The Minnesota Wild’s 2016-17 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season schedule was released today. The Wild opens the season on the road against the St. Louis Blues at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Oct. 13 and then returns home to host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. The club will play 10 of its first 16 games against Eastern Conference opponents including seven road matches against the East.
The 2016-17 schedule consists of 82 games – 41 at Xcel Energy Center and 41 road contests. The Wild’s home schedule features 17 weekend games (three on Friday, nine on Saturday and five on Sunday). Most evening games at Xcel Energy Center will begin at 7 p.m.
Minnesota will play 29 games against the Central Division, including five each against Colorado (three home, two road), Dallas (two home, three road), Nashville (two home, three road), St. Louis (three home, two road) and Winnipeg (two home, three road), and four vs. Chicago (two home, two road).
The Wild will also play three games against each team in the Pacific Division: Anaheim (two home, one road), Arizona (two home, one road), Calgary (one home, two road), Edmonton (one home, two road), Los Angeles (two home, one road), San Jose (two home, one road) and Vancouver (one home, two road).
Minnesota will play each team in the Eastern Conference twice (once at home and once on the road) for a total of 32 contests. Popular Eastern Conference visits to Xcel Energy Center include Boston (Nov. 17), Detroit (Feb. 12), Montreal (Jan. 12), the New York Islanders (Dec. 29), the New York Rangers (March 18), Toronto (Oct. 20), Tampa Bay (Feb. 10), Washington (March 28) and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins (Nov. 25). The 2017 NHL All-Star Game will take place on Jan. 29 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
2016-17 MINNESOTA WILD SCHEDULE NOTES
Home Games by Day: Mon. – 1, Tue. – 12, Wed. – 2, Thur. – 9, Fri. – 3, Sat. – 9, Sun. – 5
Road Games by Day: Mon. – 1, Tue. – 8, Wed. – 2, Thur. – 10, Fri. – 3, Sat. – 9, Sun. – 8
Home Games by Month: Oct. – 4, Nov. – 6, Dec. – 7, Jan. – 6, Feb. – 8, March – 8, April – 2
Road Games by Month: Oct. – 5, Nov. – 7, Dec. – 7, Jan. – 7, Feb. – 4, March – 8, April – 3
Games by Conference/Division
Western Conference: Central Division (29 games), Pacific Division (21 games)
Eastern Conference: Metropolitan Division (16 games), Atlantic Division (16 games)
Opponents Visits To Minnesota (41): Anaheim-2, Arizona-2, Boston-1, Buffalo-1, Calgary-1, Carolina-1, Chicago-2, Colorado-3, Columbus-1, Dallas-2, Detroit-1, Edmonton-1, Florida-1, Los Angeles-2, Montreal-1, Nashville-2, New Jersey-1, New York Islanders-1, New York Rangers-1, Ottawa-1, Philadelphia-1, Pittsburgh-1, St. Louis-3, San Jose-2, Tampa Bay-1, Toronto-1, Vancouver-1, Washington-1, Winnipeg-2
Wild Visits To Road Cities (41): Anaheim-1, Arizona-1, Boston-1, Buffalo-1, Calgary-2, Carolina-1, Chicago-2, Colorado-2, Columbus-1, Dallas-3, Detroit-1, Edmonton-2, Florida-1, Los Angeles-1, Montreal-1, Nashville-3, New Jersey-1, New York Islanders-1, New York Rangers-1, Ottawa-1, Philadelphia-1, Pittsburgh-1, St. Louis-2, San Jose-1, Tampa Bay-1, Toronto-1, Vancouver-2, Washington-1, Winnipeg-3
After NHL All-Star Game (Jan. 29) – Minnesota will have 34 games remaining on its schedule, including 18 home games and 16 road contests. The Wild will play 13 games each against the Eastern Conference, 12 contests against the Central Division and nine against the Pacific Division.
Longest Homestand: 8 games (longest in franchise history – previous record was 7 games, Jan. 5-20, 2006)
Feb. 8 – 27 vs. Chicago, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Anaheim, Dallas, Nashville, Chicago, Los Angeles
Longest Road Trip: 5 games
Nov. 26 – Dec. 7 at St. Louis, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto
March 9 – 16 at Tampa Bay, Florida, Chicago, Washington and Carolina
Back-To-Back Games: 14 sets – the Wild had 15 sets of back-to-back contests in 2015-16.
Back-to-back on road: 7
Home game followed by road game next day: 4
Road game followed by home game next day: 2
Back-to-back at home: 1
Five-day Bye Week: Feb. 22 – 26
600th Regular Season Home Game at Xcel Energy Center: Oct. 29 vs. Dallas
Length of Wild’s 2016-17 Season: 178 days (Oct. 13 – April 8). The 2015-16 season lasted 185 days.
Air miles: The Wild will travel an estimated 41,441 air miles during the 2016-17 season. Last season Minnesota logged 42,416 air miles.
[Minnesota Wild press release]
