North American home opener set for Oct. 27 against Washington

The National Hockey League today released the 2010-11 regular-season schedules for its 30 member clubs. Following seven games away from the RBC Center to start the regular season, the Carolina Hurricanes will host the Washington Capitals in their North American home opener on Wednesday, Oct. 27.

As previously announced, the Hurricanes will begin their 82-game regular-season campaign on Oct. 7, with the first of two games against the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, as part of the Compuware 2010 NHL Premiere. After returning to North America, Carolina will travel to Ottawa, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles and Phoenix, before playing its first game at the RBC Center.

The Hurricanes begin the season’s second month with a Monday night game at Philadelphia, before returning to Raleigh to face the New York Islanders on Nov. 3, in the first of eight November home games. Of the eight home games in November, three will feature Western Conference foes as the Edmonton Oilers (Nov. 9), Nashville Predators (Nov. 20) and Dallas Stars (Nov. 29), will visit the RBC Center.

The team’s December schedule begins with a Friday night match up against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 3, before a five-game road swing through Nashville, Dallas, St. Louis, Florida and Atlanta. The Hurricanes will hold home games surrounding the NHL’s two-day holiday break, as the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals will visit Raleigh on Dec. 23, and Dec. 26, respectively.

Carolina will host the first New Year’s Day game in franchise history, as the New Jersey Devils come to town to welcome 2011. The Hurricanes will play 14 games in January, including eight at home, leading up to NHL All-Star Weekend, which will take place at the RBC Center, Jan. 29-30.

Following All-Star Weekend, Carolina will host the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1, before playing six of seven games on the road. After that stretch, the Hurricanes will play 16 of their last 24 regular-season games at the RBC Center, including two games against Buffalo and a visit from the Detroit Red Wings on April 6. Carolina will wrap up its regular season at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 9.

In all, the Hurricanes will play 21 sets of back-to-back games during the 2010-11 season, 19 of which involve travel. Of Carolina’s 40 games at the RBC Center, 18 fall on Fridays (4), Saturdays (11) and Sundays (3).

The Hurricanes 2010-11 schedule is attached to this release. For the complete 2010-11 NHL schedule, and for individual teams’ schedules in varying formats, please visit http://media.nhl.com. Any media not currently registered for http://media.nhl.com, are encouraged to register to receive the latest news from the NHL.

For information on 2010-11 Carolina Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES. Specific information regarding mini-season ticket plans, special ticket promotions and ticket on-sale dates for the 2010-11 Hurricanes season will follow in the coming weeks.