Just after the league celebrated its 2022/23 heroes at the NHL Awards and welcomed in new eras at the NHL Draft, fixtures for the 2023/24 season were announced. The regular season starts on 10 October 2023 and ends on 18 April 2024. Last season, the Vegas Golden Knights lifted the Stanley Cup: who will be victorious in 2024?!
2023/24 Key NHL Fixtures
Last season was record-breaking, particularly for the Boston Bruins who set records for wins (65) and points (135) on the way to winning the Presidents’ Trophy. After an amazing regular season, the Bruins failed to get off the mark in the postseason and were knocked out in the first round by eventual finalists Florida Panthers. All eyes will be on the chance for revenge when the bears take on the cats at TD Garden on 30 October 2023.
Florida were beaten in the finals by the Vegas Golden Knights who took their first Stanley Cup title. The 2 finalists will meet again just before Christmas on 23 December 2023. The Golden Knights raise their banner against the newest team in the NHL, Seattle Kraken – a team that had an impressive second season in the NHL in 2022/23 – on the opening day.
The 2 will meet again in the NHL Winter Classic on 1 January 2024 at T-Mobile Park, Seattle. The Winter Classic is one of the NHL’s 3 outdoor fixtures along with the NHL Heritage Classic (Edmonton Oilers v Calgary Flames on 29 October 2023 at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton) and the NHL Stadium Series (New Jersey Devils v Philadelphia Flyers on 17 February 2024 and New York Islanders v New York Rangers on 18 February 2024 both at MetLife Stadium). Another key NHL date is the NHL All-Star Weekend from 2-3 February 2024 at the Scotiabank Arena, Toronto.
The NHL has fans in all corners of the world and the NHL Global Series allows those in other countries to enjoy the globe’s elite ice hockey league. In 2023, NHL Global Series games that cover as regular season games include:
- Detroit Red Wings v Ottawa Senators (16 Nov 2023 at Avicii Arena, Stockholm, Sweden)
- Toronto Maple Leafs v Detroit Red Wings (17 Nov 2023 at Avicii Arena, Stockholm, Sweden)
- Minnesota Wild v Ottawa Senators (18 Nov 2023 at Avicii Arena, Stockholm, Sweden)
- Toronto Maple Leafs v Minnesota Wild (19 Nov 2023 at Avicii Arena, Stockholm, Sweden)
NHL Teams & Divisions
The league is split into 2 conferences (Eastern and Western) and then 2 divisions within each conference (Atlantic and Metropolitan in the Eastern Conference and Central and Pacific in the Western Conference). Teams from each conference play 28 games in their own division (4 against each of their 7 other divisional opponents) and 24 games against the 8 opponents in the other division in their conference (3 games against every team). All teams play every team in the other conference twice, at home and away. A win is worth 2 points; losing in overtime or a shootout is 1 point; and a loss in regulation time is 0 points.
Eastern Conference
The Atlantic Division features the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Metropolitan Division features the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals.
Western Conference
The Central Division features the Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, and Winnipeg Jets.
The Pacific Division features the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights.
2023/24 NHL Postseason & Playoffs
At the end of the regular season, the team that has gained the most points in each division is the division champion, and the league's overall points leader wins the Presidents' Trophy. The top 3 teams in each division plus the 2 conference teams with the next highest number of points qualify for the NHL Playoffs which will start in April 2024. The playoff teams compete to progress through several best-of-7 series rounds and hope to reach and maybe even win the Stanley Cup Finals.
2023/24 NHL Preseason
For those who can’t wait until the start of the regular season, there’s plenty of preseason action to get the juices flowing. Games start on 23 September 2023 when the St. Louis Blues take on the Arizona Coyotes and run through to 7 October 2023 just before the first puck-drop of the regular season.
During preseason, there are also 2 NHL Global Series exhibition games:
- Arizona Coyotes v Los Angeles Kings (23 Sep 2023 at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia)
- Los Angeles Kings v Arizona Coyotes (24 Sep 2023 at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia)
2023/24 NHL Tickets
There are already tickets from secondary sellers for most of the NHL regular season games and official tickets are set to go on sale to the general public soon. You can check out the full NHL schedule here!