The Philadelphia Flyers will be in the house when the Boston Bruins raise their Stanley Cup banner next year, and surely, you can ignore the first half of that broadcast for some Phillies playoff baseball.
While the season won’t start off the way we’d prefer, we do have a date now: October 6, 2011. The Flyers will be back on the ice for some meaningful hockey. That’s a good thing. Also, screw the Bruins. Let’s ruin their party.
Of course, with the official schedule announcement comes the news that the Winter Classic will be played at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, January 2 at 1 p.m. against the New York Rangers. It actually hasn’t been announced that this game is the Winter Classic, but why else would they be having a game at 1 p.m. on a Monday?
No word just yet on when tickets will go on sale for that game, but you’d better find out the date as soon as it’s public because they’re going to sell out in about 53 seconds.
Make the jump for some highlights of the 2011-12 schedule.
FIRST GAME — Thursday, October 6 at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. ET
HOME OPENER — Wednesday, October 12 vs Vancouver Canucks, 7:30 p.m. ET
– Winnipeg comes to town for the first time on Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m. ET. The Flyers travel to Winnipeg for the first time on Saturday, November 19 at 3 p.m. ET. Winnipeg will also be in town on Tuesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. ET and they will wrap up the season series on Tuesday, February 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
– Two of the last four games are against the Pittsburgh Penguins, both in Pittsburgh. The New York Rangers are Buffalo Sabres come to town for two games, sandwiched between those Pittsburgh games.
– Again, Winter Classic — not officially announed, technicaly — on January 2 vs the Rangers.
– The annual Christmas road trip to the West Coast is interrupted this year thanks to the outdoor game, but there is still a five game trip on the schedule to accomodate the Disney On Ice show that invades the WFC at that time. Beginning on December 19, the Flyers will play in Colorado at 9 p.m. ET, then travel to Dallas before games against the Rangers, Lightning and Penguins in the run-up to the Winter Classic.
– You didn’t think the NHL and HBO would completely keep the Pens out of HBO 24/7, did you?
– The February trip to Winnipeg will be the start of this year’s Western Canada swing. It’s only a four game western trip this year, though, and they’ll play Edmonton, Calgary and San Jose on it.
– The longest homestand comes between March 18 and March 26, when the Flyers host the Pens, Panthers, Caps, Habs and Lightning, all 7 p.m. starts.
Spot any other details? Throw ’em in the comments.
