Kings Open at Home, Ducks Open on Road

The Kings will open the 1996-97 season--their 30th in the NHL--with two games at the Forum, Oct. 4 against the New York Islanders and Oct. 6 against the San Jose Sharks, and the Mighty Ducks will open on the road for the third successive season.

The Colorado Avalanche will begin defense of its Stanley Cup on Oct. 4, the opening day of the NHL’s 80th season, with a game at the Kiel Center against the St. Louis Blues. The season will run through April 13 and will consist of 1,066 games.

The Ducks will begin their fourth NHL season with a potentially tough trip that takes them to Montreal’s Molson Centre for the first time. They will play Oct. 5 at Toronto, Oct. 7 at Montreal, Oct. 9 at Chicago, Oct. 10 at Colorado and Oct. 12 at Phoenix. The Ducks’ first game at the Pond of Anaheim will be Oct. 16 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Ducks are scheduled to make four national appearances on ESPN and two appearances on regional Fox telecasts. The Kings are scheduled for only one Fox regional appearance, Jan. 25 at the Forum against the Ducks. ESPN2 may add games for both teams. Neither team has completed its local TV schedule.

The Kings’ longest trip will be four games (four times), but the Ducks will have two five-game trips and a six-game odyssey in late March. However, the Ducks will play back-to-back games only 10 times this season. Their eight-game homestand, Oct. 27-Nov. 13, is the longest in club history.

In other schedule highlights, the Avalanche will visit the Pond on Nov. 3 and the Forum on Dec. 7. Wayne Gretzky will make his New York Ranger debut Oct. 5 at Boston but won’t return to Southern California until March 6 and 7, when the Rangers play at the Forum and the Pond, respectively.

Three teams will inaugurate new arenas. The Flyers will open the CoreStates Center on Oct. 5, the Buffalo Sabres will open the Marine Midland Arena on Oct. 12 and the Tampa Bay Lightning will play its first game at the Ice Palace on Oct. 20.

ESPN will broadcast 26 regular-season games, starting with the Colorado-St. Louis game Oct. 4, and ESPN2 will show approximately 75 games. Fox will begin its NHL coverage Jan. 25 with a telecast of the 47th NHL All-Star game, from the San Jose Arena.