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NHL rolls out the 2012-13 schedule

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It’s finally time to dig out your travel agent’s phone number and start looking for excuses to get off work; the NHL’s 2012-13 season schedule has been released. You can scroll through the whole thing here and read more about it in this link.

(Also, go team-by-team here.)

If you don’t feel like clicking around, this post will cover some of the high points.

First, here are some key dates, via the NHL’s press release:

Opening Day: Saturday, Jan. 19
Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada: Saturday, Feb. 9
Hockey Day in America: Sunday, Feb. 17
Regular season concludes: Saturday, Apr. 27
NHL Draft Drawing: Monday, Apr. 29
Stanley Cup Playoffs begin: Tuesday, Apr. 30
Latest possible date for Stanley Cup Final: Friday, June 28

Want some individual games to watch? PHT will probably go deeper in-depth later, but here are a few that deserve attention off the bat with some help from NHL.com:

Jan. 19 (season opener)

The season kicks off with Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, Ottawa at Winnipeg, Chicago at Los Angeles, New York Rangers at Boston, Toronto at Montreal, New Jersey at the New York Islanders, Washington at Tampa Bay, Carolina at Florida, Detroit at St. Louis, Columbus at Nashville, Phoenix at Dallas, Colorado at Minnesota, and Anaheim at Vancouver.

Jan. 26 (Los Angeles at Phoenix)

The Kings return to face the Coyotes in Glendale. Will the ‘Yotes try to extract revenge against Dustin Brown for that controversial knee-to-knee?

March 9 (Minnesota at Nashville)

Ryan Suter and his new team, the Wild, visit his old home in Nashville. Will he hug it out with Shea Weber before the game?

April 20 (Phoenix at Chicago)

Remember that Raffi Torres hit on Marian Hossa? The Blackhawks surely do - and the polarizing hitter’s suspension should be over by then.

April 27 (season conclusion)

The last day of the season includes Jordan Staal playing in Pittsburgh, as well as the possible final games for Jaromir Jagr, Daniel Alfredsson and Teemu Selanne. Here’s the list of end-of-the-season skirmishes:

New Jersey at New York Rangers, Montreal at Toronto, Philadelphia at Ottawa, Carolina at Pittsburgh, Boston at Washington, Florida at Tampa Bay, Nashville at Columbus, Minnesota at Colorado, Chicago at St. Louis, Detroit at Dallas, Vancouver at Edmonton, Phoenix at Anaheim and San Jose at Los Angeles.

The NHL’s handy press release lists the opening games for each NHL team:

SEASON OPENERS

ANAHEIM – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Vancouver
BOSTON – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. NY Rangers
BUFFALO – Sunday, Jan. 20, vs. Philadelphia
CALGARY – Sunday, Jan. 20, vs. San Jose
CAROLINA – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Florida
CHICAGO – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Los Angeles
COLORADO – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Minnesota
COLUMBUS – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Nashville
DALLAS – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Phoenix
DETROIT – Saturday, Jan. 19, at St. Louis
EDMONTON – Sunday, Jan. 20, at Vancouver
FLORIDA – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Carolina
LOS ANGELES – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Chicago
MINNESOTA – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Colorado
MONTREAL – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Toronto
NASHVILLE – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Columbus
NEW JERSEY – Saturday, Jan. 19, at NY Islanders
NY ISLANDERS – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. New Jersey
NY RANGERS – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Boston
OTTAWA – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Winnipeg
PHILADELPHIA – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Pittsburgh
PHOENIX – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Dallas
PITTSBURGH – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Philadelphia
ST. LOUIS – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Detroit
SAN JOSE – Sunday, Jan. 20, at Calgary
TAMPA BAY – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Washington
TORONTO – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Montreal
VANCOUVER – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Anaheim
WASHINGTON – Saturday, Jan. 19, at Tampa Bay
WINNIPEG – Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Ottawa

And since you’ve waited up all night for these details, that release also painstakingly lists home openers (the Ducks sure wait a long time, don’t they?):

HOME OPENERS

ANAHEIM – Friday, Jan. 25, Vancouver
BOSTON – Saturday, Jan. 19, NY Rangers
BUFFALO – Sunday, Jan. 20, Philadelphia
CALGARY – Sunday, Jan. 20, San Jose
CAROLINA – Tuesday, Jan. 22, Tampa Bay
CHICAGO – Tuesday, Jan. 22, St. Louis
COLORADO – Tuesday, Jan. 22, Los Angeles
COLUMBUS – Monday, Jan. 21, Detroit
DALLAS – Saturday, Jan. 19, Phoenix
DETROIT – Tuesday, Jan. 22, Dallas
EDMONTON – Tuesday, Jan. 22, San Jose
FLORIDA – Saturday, Jan. 19, Carolina
LOS ANGELES – Saturday, Jan. 19, Chicago
MINNESOTA – Saturday, Jan. 19, Colorado
MONTREAL – Saturday, Jan. 19, Toronto
NASHVILLE – Saturday, Jan. 19, Columbus
NEW JERSEY – Tuesday, Jan. 22, Philadelphia
NY ISLANDERS – Saturday, Jan. 19, New Jersey
NY RANGERS – Sunday, Jan. 20, Pittsburgh
OTTAWA – Monday, Jan. 21, Florida
PHILADELPHIA – Saturday, Jan. 19, Pittsburgh
PHOENIX – Sunday, Jan. 20, Chicago
PITTSBURGH – Wednesday, Jan. 23, Toronto
ST. LOUIS – Saturday, Jan. 19, Detroit
SAN JOSE – Thursday, Jan. 24, Phoenix
TAMPA BAY – Saturday, Jan. 19, Washington
TORONTO – Monday, Jan. 21, Buffalo
VANCOUVER – Saturday, Jan. 19, Anaheim
WASHINGTON – Tuesday, Jan. 22, Winnipeg
WINNIPEG – Saturday, Jan. 19, Ottawa