Devils open 2009-10 season at home against the Flyers on Saturday, Oct. 3

Jacques Lemaire's second stint as head coach of the Devils will begin with a home game. The Devils will open the 2009-10 regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Satiurday, Oct. 3 at Prudential Center. Faceoff is at 7 p.m.

Two nights later they host the Rangers for the first time of the new season with another 7 p.m. start.

After that, they travel to Tampa Bay for their first road game of 2009-10 on Thursday, Oct. 8. The game will be the Lightning's home opener.

The Devils visit their former coach, Brent Sutter, and the Calgary Flames on Friday, March 5 (9 p.m. start) as part of a three-game trip that kicks off their schedule following the Olympic break. They begin their post-Olympic schedule on Tuesday, March 2 in San Jose (10:30 p.m.) before facing off against Sutter three nights later. The trip ends on Sunday, March 7 in Edmtonton (8 p.m.) 

The Devils play their final game before the Olympic break on  Saturday, Feb. 13 at Carolina (7 p.m.)

Other schedule highlights:

**Former Devil Brian Gionta (along with Scott Gomez) returns to New Jersey for the first time with Montreal on Wednesday, Dec. 16

**Former Devil John Madden will visit for the first time with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, April 2.

**The Devils also play in Chicago on New Year's Eve. The Blackhawks are one of three Western Conference teams the Devils play at home and on the road during the season. They also play Nashville and Dallas twice. They play the other 12 Western Conference teams only once.

**Lemaire returns to Minnesota, where he coached the Wild for the first nine years of their existence, on Saturday, Jan. 2. That will also be Brian Rolston's first game back in Minnesota after leaving the Wild last summer to sign with the Devils.

**The Devils will host the Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25 -- the first time in team history that they will play a home game on the day before Thanksgiving (They are usually on the road for the holiday). They return to action on Friday, Nov. 27 for a noon start in Boston and then return home the next day to host the Islanders at 1 p.m.

**The longest homestand of the season is five games. It begins on Wednesday, Dec. 9 against Carolina and ends on Friday, Dec. 18 against Ottawa. It also includes games on Dec. 11 against Florida, Dec. 12 vs. Philadelphia (rare back-to-back Friday and Saturday night home games) and Dec. 16 vs. Montreal. 

**The season's longest road trip is also five games. It runs from Jan. 9 to Jan 18 and includes stops at Montreal (Jan. 9), the Rangers (Jan. 12) , Phoenix (Jan. 14, Colorado (Jan. 16) and Nassau Colseum (Jan. 18) against the Islanders.

**The Devils play 12 Friday home games, eight Saturday home contests and two on Sundays. They have only one 1 p.m. start for a home game -- Saturday, Nov. 28 against the Islanders. They have two 5 p.m. starts on Sundays at Prudential Center -- Jan. 31 vs. Los Angeles and the regular season finale vs. Buffalo on April 11.

**There are 19 sets of back-to-back games, including 12 in which they play the first game at home and the second on the road. Only once do they play the first game of a back-to-back set on the road and the second game at home -- Nov. 27 at Boston and Nov. 28 vs. the Islanders.

**The Devils face the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Mellon Arena.

Click below to see the full schedule.

Oct. 3 Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 5 N.Y. Rangers, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 10 at Florida, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 12 at Washington, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 16 Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 17 Carolina, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 22 at N.Y. Rangers, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 24 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 28 Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 29 at Boston, 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 31 at Tampa Bay, 3:00 p.m.

Nov. 4 Washington, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 6 N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 7 at Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 11 Anaheim, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 12 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 14 Washington, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 16 at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 19 at Nashville, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 21 at Dallas, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 25 Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.

Nov. 27 at Boston, 12:00 p.m.

Nov. 28 N.Y. Islanders, 1:00 p.m.

Dec. 2 Vancouver, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 4 Tampa Bay, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 5 Detroit, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 7 at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 9 Carolina, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 11 Florida, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 12 Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 16 Montreal, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 18 Ottawa, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 19 at Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 21 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 26 at Washington, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 28 Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 30 Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 31 at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 2 at Minnesota, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 5 Dallas, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 8 Tampa Bay, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 9 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 12 at N.Y. Rangers, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 14 at Phoenix, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 16 at Colorado, 1:00 p.m.

Jan. 18 at N.Y. Islanders, 2:00 p.m.

Jan. 20 Florida, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 22 Montreal, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 23 at N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 26 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27 at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 29 Toronto, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 31 Los Angeles, 5:00 p.m.

Feb. 2 at Toronto, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 5 Toronto, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 6 at N.Y. Rangers, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 8 at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 10 Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 12 Nashville, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 13 at Carolina, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 2 at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.

Mar. 5 at Calgary, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 7 at Edmonton, 6:00 p.m.

