Hurricanes’ 2017-18 schedule released
A year ago, the Carolina Hurricanes’ home games in October seemed like a delayed, early-season cameo.
Because of a later start to the regular season to accommodate the World Cup of Hockey, then the annual avoidance of N.C. State Fair dates, the Canes played their first six games on the road. Their home opener was Oct. 28 and they had two October games at PNC Arena.
It will be different this season. The NHL released the full 2017-18 schedule, and the Canes will play their first two games at home – the season-opener set Saturday, Oct. 7 against the Minnesota Wild – and have five October games at PNC Arena.
The Canes host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 10 before a four-game road trip during the State Fair.
The Canes’ longest homestand will be a stretch of eight games from Jan. 30 to Feb. 13, the the longest since Carolina had nine home games early in the 2002-03 season.
A road trip in December will include a new stop – at Las Vegas. The Canes’ first game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s newest team, will be Dec. 12 and a part of a six-game road trip that will require 12 days and 6,231 miles of travel.
Twenty-six of the Canes’ 41 home games will be played on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. Carolina also will have a lot of back-to-back sets this season – 18 in all, the most since 2013-14.
Carolina, which has not reached the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2009, has four of its last six games on the road. The Canes’ final regular-season game is April 7 against Tampa Bay at PNC Arena.
HURRICANES’ REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Sat. Oct. 7 Minnesota 7 p.m.
Tue. Oct. 10 Columbus 7 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 14 at Winnipeg 7 p.m.
Tue. Oct. 17 at Edmonton 9 p.m.
Thu. Oct. 19 at Calgary 9 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 21 at Dallas 8 p.m.
Tue. Oct. 24 Tampa Bay 7 p.m.
Thu. Oct. 26 at Toronto 7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 27 St. Louis 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 29 Anaheim 5 p.m.
Thu. Nov. 2 at Colorado 9 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 4 at Arizona 9 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 7 Florida 7 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 10 at Columbus 7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 11 Chicago 7 p.m.
Mon. Nov. 13 Dallas 7 p.m.
Thu. Nov. 16 at NY Islanders 7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 18 at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 19 NY Islanders 5 p.m.
Wed. Nov. 22 NY Rangers 7 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 24 Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 26 Nashville 1 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 28 at Columbus 7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 1 at NY Rangers 7 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 2 Florida 8 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 5 at Vancouver 10 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 7 at San Jose 10:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 9 at Los Angeles 10:30 p.m.
Mon. Dec. 11 at Anaheim 10 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 12 at Las Vegas 10 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 15 at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 16 Columbus 8 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 19 at Toronto 2 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 21 at Nashville 8 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 23 Buffalo 7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 27 Montreal 7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 29 Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 30 at St. Louis 8 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 2 Washington 7 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 4 at Pittsburgh 7 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 6 at Boston 7 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 9 at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 11 at Washington 7 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 12 Washington 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 14 Calgary 3 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 20 at Detroit 7 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 21 Las Vegas 5 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 23 at Pittsburgh 7 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 25 at Montreal 7:30 p.m.
NHL All-Star Weekend, Jan. 27-28 Tampa Bay
Tue. Jan. 30 Ottawa 7 p.m.
Thu. Feb. 1 Montreal 7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 2 Detroit 7 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 4 San Jose 1 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 6 Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 9 Vancouver 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 10 Colorado 7 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 13 Los Angeles 7 p.m.
Thu. Feb. 15 at New Jersey 7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 16 NY Islanders 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 18 New Jersey 5 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 23 Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 24 at Detroit 7 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 27 at Boston 7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 1 at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Fri. Mar. 2 New Jersey 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 4 Winnipeg 7 p.m.
Tue. Mar. 6 at Minnesota 8 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 8 at Chicago 8:30 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 12 at NY Rangers 7 p.m.
Tue. Mar. 13 Boston 7 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 17 Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 18 at NY Islanders 5 p.m.
Tue. Mar. 20 Edmonton 7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 22 Arizona 7 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 24 at Ottawa 7 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 26 Ottawa 7 p.m.
Tue. Mar. 27 at New Jersey 7 p.m.
Fri. Mar. 30 at Washington 7 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 31 NY Rangers 7 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 2 at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Thu. Apr. 5 at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Sat. Apr. 7 Tampa Bay 7 p.m.
This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Hurricanes’ 2017-18 schedule released."