NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made some major announcements ahead of Game 1 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
Bettman held a press conference on Wednesday before the Cup Final commenced in Denver, and he provided fans with plenty of reasons to get excited about next season.
First and foremost, the 2022-2023 season will begin on October 11. It is expected that the upcoming season will be the first to follow a normal schedule since the 2018-2019 season. That alone is a reason to be excited as a hockey fan.
There will be a pair of games played in Prague before that October 11 North American start date. The Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks will face off in a pair of regular season contests in the Czech Republic on October 7-8 as part of the NHL Global Series.
The NHL will return to a normal calendar for the 2022-2023 season.
Some other key dates have already been announced by Bettman and the NHL, but it’s worth making note of them once again:
January 2 – Winter Classic, Boston Bruins vs Pittsburgh Penguins (Fenway Park in Boston)
February 3-4 – All-Star Weekend (FLA Live Arena in Sunrise)
February 18 – Stadium Series (Carter-Finely Stadium in Raleigh)
For fans that want to look ahead but don’t want to wait until October, the league will be hosting the NHL Awards on June 21 in Tampa. In addition, the NHL Draft will be in Montreal on July 7-8. It will be the first time that either event has been in-person since 2019.
In addition to those dates, Bettman shared good news when he announced that the league has set a new revenue record. The commissioner expects revenue to exceed $5.2 billion this season.
To compare that number to others, the last normal NHL season (2018-2019) yielded $4.6 billion. As a result, it is anticipated that the salary cap will rise next season.
While the Stanley Cup Final has only just begun, it’s never too early to start getting excited about the upcoming season.