Two weeks, hockey fans.
That’s how much longer you’ll have to wait before you see NHL teams playing games on your television, as the league announced a schedule of 12 exhibition games to be played July 28-30.
A trio of games will kick things off on July 28, just two days after teams are scheduled to arrive in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton, and four days before Stanley Cup qualifiers are set to begin.
The exhibition games are rivalry-heavy, with many marquee matchups, including the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Montreal Canadiens and the Battle of Alberta featuring the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
A third all-Canadian matchup features the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets on July 29.
Hockey. In July.
12 exhibition games are on the schedule later this month ahead of the #StanleyCup Qualifiers. https://t.co/64XfKl1jJy pic.twitter.com/ApuIKYP2M2
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 14, 2020
Hockey. In July.
12 exhibition games are on the schedule later this month ahead of the #StanleyCup Qualifiers. https://t.co/64XfKl1jJy pic.twitter.com/ApuIKYP2M2
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 14, 2020
In addition, the NHL released the start times for most of the qualifying round, leaving some times TBD for flexibility to optimize the schedule as teams begin getting knocked out.
There are five games scheduled for August 1 (three in Toronto, two in Edmonton), beginning at 12 pm ET/9 am PT. That’s approximately 13 hours of continuous hockey action available for viewers.
Start times for the first five days of the #StanleyCup Qualifiers are locked in, beginning with about 15 hours of action on Saturday, Aug. 1. https://t.co/o4BjkRgvSm pic.twitter.com/nQlzPnl8oh
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 14, 2020
Here’s a look at the full qualifying-round schedule, with start times listed for the first three games in each series.
NHL