On the day the Chicago Blackhawks’ captain showed off the Stanley Cup at the Jonathan Toews Community Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the NHL built its new-look 2014 schedule. Toews and the ’Hawks will begin defense of the Cup on Oct. 1 at home against Washington.
On the day the Chicago Blackhawks’ captain showed off the Stanley Cup at the Jonathan Toews Community Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the NHL built its new-look 2014 schedule. Toews and the ’Hawks will begin defense of the Cup on Oct. 1 at home against Washington.John Woods/The Canadian Press

Shortly after the NHL said Friday it would send its players to the Olympics for the fifth consecutive time, it announced its 1,230-game regular-season slate. The season will be put on hold for 2½ weeks in February to accommodate the 2014 Games in Russia.

Opening night Oct. 1 will feature the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks hosting Washington. The regular season will conclude April 13, with the playoffs beginning three days later.

The league’s four new divisions will be called Metropolitan and Atlantic in the Eastern Conference and Central and Pacific in the West. No teams in what was the Atlantic Division are in the new group of that name.

The Western Conference is made up of two seven-team divisions, while the Eastern Conference has two eight-team groupings.

The Metropolitan Division consists of the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets, who have moved from the West to the East.

The Atlantic is made up of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Detroit also has shifted from the West to the East.

The Central includes the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues. The Pacific is comprised of the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks.

Along with the Blackhawks raising their second title banner in four years, opening night will feature Toronto visiting Montreal in the first game of the season.

The annual Winter Classic, to be played on New Year’s Day at Michigan Stadium between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings, won’t be alone in the great outdoors. This season it is just one of six games to be staged in the elements.

A four-game NHL Stadium Series will feature Southern California rivals Anaheim and Los Angeles facing off in Dodger Stadium on Jan. 25. The Rangers will take on their local rivals, the Devils and Islanders, in a pair of games at Yankee Stadium three days apart. First up will be the Rangers and Devils in a Jan. 26 matinee, followed by the Rangers and Islanders in prime time Jan. 29.

The last will be a matchup between the Penguins and Blackhawks at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, on March 1 at night. The annual Heritage Classic will be in Vancouver on March 2 when the Canucks host the Ottawa Senators.

That will be just four days after the NHL returns from the Olympic break that will run Feb. 9-25.

Instead of the top eight teams in each conference qualifying for the playoffs, the NHL is returning to a format in which divisional position will determine which teams advance to the postseason for the first time since 1993.

The top three teams in each division will secure playoff spots, and each conference will add two wild-card teams to make up the 16-team tournament. The wild-card teams will be determined by the next two highest-placed teams within the conference.

NHL training camps will open Sept. 11, and the preseason schedule will begin two days later.

Colorado Avalanche

Oct. 2 – Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4 – Nashville, 7 p.m.
Oct. 8 – at Toronto, 5 p.m.
Oct. 10 – at Boston, 5 p.m.
Oct. 12 – at Washington, 5 p.m.
Oct. 15 – Dallas, 7 p.m.
Oct. 17 – Detroit, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19 – at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Oct. 21 – at Pittsburgh, 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 25 – Carolina, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27 – Winnipeg, 6 p.m.
Nov. 1 – at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 2 – Montreal, 8 p.m.
Nov. 6 – Nashville, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 8 – Calgary, 7 p.m.
Nov. 10 – Washington, 6 p.m.
Nov. 12 – at Carolina, 5 p.m.
Nov. 14 – at St. Louis, 6 p.m.
Nov. 16 – Florida, 7 p.m.
Nov. 19 – Chicago, 7 p.m.
Nov. 21 – at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
Nov. 23 – at Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 27 – St. Louis, 7 p.m.
Nov. 29 – at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
Nov. 30 – Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Dec. 5 – at Edmonton, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 6 – at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Dec. 8 – at Vancouver, 6 p.m.
Dec. 10 – Phoenix, 7 p.m.
Dec. 12 – at Winnipeg, 6 p.m.
Dec. 14 – Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Dec. 16 – Dallas, 7 p.m.
Dec. 17 – at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.
Dec. 19 – Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Dec. 21 – at Los Angeles, 2 p.m.
Dec. 23 – at San Jose, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 27 – at Chicago, 6 p.m.
Dec. 29 – Winnipeg, 6 p.m.
Dec. 31 – Columbus, 6 p.m.
Jan. 2 – Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Jan. 4 – San Jose, 1 p.m.
Jan. 6 – Calgary, 7 p.m.
Jan. 8 – Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 10 – N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m.
Jan. 11 – at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Jan. 14 – at Chicago, 6 p.m.
Jan. 16 – New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Jan. 18 – at Nashville, 6 p.m.
Jan. 21 – Toronto, 7 p.m.
Jan. 24 – at Florida, 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 25 – at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
Jan. 27 – at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 30 – Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Feb. 1 – Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Feb. 3 – at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 4 – at N.Y. Rangers, 5 p.m.
Feb. 6 – at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
Feb. 8 – at N.Y. Islanders, 5 p.m.
Feb. 26 – Los Angeles, 8 p.m.
Feb. 28 – Phoenix, 7 p.m.
March 2 – Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.
March 4 – at Chicago, 6 p.m.
March 6 – at Detroit, 5:30 p.m.
March 8 – St. Louis, 1 p.m.
March 10 – Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
March 12 – Chicago, 7:30 p.m.
March 14 – Anaheim, 7 p.m.
March 16 – at Ottawa, 3 p.m.
March 18 – at Montreal, 5:30 p.m.
March 19 – at Winnipeg, 6 p.m.
March 21 – Boston, 7 p.m.
March 25 – at Nashville, 6 p.m.
March 27 – Vancouver, 7 p.m.
March 29 – San Jose, 1 p.m.
April 1 – at Columbus, 5 p.m.
April 3 – N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
April 5 – at St. Louis, 10 a.m.
April 6 – Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.
April 8 – at Edmonton, 7:30 p.m.
April 10 – at Vancouver, 8 p.m.
April 11 – at San Jose, 8 p.m.
April 13 – at Anaheim, 6 p.m.
Associated Press