OTTAWA - The National Hockey League and the Ottawa Senators today announced the 2011-12 regular-season schedule, which will see the club open with a visit to the former team of new Senators head coach Paul MacLean, the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. The Senators open their 20th anniversary season’s home schedule on Tuesday, Oct. 11, when they host the Minnesota Wild at 7:30 p.m. The 82-game calendar concludes when the Senators travel to New Jersey to face the Devils on Saturday, April 7.





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The 2012 National Hockey League All-Star Celebration, which takes place at Scotiabank Place for the first time in franchise history, visits the nation’s capital on Jan. 28 and 29.The Senators’ 2011-12 regular-season schedule features games against every NHL team. In addition to home games against division rivals such as the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, this year’s schedule continues to feature non-conference home-and-home series against the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks.The club will welcome the new Winnipeg franchise for the first time on Thursday, Oct. 20. The Senators last hosted a Winnipeg-based team when they fell 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 22, 1995, at the Ottawa Civic Centre. The Senators play host to Winnipeg on two occasions and travel to the Manitoba capital twice.Ottawa will play six regular-season games against each of its Northeast Division rivals and four games against its other Eastern Conference opponents.From the Western Conference, the Senators will host and visit the Canadian Northwest Division teams (Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks) and host the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota. The Senators will play host to four of the Central Division’s clubs (the lone exception being Detroit) when the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues visit Scotiabank Place. The Senators will visit each of the five Pacific Division teams, beginning with the Dallas Stars on Thursday, Dec. 1, before a four-game swing through California (San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings) and Arizona (Phoenix Coyotes) in late January.The Stanley Cup-champion Boston Bruins make their first of three regular-season visits to Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m., while the Senators will visit TD Garden in Boston for the first of three visits on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.The regular-season Scotiabank Place schedule presents 26 games from Thursday to Sunday as follows: Thursday (8), Friday (5), Saturday (9) and Sunday (4). Early-week games feature three on Mondays, eight on Tuesdays and four on Wednesdays.The home games on Monday to Friday will be played at 7:30 p.m. with the exception of a 7 p.m. start against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, Dec. 7. Saturday games will take place at 7 p.m. with the exception of a 2 p.m. start on Feb. 11 against Edmonton. Three of the four Sunday matinee faceoffs will take place at 5 p.m., with the Toronto game on Oct. 30 starting at 7:30 p.m.The Senators play 20 games at Scotiabank Place in the first half of the season and 21 home games in the second half. December is the Senators’ busiest month at home with nine of 15 games being played at Scotiabank Place. The Senators play 12 (7 home, 5 away) games in October, 12 (4-8) in November, 15 (9-6) in December, 14 (4-10) in January, 12 (8-4) in February, 13 (7-6) in March and four (2-2) in April to round out the schedule.- The Senators have a six-game, nine-day homestand from Feb. 3 to 11.- During the months of February and March, 15 of Ottawa’s 25 games will be played at Scotiabank Place- The Senators will play back-to-back games 16 times, including two consecutive days at Scotiabank Place on three occasions.- Ottawa has two six-game road trips, each spread over a two-week span, Nov. 11-25 and Jan. 17-31.- The Senators host the Western Conference-champion Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, Dec. 10.- After traveling to Edmonton as part of CBC’s Hockey Day in Canada last season, the Senators will host the Oilers as part of the same festivities on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m.Senators season tickets (full- and half-season, and Flex 40) and mini plans (Flex 20 and 10-game set-seat plans) are on sale now. Three- and five-game packs, pre-season games, opening night and group tickets will be available to fans starting on Friday, August 12. Single game tickets for the remainder of the 2011-12 regular season will be available starting on Friday, Sept. 9.The pricing for game packs, groups and single-game tickets for the pre-season and regular season will be announced in August, along with the 2011-12 promotional schedule.The Senators’ 2011-12 regular-season schedule, including key on-sale dates, will be available for fans to download to their Outlook or any other electronic calendar. To download the schedule and for more information on the Senators, visit www.ottawasenators.com.Friday, Oct. 7, at Detroit, 7 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 8, at Toronto, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Oct. 11, vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 13 vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 15, at Washington, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Oct. 18, vs. Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 20, vs. Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 22, vs. Columbus, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Carolina, 7 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 27, vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 29, at N.Y. Rangers, 3 p.m.Sunday, Oct. 30, vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Boston, 7 p.m.Friday, Nov. 4, vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Nov. 5, vs. Buffalo, 7 p.m.Wednesday, Nov. 9, vs. N.Y. Rangers, 7:30 p.m.Friday, Nov. 11, at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Nov. 12, at Toronto, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Calgary, 9 p.m.Thursday, Nov. 17, at Edmonton, 9:30 p.m.Sunday, Nov. 20, at Vancouver, 9 p.m.Friday, Nov. 25, at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.Sunday, Nov. 27, vs. Carolina, 5 p.m.Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Winnipeg, 8:30 p.m.Thursday, Dec. 1, at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 3, at Washington, 7 p.m.Monday, Dec. 5, vs. Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.Wednesday, Dec. 7, vs. Washington, 7 p.m.Thursday, Dec. 8, at New Jersey, 7 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 10, vs. Vancouver, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Buffalo, 7 p.m.Wednesday, Dec. 14, vs. Boston, 7:30 p.m.Friday, Dec. 16, vs. Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.Tuesday, Dec. 20, vs. Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, Dec. 22, vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m.Friday, Dec. 23, at Carolina, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Dec. 27, vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.Friday, Dec. 30, vs. Calgary, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 31, at Buffalo, 7 p.m.Monday, Jan. 2, vs. New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, Jan. 5, vs. Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Jan. 7, at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.Sunday, Jan. 8, vs. Philadelphia, 5 p.m.Tuesday, Jan. 10, at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.Thursday, Jan. 12, at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.Saturday, Jan. 14, at Montreal, 7 p.m.Monday, Jan. 16, vs. Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.Tuesday, Jan. 17, at Toronto, 7 p.m.Thursday, Jan. 19, at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.Saturday, Jan. 21, at Anaheim, 7 p.m.Monday, Jan. 23, at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.Tuesday, Jan. 24, at Phoenix, 9 p.m.Tuesday, Jan. 31, at Boston, 7 p.m.Friday, Feb. 3, vs. N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 4, vs. Toronto, 7 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 7, vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, Feb. 9, vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 11, vs. Edmonton, 2 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Florida, 7:30 p.m.Monday, Feb. 20, at N.Y. Islanders, 1 p.m.Wednesday, Feb. 22, vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, Feb. 25, vs. Boston, 7 p.m.Sunday, Feb. 26, vs. N.Y. Islanders, 5 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Boston, 7 p.m.Friday, March 2, vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m.Sunday, March 4, at Florida, 5 p.m.Tuesday, March 6, at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, March 8, vs. N.Y. Rangers, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, March 10, vs. Buffalo, 7 p.m.Wednesday, March 14, at Montreal, 7 p.m.Friday, March 16, vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, March 17, vs. Toronto, 7 p.m.Tuesday, March 20, vs. New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.Friday, March 23, at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, March 24, vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.Monday, March 26, at Winnipeg, 8:30 p.m.Saturday, March 31, at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.Sunday, April 1, at N.Y. Islanders, 1 p.m.Tuesday, April 3, vs. Carolina, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, April 5, vs. Boston, 7:30 p.m.Saturday, April 7, at New Jersey, 3 p.m.