Mar. 10 N.Y. Rangers, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 12 Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 13 at N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 15 Boston, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 17 Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 18 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

Mar. 20 St. Louis, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 23 Columbus, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 25 N.Y. Rangers, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 27 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 28 at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.

Mar. 30 Boston, 7:00 p.m.

Apr. 2 Chicago, 7:00 p.m.

Apr. 3 at Carolina, 7:00 p.m.

Apr. 6 at Atlanta, 7:00 p.m.

Apr. 8 at Florida, 7:30 p.m.

Apr. 10 N.Y. Islanders, 7:00 p.m.

Apr. 11 Buffalo, 5:00 p.m.

Comments

[Zorin]

1 game...I want my money back on this season!

[pando20rules]

shocker, no trip from Sutter :(

[Zorin]

Here we go. NJD Schedule: http://www.nhl.com/ice/app

[Falcone]

TG's out to lunch he skipped the rest of the season except the first 3 games.

[Neil S]

Man first game of the year against the Flyers. That should be fun.

[airsilks]

Yeah, Sutter won't come back until 2010-2011 now...

Rafalski comes back 12/5
Gionta comes back 12/16
Mad Dog comes back 4/2

[NJSwampdragon]

Looks like we'll be playing Buffalo in Round 1 of the playoffs.

[Neil S]

That would either make the cynics really wrong or the blind Buffalo supporters really right.

[Zorin]

Weird part of the schedule. On 1/29, 2/2 and 2/5 we play Toronto, 3 out of 4 game.

I like when their fans come to our building, but I find that team annoying to watch, especially that albino smurf, Jason Blake.

[ChiDevsFan]

None of you care but I just thought this was a good place to vent my frustration that they will be in Chicago on Dec 31st when I will be back in NJ for the holidays, a time period when they are mostly on the road because they are home 9 of 10 from Nov 28-Dec 18. Couldn't have worked out any worse.

[murph]

i love the first two games...flyers and rags at home should be fun...and marty gets to make history again

[Dennis]

A few thoughts on the first glance of the schedule:

- Saturday night is definitely hockey night. The Devils play on every single Saturday of the regular season but two (1/30 and 3/6).
- I forgot about the dumb olympic break.
- Also interesting, the Devils play an afternoon game on Martin Luther King day on the Island. For those that are off (like me), that sounds like a good trip to make.
- Very disappointed with the lack of afternoon games. Only one 1:00 game (11/28 vs. NYI) and two 5:00 Sunday games (1/31 vs. LA and the closer 4/11 vs. BUF). Bad job.
- Despite the lack of the Thanksgiving road trip, the new tradition seems to be the New Year's Eve road game (this year in Chicago, last year in Dallas).

[Zorin]

Sorry Chi-DevsFan. I really feel for you, seriously. That sucks. I love your city though...L-O-V-E I-T! City, country, beach...a skyline that isn't littered with building, upon building, upon building.

Great place. Sorry about the schedule sucking that bad. Enjoy a Hawks game and Hossa?

[Stumpy]

this hasn't been updated yet, i guess a half hour isn't enough time, but heres an easy way to get the season into your google calendar, outlook, or ical.

http://www.mysportscal.com/nhl.html

[TG]

Sorry i didn't get to the rest of the schedule quickly. I need to code it up to post it here and that takes time. I eventually gave up and posted the link, but I'll add the full schedule in a bit.

[Pat]

Lots of home games in March and April, easy teams in April, very nice...

[ChiDevsFan]

Zorin, thanks for your sympathy as I do feel very sorry for myself right about now, :). Moved out here last year and have loved every second of it, especially the lack of garbage on the streets.

I knew the 6 or so Devil games I'd make it back to NJ for wouldn't satisfy my need for live hockey so I ended up getting season tix to the Hawks last year, definitely worth it.

[ChiDevsFan]

TG,

Do you know why they are playing Chicago and Dallas twice again this year, or if there is any logic to the teams they select? I think LA was the other last year. I honestly assumed that would be a rotating thing each year, seems kind of odd.

[Maxwell]

Good call on MLK day Dennis - of course we'll all buy tickets and Tabares won't play, and the Isles will win 7-1...

[Shanafan]

TG,
Have you heard any more news on Shanahan? There are rumors spreading that he is considering going back to the Rangers.. do you know of any truth to that?

[Scratch]

I'm not thrilled with this schedule, they have a bunch of back to back games where the 2nd game is away, the travel schedule will be brutal this season, a lot of flights within 48-72 hours...Cornholio will be busy

[Mike M]

One 1pm game? Weak

[RickyM2]

LOL @ NJSWAMP

Imagine we actaully did end up playing Buffalo in R1?? haha

[Section 8]

Dallas, Chicago and Nashville are our 3 "at large" selections this year.

[MadDog]

does anyone remember if the Devils switched to more 1:00 games after the initial announcement of the schedule in recent years?