The Red Wings announce their 2004-2005 schedule

The Red Wings presented their 04-05 regular season schedule today along with the rest of the NHL. If the CBA situation turns out to be resolved quickly and everything starts up on time, the Wings will play their first game on October 14th, in Edmonton. They will then play the Canucks in Vancouver on the 16th before coming home to play Carolina and Chicago (12/3, 12/14, 12/17, 1/9/2005, 1/26) on the 20th and 22nd. The final games aren't all that exciting. The Wings will play Columbus twice, Philadelphia once and Minnesota twice (the last two games) in April to finish out the season. Some games of note: We may see Brett Hull in a Dallas Stars uniform on October 27th when they come to town to play the Wings, if the rumors are true. Wings fans will get to see Sergei Fedorov again on the 25th when his Mighty Ducks of Anaheim come to town for the first of four meetings (11/19, 2/1/05, 3/21). The Wings will face #1 pick Alexander Ovechkin (assuming he's able to get out of Russia) on November 11th when they travel to Washington to take on the Caps. We'll hopefully get to see the Wings exact some revenge on November 24th when the Flames come to town. The guys will travel to Denver for the first of four Avs-Wings game on December 8th. Though it's not early in the season, it's better than waiting until February for that game, like we did last year. (1/8/05, 1/29, 3/13) Dominik Hasek (if he's not injured) will get to face his old team on December 19 when he and the Ottawa Senators come to Detroit for the only game the two clubs will play against each other next year. The Wings will go to Boston to play the oldest American team on January 11th. It will be the only time the two Original Six teams will face each other. Original Six rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs will visit Detroit on January 15th for their only regular season meeting with the Wings, the usual scheduling crime. The defending Stanley Cup Champions will host the Red Wings on February 19, 2005, the only game we'll get to see the Lightning. The Wings will host the Habs on March 3rd, another scheduling crime since it will be the only game between the two old Original Six rivals. Unfortunately, the Wings won't be able to get their annual meeting with the NY Rangers out of the way until March 26th. There's an O6 game I couldn't care less about. Here's a link to the complete Detroit schedule and to the complete NHL schedule.