Banner Raising

The NHL schedule came out today and the Kings will be playing their first game of the season at home against the New York Rangers on Fri. Oct. 12, meaning that is when they will be raising their first ever Stanley Cup banner. I know I'm making the trip down for that game. Should be an awful lot of fun.


Other games of note on the schedule:
•Oct. 27 at home against Phoenix, the first regular season meeting between these two teams since Dustin Brown nearly ended Michal Roszival's career with a terrible bruise
•Nov. 10 in Columbus, the first time the Kings will see former d-man Jack Johnson this season and get to exchange stories about what happened since the trade. Jack might not have as good of stories
•Nov. 23 vs San Jose, will the Sharks be able to restrict themselves to only playing the puck when they are in fact on the ice?
•Dec. 17 vs Boston, a match between the two most recent Cup Champs
•Jan. 3 vs Philadelphia, Kramer, his BFF, and Simon can show off their new jewelry to some more old friends. Just too bad the Kings aren't playing in Philadelphia this season so those guys can get some love from their old fans
•Jan. 19 - Feb. 20: the Kings have what amounts to a 13-game road trip (although the All-Star break is after the 3rd game of the streak) where they do have 2 home dates, but both are one-game homestands before heading right back on the road. Here is how it breaks down: @PHX, @NSH, @MIN, ASG, NSH, @WSH, @BUF, @NYR, @NJ, @PIT, WSH, @VAN, @EDM, @CGY. Yikes.
•Feb. 9 in New Jersey, the only rematch of this year's Cup Final. Which side will Parise be on, if any?
•Apr. 13 vs. Anaheim. It doesn't seem likely that this one will be for the division like last year's home-and-home with San Jose, but maybe the Kings can have the President's Trophy wrapped up by the final game of the regular season?

I can't wait. Only 3 and a half months until the Kings' Stanley Cup defense begins.