The NHL has officially announced the schedule for the 2013 season.
The announcement was made Saturday night and included important dates such as the trade deadline, the end of the regular season, and the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. As indicated in prior reports, the season will start on Jan. 19 with 13 games.
The opening 13 games include: Pittsburgh @Philadelphia; Ottawa @ Winnipeg; Chicago @ Los Angeles; NY Rangers @ Boston ; Toronto @ Montréal; New Jersey @ NY Islanders; Washington @ Tampa Bay; Carolina @ Florida; Detroit @ St. Louis; Columbus @ Nashville; Phoenix @ Dallas; Colorado @ Minnesota; and Anaheim @ Vancouver.
The trade deadline will be April 3 and the final day of the regular season will be on April 27; the playoffs will begin three days later on the 30th. The final day for the Stanley Cup Finals will be June 28 and Free Agency will begin on July 5. The 2013 NHL Entry Draft Lottery is scheduled for April 29 and all non-playoff teams will have a shot at the No. 1 pick overall.
NBC Sports also announced its TV Broadcast schedule for this season. Seven teams were left without any broadcast games on the NBC Sports Network; last season only three teams were not televised by the network.
Training Camps are set to open on Monday Jan. 14, though teams have already been skating at their respective arenas since the end of last week.