As another National Hockey League (NHL) season winds up across North America, fans everywhere are heading to their nearest barn to watch as hockey teams return to the ice to compete amongst the best.<\/p>\n
After a busy offseason and the excitement of the 4 Nations Face-Off<\/a>, this season promises to be even more exciting as the journey towards the Stanley Cup begins yet again.<\/p>\n This February, the 2026 Winter Olympics<\/a> add an extra level of spice to the mix, further emphasizing the year of international play that began with the World Juniors in 2025.<\/p>\n After a few weeks of training camps and preseason games, the schedule opens up for the first night of the regular season on October 7, 2025.<\/p>\n From rising stars to established franchises, here’s a full preview of what to expect, key dates to add to your calendar, and the biggest storylines to watch for heading into the season.<\/p>\n FloHockey is the home of all hockey below the NHL, including the AHL and ECHL. Subscribe today to watch live and on-demand.<\/a><\/p>\n Here’s what to know.<\/p>\n Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The 2025-26 NHL Season<\/p>\n First, the basics. If you’re REALLY new here, the NHL season consists of 82 games. Next season, the schedule will feature 84 games.<\/p>\n Each game is made up of three, 20-minute periods with intermissions in between. Overtime during the regular season consists of 3-on-3 hockey for five minutes or until the first team scores. After that, it moves to a shootout.<\/p>\n Teams get points based on winning during regulation time (2), overtime (1), and losing in overtime (1). They receive zero points for a loss during regulation time.<\/p>\n This season is special, however, due to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy and the allowance of NHL players’ participation. A break will take place in February to accommodate the additional schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once the regular season concludes in April, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will take place once again, progressing towards the finals where just one team will raise the cup after winning the best of seven series.<\/p>\n Rebranded at the conclusion of last season, the Utah Hockey Club will return to the ice as Utah Mammoth after the organization generated ideas with help from the local community.<\/p>\n Key Dates For The 2025-26 NHL SeasonOctober 7 – First regular season gamesJanuary 2 – 2026 Winter Classic, Florida Panthers vs New York RangersFebruary 1 – 2026 Stadium Series, Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston BruinsFebruary 5 – Last games before break\u00a0February 6-22 – 2026 Winter OlympicsFebruary 25 – Games return from breakApril 16 – Last regular season gamesApril – Start of 2026 Stanley Cup PlayoffsJune – 2026 Stanley Cup FinalsWhen does the 2025-26 NHL season start?<\/p>\n The 2025-26 NHL regular season begins play on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 with three games:<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers at 5:00 p.m. ETPittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers at 8:00 p.m. ETColorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 p.m. ETWhen Is the 2026 Winter Classic?<\/p>\n The 2026 Winter Classic featuring Florida Panthers vs New York Rangers is scheduled for January 2, 2026 at LoanDepot Park in Miami, FL.<\/p>\n When Is the 2026 Stadium Series Game?<\/p>\n The 2026 Stadium Series game featuring Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston Bruins is scheduled for February 1, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL.<\/p>\n Who Won The Stanley Cup Playoffs In 2025?<\/p>\n The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025. The defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the best-of-seven series 4-2.<\/p>\n Who was the first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft?<\/p>\n The first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft was made by the New York Islanders, who picked Matthew Schaefer, an elite defenseman with expert puck movement skills.<\/p>\n Other Overall Top Picks In 2025<\/p>\n Matthew Schaefer (D) – New York IslandersMichael Misa (C) – San Jose SharksAnton Frondell (C) – Chicago BlackhawksCaleb Desnoyers (C) – Utah MammothBrady Martin (C) – Nashville PredatorsPorter Martone (RW) – Philadelphia FlyersJames Hagens (C) – Boston BruinsJake O’Brien (C) – Seattle KrakenRadim Mrtka (D) – Buffalo SabresRoger McQueen (C) – Anaheim DucksWhen is the 2026 NHL Draft?<\/p>\n The 64th annual NHL Entry Draft is expected to be held in the summer of 2026. In 2025, it was held on June 27 and 28.<\/p>\n When and Where Are The Winter Olympics – Milano Cortina 2026?<\/p>\n The 2026 Winter Olympics, known as Milano Cortina 2026, is scheduled to take place from February 6 to February 22, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Preliminary hockey rounds will begin on Thursday, February 5. Competition will continue throughout the week and conclude with the women’s gold medal match on Thursday, February 19. The men’s gold medal match will be played on Sunday, February 22 at Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena.<\/p>\n The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will take place at multiple sites across Lombardy and Northeast Italy. Ice events will be hosted in Milan and other events to be hosted around Cortina and in the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys across Italy.<\/p>\n The joint-host were selected in 2019 and are the first Olympic Games to be co-hosted by multiple cities.<\/p>\n Every NHL Team’s Minor League Affiliate This Year<\/p>\n Anaheim Ducks Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Boston Bruins Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Buffalo Sabres Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Calgary Flames Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Colorado Avalanche Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Columbus Blue Jackets Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas Stars Minor League Affiliate \u00a0<\/p>\n Detroit Red Wings Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Edmonton Oilers Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Florida Panthers Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Los Angeles Kings Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota Wild Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Montreal Canadians Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Nashville Predators Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n New Jersey Devils Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n New York Islanders Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n New York Rangers Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Ottawa Senators Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Philadelphia Flyers Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Penguins Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n San Jose Sharks Minor League Affiliate<\/p>\n Seattle Kraken Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n St. Louis Blues Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Lightning Minor League Affiliate \u00a0<\/p>\n Toronto Maple Leafs Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Utah Mammoth Minor League Affiliate<\/p>\n Vancouver Canucks Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Vegas Golden Knights Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Washington Capitals Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Minor League Affiliate\u00a0<\/p>\n NHL Prospect Coverage On FloHockey<\/p>\n The best, and most complete, coverage of the NHL minor league hockey and NHL Draft is found on FloHockey. Don’t miss the latest new prospect guides, rankings and more from Chris Peters and the FloHockey staff.<\/p>\n Watch the AHL, ECHL, QMJHL, USHL, And More On FloHockey<\/p>\n FloHockey is the streaming home to some of the best hockey leagues in North America, including the ECHL and more. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more hockey.<\/a><\/p>\n Hockey Hits Harder On Flo<\/p>\n Every game. Every goal. Every hit. All Season Long. FloHockey gives you access to the most live hockey anywhere, including leagues like the AHL, ECHL, OHL and QMJHL. Watch your team, follow top prospects and stay on top of all the action. Subscribe to an annual plan now and get 7 months free.<\/a><\/p>\n Join The Hockey Conversation On FloHockey Social<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As another National Hockey League (NHL) season winds up across North America, fans everywhere are heading to their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-164191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}