Thursday, 21.06.2012 / 11:20 AM / News

Press Release

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens and the NHL released the schedule for the 2012-13 season. For the first time since the 1999-00 season, the team will open the season at home, facing the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, October 11.

The Canadiens’ will close the regular season on Saturday, April 13 against the Maple Leafs, in Toronto, wrapping up an 82-game schedule that will span over 185 days.

Nineteen of the 26 weeknight games at the Bell Centre will start at 7:30 p.m. Seven other games will start at 7 p.m., including the home opener on October 11.

Saturday games at home are scheduled for 7 p.m. The Canadiens will also play two matinee games at home during the traditional Super Bowl Weekend on Saturday, February 2 facing the New York Islanders (1 p.m.) and Sunday, February 3 hosting the Ottawa Senators (1 p.m.).

In 2012-13, the Canadiens will face each of 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 with a minimum of one game against each of the 15 Western teams, plus three (3) games featuring Canadian rivals from the Western Conference (Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton).

The Canadiens will play seven (7) preseason games between September 23 and October 7, including five (5) games at the Bell Centre, where the team will host Ottawa, Buffalo, Carolina, Boston and New Jersey. Two (2) preseason games will also be played on the road: in Ottawa (September 27) and at Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City against the Carolina Hurricanes (October 2).

All Canadiens regular season games will be broadcast on RDS-HD, Cogeco Diffusion (98.5 FM) and TSN Radio 990.

Canadiens home games will be played at least once on each day of the week, with the exception of Friday. Saturday remains the busiest day on the schedule with 23 games, including 13 home contests.

You can view the entire 2012-2013 schedule, here.