OTTAWA -- For the first time in club history, the Ottawa Senators will open their regular-season schedule outside of North America when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Oct. 4, in Stockholm. The Senators will play the Penguins on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, before returning to Ottawa to open their home schedule on Saturday, Oct. 11, when they host the Stanley Cup-champion Detroit Red Wings at 7 p.m. The 82-game 2008-09 calendar concludes when Ottawa visits the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, April 11, at Air Canada Centre.
The Senators also announced their six-game pre-season schedule, featuring two-game sets against the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, a home game game against the Philadelphia Flyers and a matchup against the Swedish Elite League's Frolunda Indians Hockey Club, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Senators' 2008-09 regular-season schedule will feature games against every National Hockey League team. In addition to home games against Eastern Conference and division rivals Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, this year's schedule includes non-conference home-and-home series against the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks.
Ottawa will play six regular-season games against each of its Northeast Division rivals and four games against its other Eastern Conference opponents.
In the Western Conference, the Senators will play host to each of the Pacific Division teams (Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and San Jose Sharks) and the Central Division's Stanley Cup-champion Detroit Red Wings. Ottawa will visit the other four Central clubs (Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues). In the Northwest Division, the Senators will play home-and-home series against the three Canadian teams and will visit the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild.
The regular-season Scotiabank Place schedule features 25 games from Thursday to Saturday as follows: Thursday (10), Friday (2) and Saturday (13). The early weekday games feature two on Mondays, 10 on Tuesdays and three on Wednesdays. Ottawa does not have any Sunday home dates this season.
All weekend home night games will again be played at 7 p.m, with the exception of one home afternoon game, a 3 p.m. start against the New York Rangers on Saturday, Nov. 22. Twenty-two of Ottawa's 27 weekday home games will see 7:30 p.m. faceoffs, with five games starting at 7 p.m.
In what is a very balanced schedule, the Senators play 19 games at Scotiabank Place in the first half of the season and 21 home games in the second half. March is the Senators' busiest month at home with eight of 15 games being played at Scotiabank Place. The Senators play a total of 10 games in October, 12 in November, 13 in December, 12 in January, 14 in February, another 15 in March and six in April to round out the 82-game schedule.
Sat., Oct. 4 Pittsburgh, 2:30 p.m. (Stockholm)
Sun., Oct. 5 at Pittsburgh, 2:30 p.m. (Stockholm)
Sat., Oct. 11 Detroit, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 17 Phoenix, 7 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 18 Boston, 7 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 22 Florida, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 24 Anaheim, 7 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 25 at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 27 at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thur., Oct. 30 at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 1 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Tue., Nov. 4 Washington, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., Nov. 6 Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 7 at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Tue., Nov. 11 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., Nov. 13 N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 15 at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m.
Mon, Nov. 17 at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Thur., Nov. 20 Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 22 N.Y. Rangers, 3 p.m.
Thur., Nov. 27 Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 29 at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 3 Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 6 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 8 Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 10 at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 12 at Washington, 7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 13 Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Tue., Dec. 16 Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 19 at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 20 Dallas, 7 p.m.
Tue., Dec. 23 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 27 at Calgary, 10 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 28 at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Tue., Dec. 30 at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 3 at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Sun., Jan 4 at New Jersey, 5 p.m.
Tue., Jan 6 at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thur., Jan. 8 at Boston, 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 10 N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 13 Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 14 at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 17 Montreal, 7 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 20 Washington, 7:30 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 27 New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., Jan. 29 at St. Louis, 8:30 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 30 at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 1 at Washington, 12:30 p.m.
Tue., Feb. 3 Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 5 Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 7 Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 11 at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 12 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 14 at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Mon., Feb. 16 at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Tue., Feb. 17 at Colorado, 9 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 19 Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 21 at Montreal, 3 p.m. (Hockey Day in Canada)
Tue., Feb. 24 Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 26 San Jose, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 28 Toronto, 7 p.m.
Tue., March 3 Calgary, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., March 5 Edmonton, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., March 7 Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Mon., March 9 Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Wed., March 11 Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Thur., March 12 at Boston, 7 p.m.
Sat., March 14 at Pittsburgh, 3 p.m.
Tue., March 17 Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., March 19 Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., March 21 N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m.
Sun., March 22 at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Wed., March 25 at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Sat., March 28 at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Sun., March 29 at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
Tue., March 31 at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., April 2 at Boston, 7 p.m.
Sat., April 4 Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Mon., April 6 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Tue., April 7 Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Thur., April 9 New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., April 11 at Toronto, 7 p.m.
