The Wings' 2006-2007 schedule

The NHL announced the schedule for next season today and that means we now know who and when the Wings will be playing. They'll open the season on October 5th, at home against the Canucks, making them the first team to face Roberto Luongo as a Canuck in regular season play. They'll get two of ten games against Eastern opponents out of the way early: on the 7th, they'll head to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and Co., and after playing host to the Coyotes on the 11th, the Sabres will come to town on the 13th. The Wings will face their first Central Division opponent on the 28th, St. Louis on the road. November includes a three-game Western Canada road-trip beginning on the 14th in Vancouver and ending on the 18th in Edmonton, with a stop in Calgary in between, on the 17th. They'll face Toronto, Ottawa, and New Jersey on December 9th, 12th, 16th, and will have a home-away-home series with Minnesota on the 22nd, 23rd and 27th. That ought to be exciting... The annual New Year's Eve game is against LA this season. Montreal comes to town on January 15th and the Wings travel to Long Island to face the Islanders on the 30th. They'll be back to that area on February 5th as they face Brendan Shanahan's new team, the New York Rangers. They'll close out their games against the East after playing Philadelphia on the road on February 12th and Dave Lewis' new team, the Bruins, at home on March 11th. The season ends with a pair of home-away series with Columbus and Chicago. The final game is at home against the Hawks on April 7th. Click here for the complete Red Wings schedule.