FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PHOENIX COYOTES 2011-12

Thursday, June 23, 2011Phoenix Coyotes Chief Operating Officer Mike Nealy announced today the Coyotes schedule for the 2011-12 National Hockey League season. The Coyotes will play a total of 82 regular season games (41 home, 41 away), as well as eight preseason games (two home, six away).The Coyotes will open the regular season on the road playing three games against Western Conference opponents in San Jose (Saturday, Oct. 8), Dallas (Monday, Oct. 10) and Nashville (Thursday, Oct. 13). The Coyotes will return to Glendale to host the new Winnipeg franchise at Jobing.com Arena on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. The month of October is also highlighted by visits from Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks (Tuesday, Oct. 18), Loui Eriksson and the Dallas Stars (Tuesday, Oct. 25), Zach Parise and the New Jersey Devils (Thursday, Oct. 27), and Anze Kopitar and Pacific Division rivals the Los Angeles Kings (Thursday, Oct. 20 & Saturday, Oct. 29).In addition, some of the NHL’s biggest stars will visit Jobing.com Arena this season, including Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks (Tuesday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Feb. 11), Daniel and Henrik Sedin and the Vancouver Canucks (Friday, Nov. 25 and Monday, Feb. 13), Mike Richards, Daniel Briere and the Philadelphia Flyers (Saturday, Dec. 3), Marion Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers (Saturday, Dec. 17), Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas and the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins (Wednesday, Dec. 28), Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and the Detroit Red Wings (Thursday, Jan. 19 and Monday, Feb. 6) and Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning (Saturday, Jan. 21).Like last season, all Saturday home games will start at 6 p.m. (except Saturday, Oct. 15 versus Winnipeg with a 4 p.m. start time, Saturday, Nov. 5 versus Edmonton which will have a 7 p.m. start time and Saturday, Feb. 11 versus Chicago which is a 6:30 p.m. puck drop). The start time for all weekday home games will be 7 p.m. (except Monday, Feb. 6 versus Detroit which is a 6:00 p.m. start and Monday, Jan. 16 versus Colorado which will have a special start time of 2 p.m. for MLK Day). The team’s one Sunday home game versus the St. Louis Blues (Mar. 25) will start at 6 p.m. The Coyotes will break for the 2012 All-Star Game, which will be played Sunday, Jan. 29 in Ottawa, from Jan. 25-30.Once again, the NHL’s scheduling format will see the Coyotes play six games (three home, three away) against each of their four Pacific Division rivals (Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose) for a total of 24 games. They will face the 10 remaining Western Conference teams four times each (two home, two away) for a total of 40 contests. In addition, they will face each of the 15 Eastern Conference clubs at least once, with the three remaining “at large” games to be played against teams from the East. The three Eastern Conference clubs the Coyotes will play twice in a “home-and-home” series are the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg franchise (will play in the Southeast Division).The Coyotes longest home stand in 2011-12 is six games (Jan. 19-Feb. 6) and will feature the Detroit Red Wings twice (Thursday, Jan. 19 & Monday, Feb. 6), Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks at Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes will also have one four-game home stands (Mar. 25-Apr. 3) and six three-game home stands (Oct. 15-20, Oct. 25-29, Nov. 3-10, Nov. 23-26, Feb. 9-13, and Mar. 8-12).Phoenix’s longest road trip of the season consists of five games from Saturday, Nov. 12 through Monday, Nov. 21 and will face off against the San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals.The Coyotes will close the regular season by playing five of their final eight games at Jobing.com Arena, where last season they posted a 21-13-7 record on home ice. Of the Coyotes’ 41 home games at Jobing.com Arena this season, 15 contests will be played on Saturday’s, 11 on Thursday’s and six games on Tuesday’s. The Coyotes will also have four games on Monday’s, two games each on Wednesday and Friday and one lone Sunday matinee. The Coyotes will play 13 sets of back-to-back games this season.The Coyotes eight-game preseason schedule begins on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Anaheim. The Coyotes will then play split squad games against Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Jobing.com Arena and Staples Center. Phoenix will then travel to Houston to play the Dallas Stars on Friday, Sept. 23 at Reliant Stadium, home to the Houston Texans (NFL). The Coyotes will also play at San Jose (Sat., Sept. 24), at Edmonton (Tues., Sept. 27) and at Calgary (Thurs., Sept. 29) before returning home to close out the preseason again the San Jose Sharks at Jobing.com Arena on Saturday, Oct. 1.The Coyotes also announced today that Half Season Plans (21 games) are now on sale for the 2011-12 NHL season. Packages, which start at just $21, allow you to pick any games with no blackout dates. As part of the package, fans are guaranteed the same seat for every Coyotes regular season and playoff game and have the ability to add on additional games at the same price. Fans also have the option of trading in unused tickets for future games. For more information on Coyotes tickets, please call 480-563-PUCK (7825) or visit www.PhoenixCoyotes.com.– Home opener at Jobing.com Arena versus Winnipeg.- The Chicago Blackhawks led by Jonathan Toews visit Jobing.com Arena.– Zack Parise, Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils come to Jobing.com Arena– An Original Six team, the Montreal Canadiens make their only visit to Glendale.– Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks make their first visit to the Valley.– The Coyotes host the Mike Richards, Daniel Briere and the Philadelphia Flyers.– The New York Rangers, led by sniper Marion Gaborik, visit Jobing.com Arena.– The Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins and Zdeno Chara make their only visit to Glendale.– John Tavares and the New York Islanders make their only visit to Jobing.com Arena.– Pavel Datsyuk and the Detroit Red Wings play their first game at Jobing.com Arena.– Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning come to Glendale.– Henrik Zetterberg and the Detroit Red Wings make their final visit to Glendale.– Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks make their second visit to play the Coyotes.– The Vancouver Canucks along with the Sedin twins make their final visit to Glendale.– Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Pacific Division rivals the Los Angeles Kings visit Glendale.– Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks make their final visit to Jobing.com Arena.– Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Pacific Division rivals the Anaheim Ducks face off against the Coyotes.– Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets come to town for the regular season home finale.