The NHL released its 2011-12 schedule this afternoon. Obviously, a little different look for the Caps this season. There’s no Winter Classic to look forward to. There are three separate trips to Southeast Division “rival” Winnipeg. The league didn’t want to immediately realign the six divisions given how late in the spring the Atlanta Thrashers were sold and moved. So Winnipeg stays in the Southeast for at least one more season.
Washington makes its first trip to Manitoba since Dec 10, 1995 – a 6-1 win at Winnipeg Arena. They later tied 1-1 at US Air Arena on Jan. 16, 1996 in their final meeting. The two cities are separated by a mere 1,560 miles – and that’s the closest division trip for the as-yet unnamed franchise. First meeting is set for Nov. 17 at Winnipeg. First in Washington is Nov. 23. Other dates in Manitoba are Dec. 15 – part of a two-game trip that includes a visit to Colorado – and March 16.
No real surprises with the schedule otherwise. Here is Mike Vogel’s take on the team web site. The Caps again play six games against each division opponent. One of them is the home opener on Oct. 8 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Every other team in the Eastern Conference gets a pair of home-and-homes as always. Not so with the Western Conference. The Caps play home-and-home against only three teams out west. This season that will be Detroit, Nashville and San Jose. Fans at Verizon Center will also see Minnesota, Anaheim, Dallas, Phoenix, St. Louis and Calgary. Washington will travel to Stanley Cup finalist Vancouver and Edmonton in October and also sees Colorado, Columbus, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Holidays: The Caps used to have a New Year’s Day afternoon game as a staple from the mid-1980s onward, but that tradition was absent the last two years. This year they get a New Year’s Eve game at Columbus instead. In 2009 that New Year’s Day game was out because of a trip to California. Last year, obviously, it was tabled thanks to the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. The Caps again plays the day before and the day after Thanksgiving at Verizon Center – vs. Winningpeg on Nov 23 and the New York Rangers on Nov. 25. There is a game the day after Christmas at Buffalo.
Longest road trip: That would be March 13 to 22 (New York Islanders, Winnipeg, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia) – but that could be broken up into three separate trips given the spacing between games. The longest homestand at Verizon Center is a five-game stint from Feb. 28 to March 8.
Looking ahead to some possible national television games on NBC the Caps get the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins at home on Feb. 5 – yet another Super Bowl Sunday showdown. Hopefully this time Mike Green doesn’t take a puck to the head. Other late-season Sunday contests that could morph into national television dates: Feb. 12 at the New York Rangers, March 4 vs. the Philadelphia Flyers, March 18 at the Chicago Blackhawks. The final regular season game is April 7 at the Rangers. That means missing out on an Eastern Sunday game. That would have been April 8.
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