![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1007-Sullivan-1100x733.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
New York Rangers new head coach Mike Sullivan listens during an NHL hockey news conference, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Tarrytown, N.Y. (AP Photo\/Stephen Whyno)<\/p>\n
The NHL season begins tonight with a tripleheader that includes the Florida Panthers raising a Stanley Cup banner for a second consecutive year and Mike Sullivan making his New York Rangers coaching debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins team he spent much of the past decade with.<\/p>\n
This is the final 82-game season before the schedule expands to 84 apiece for each of the league\u2019s 32 teams beginning in 2026-27. It\u2019s also expected to be the final October start before training camp and exhibition play shrink and opening night gets moved up to late September.<\/p>\n
The league will take a two-week break in February so players can compete at the Olympics in Milan.<\/p>\n
What to know<\/p>\n
The Panthers are looking to become the first NHL team to threepeat since the New York Islanders won four championships in a row from 1980-83. They likely won\u2019t have captain and top center Aleksander Barkov all season after surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right knee from a noncontact injury during training camp.<\/p>\n
NHL players are back in the Olympics for the first time since 2014 when Canada won its second consecutive gold medal. It\u2019s the first full-fledged international tournament featuring the world\u2019s best since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The 4 Nations Face-Off with the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland provided a taste of the kind of quality and pace that can be expected.<\/p>\n
Connor McDavid, widely considered the game\u2019s best player, is still chasing the Stanley Cup in his 11th season in the league. After his future was the talk of the sport, McDavid signed a contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers on the eve of the season at a bargain rate of $12.5 million annually over two years.<\/p>\n
The favorites<\/p>\n
Edmonton and Vegas are 8-1 co-favorites at BetMGM Sportsbook to hoist the Cup in June. Carolina and Colorado are 17-2, Dallas is 9-1 and Florida and Tampa Bay are each 14-1. The longest shots on the board are rebuilding Chicago and San Jose at 500-1.<\/p>\n
How to watch<\/p>\n
ESPN and TNT air games nationally in the U.S., with Sportsnet as the rightsholder in Canada.<\/p>\n
There are 100 exclusive games between ESPN, ABC, ESPN+ and Hulu, including all three on opening night and the Stadium Series when Tampa Bay hosts Boston outdoors at the home of the NFL\u2019s Buccaneers. ESPN also has the Stanley Cup Final in June.<\/p>\n
TNT has 72 games, including Washington\u2019s season opener with Alex Ovechkin at 897 goals after breaking Wayne Gretzky\u2019s record, and the Winter Classic between the Panthers and Rangers on Jan. 2 at the home of Major League Baseball\u2019s Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n
The outlook<\/p>\n
More than 900 games will take place between October and Feb. 4, including Pittsburgh and Nashville playing twice in Sweden in November. The league will then pause for the Olympic break.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s hockey tournament in Milan begins Feb. 11 with Finland vs. Slovakia and Sweden against host Italy. The gold-medal game is set for Feb. 22.<\/p>\n
NHL play resumes on Feb. 25. The trade deadline is March 6 and the final day of the regular season is April 16. The playoffs begin April 18 and the last possible day for the Stanley Cup Final is June 21. Free agency begins July 1.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n HOLLIDAYSBURG \u2014 The team of Paul Conway, Rodger Fair, Connie Angeski and Rosey McCoy finished at 34 to win the …<\/p>\n