games against their division rivals and play each Western Conference team at least once, plus play three games at home against the Western Canadian teams.
As much as I enjoy the rivalaries that exist between the Habs and the Leafs or Bruins, I’m just glad we don’t have to play eight games against them and finally get to see other teams in the Western Conference (especially Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton)……I can hardly wait for the season to start!!!!