Kings and NHL release 2009-10 schedule

(Courtesy Meg Jarrell): Terry Murray working with young Kings prospects

The 2009-10 regular season schedule for the Los Angeles Kings, and the rest of the National Hockey League, was released today by the club.

Opening day for the team is Saturday, October 3, when they host the Phoenix Coyotes at Staples Center. It’s the first of three straight games at home before the club embarks on a season-high six-game road trip. The Kings will have six home games in October, including visits by division rivals San Jose on October 6 and Dallas on October 22.

In November, the Kings are at Staples Center five times, but these contests include a visit by the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on November 5, and Chicago (who reached the Western Conference finals last season) on November 28. The Kings will play in Vancouver on Thanksgiving night, November 26, and will also take part in a five-game roadie in the middle of the month.

Come December, the Kings will have played 18 of their first 27 on the road. That trend will continue as the team plays 8 of 14 away from home in the final month of 2009. Among the highlights: the first encounter of the season with the archrival Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on December 1, a three-game home stand against Ottawa (December 3), St. Louis (December 5), and Calgary (December 7). The club plays four straight away from home December 14-26, as part of a stretch with six of seven on the road.

As the calendar turns, the team will hit the official halfway mark having played 26 of the first 41 away from home. But then the schedule will see a slew of home contests, as the club hosts eight of the next 14 at Staples. This stretch includes a visit from Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on January 2, and then after a brief visit to San Jose on January 4, seven straight home games. These contests include visits from Detroit (January 7), the first of three visits by the Ducks (January 14), and Boston (January 16). They end the month with their fourth road-trip of four games or longer with a five-game journey, highlighted by trips to Detroit, Toronto, and New Jersey.

Thanks to the Olympic tournament in Vancouver, the league goes dark from February 15-28. The Kings play just six games in February, but five of them are at home. This includes the New York Rangers (February 2), and another visit from both Anaheim (February 4) and Detroit (February 6).

In March, play resumes with 15 games in 29 days! The Kings are at home for seven of those contests, including the only visit by the Montreal Canadiens (March 6), and first-overall NHL Draft choice John Tavares and the New York Islanders (March 20).

The regular season schedule concludes in April with six contests – four of which are at home. Of course, the Kings are hoping that the home game versus Edmonton on April 10 and the road game at Colorado on April 11 are just the end of the regular season – not the end of the actual season, as they look to end their current playoff drought.

Some other notes about the schedule:

• The club plays six games each against their four Pacific Division rivals, with three at home and three on the road. Home dates are:
  • Anaheim: January 14, February 4, April 3
  • Dallas: October 22, December 12, March 27
  • Phoenix: October 3, December 10, April
  • San Jose: October 6, January 11, January 19
• They also plays four games each against the other ten Western Conference clubs (2 home, 2 road)
• With the unbalanced schedule, they play only 18 games against the 15 teams from the other conference, which break down this way:
  • 1 road and 1 home game versus: Boston, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers
  • 1 home game only versus: Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington
  • 1 road game only versus: Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Tampa Bay, and Toronto
• There are 12 instances where the Kings play games on consecutive nights. However, none of those are the traditional ‘home-and-home’ series of two games in two nights against the same opponent.
• Yet, the Kings do play the same opponent in consecutive games (just not on consecutive nights) three times:
  • October 19 (road) and 22 (home) against Dallas
  • March 22 (home) and 24 (road) against Kyle Quincey and the Colorado Avalanche
  • April 3 (home) and 6 (road) against Anaheim
• Saturday is the day of the week the Kings will play the most times on, with 16 home games (eight of which are afternoon tilts) and 23 contests overall. Thursday is also a popular day for the Kings, with 14 home dates spanning 21 overall games.
• Friday is the game with the fewest Kings games, featuring just two road contests and no games at Staples. The club also plays just one of eight Wednesday games and two of four Sunday games at home.

For much more ticket information, including special full and partial season ticket packages, be sure to visit the team’s website by clicking here.
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Taking a quick glance at the league schedule provides some other interesting nuggets:

• The league officially opens the season Thursday, October 1, with Colorado retiring Joe Sakic's jersey to the rafters against San Jose.
• The next night, the Pittsburgh Penguins raise the Stanley Cup championship banner at The Igloo against the New York Rangers. Also that night is the front end of a pair of European home-and-home games in consecutive nights.
  • St. Louis and Detroit play two games against each other in Stockholm, Sweden
  • Chicago and Florida do the same thing in Helsinki, Finland
• All 30 teams are in action on the first Saturday of the season, October 3
• The Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, including that of Kings great Luc Robitaille, take place on Monday, November 9. Two days prior is the 'Hockey Hall of Fame Game' featuring Detroit at Toronto
• The 2010 Winter Classic will played New year's Day at Fenway Park, featuring the Boston Bruins playing host to the Philadelphia Flyers
• Any Kings fan still upset about last year's road scheduling woes in the second half of the season should consider this: thanks to the Olympics, and the preparation needed prior to it, the Vancouver Canucks will play a 14-game road trip. After playing host to St. Louis on January 27, the Canucks won't play another home game at GM Place until March 13 against Ottawa, a span of 46 days.

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The developmental camp wrapped up on Sunday at Toyota Sports Center, and the players that were there took part in yet another spirited scrimmage in front of an enthusiastic crowd estimated at around 250 fans.

In the first half of the scrimmage, Tyler Maxwell scored on a deflection to give the black-colored jerseys, known as ‘Team Emerson’ for their coach Nelson Emerson, a 1-0 lead at the 14:10 mark of a twenty minute period. Defenseman Wes Cunningham and forward Justin Azevedo were credited with assists.

Then five minutes later, with only 40 seconds remaining in the half, ‘Team O’Connell’, named for Mike O’Connell, tied things up as Rob Czarnik, benefiting from a great pass by Linden Vey, scored his second goal in as many games.

Following a scoreless second period which saw tremendous positional play by goaltender Jonathan Bernier, the two teams took part in a seven-man shootout. Team O’Connell won by a 3-1 count, as Jordan Nolan, Dwight King, and Nicolas Deslauries scored in the shootout. The only shootout tally for Team Emerson came from Maxwell’s silver stick.