Advertisement

Kings and Ducks schedules released

Kings winger Dustin brown and Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler fight for control of the puck on April 7.

Kings winger Dustin brown and Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler fight for control of the puck on April 7.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Share

The Kings will open their 50th anniversary season on Oct. 12 at San Jose, make their Staples Center debut Oct. 14, and will take a season-long nine-game trip in December, according to the 2016-17 schedule released Tuesday by the NHL.

The Ducks will open on the road for the seventh straight season, with a five-game trip, and will play their first game at Honda Center on Oct. 23 against the Vancouver Canucks. The Ducks will have a six-game trip in December.

The NHL season will start on Oct. 12, a few days later than usual, to give players time to recover from the World Cup of Hockey tournament, which will take place Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 in Toronto. The 1,230-game schedule will end on April 9.

Advertisement

In a new twist, each team will have a bye week. The Kings’ break starts after they face the Panthers at Florida on Feb. 9 and ends when they play host to Arizona on Feb. 16. The Ducks’ break is later, starting after they play the Kings at Staples Center on Feb. 25 and ending when they play host to Toronto on March 3.

The Ducks and Kings will play each other five times, starting Nov. 1 at Staples Center and continuing with games Nov. 20 and Feb. 19 at Honda Center, Feb. 25 at Staples Center and concluding April 9 at Honda Center in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins will visit Southern California for games at Anaheim on Nov. 2 and at Los Angeles the next night. The All-Star break will occur Jan. 27-30, with the game to be played at Staples Center on Jan. 29.

The Ducks will face their former coach, Bruce Boudreau, when he and the Minnesota Wild visit on Jan. 8.

Other NHL highlights include four outdoor games, starting with the Heritage Classic between the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 23 at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg. The Toronto Maple Leafs will play host to the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Day at BMO Field, the Winter Classic will take place Jan. 2, matching the Chicago Blackhawks against the St. Louis Blues at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the Stadium Series game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Penguins will take place Feb. 25 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Advertisement

Twitter: @helenenothelen


UPDATES:

3:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 11:59 a.m.

Advertisement