The 2011-12 NHL schedule was released on Thursday, with the league’s Winter Classic scheduled for the afternoon — not primetime, as was previously reported.
The Rangers and Flyers will still face off in the NHL Winter Classic on January 2. However, the game is scheduled for 1 PM ET, not the 8 PM start time reported by Newsday earlier this week.
The 1 PM start is a bit of a missed opportunity for the NHL. There are no college football bowl games scheduled for the night of January 2 — but there are four bowls scheduled for the early afternoon.
The NHL will not release the nationally television schedule until later in the summer. That said, several games seem likely to air on NBC. The defending champion Bruins have Sunday afternoon games against the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Capitals scheduled, and will also host the Red Wings on November 25 — a game that will likely be the first of NBC’s annual ‘Black Friday’ telecasts.
Of note, the NHL season is scheduled to end on Saturday, April 7. NBC generally airs NHL games only on Sundays, so there is a chance the network will not air any games on the final day of the season.
(Information from NHL.com, Puck the Media)
