The New York Rangers Release Their 2022-23 Schedule

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. A real quick update for today.

On Wednesday, July 6th, the New York Rangers (as well as the other 31 teams in the league) announced their schedule for the 2022-23 campaign. For me personally, this announcement makes me feel like Rangers hockey is right around the corner!

Here is what the Rangers are saying about the schedule, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-announce-2022-23-schedule/c-334830234?icmp=int_web_nyr_news_dl:

The New York Rangers announced their schedule for the 2022-23 regular season today. New York will begin its 96th season of play against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, October 11 at Madison Square Garden, as the season kicks off with a 2022 Eastern Conference Final rematch. Puck drop for the opener is set for 7:30 PM. The broadcast schedule for the 2022-23 campaign will be released at a later date.

The Rangers will play five of their first seven games this season, as well as nine of their first 14 contests, at home. New York will play 10 games in October, 14 in November, 13 in December, 12 in January, 11 in February, 16 in March, and six in April. The Blueshirts close out the season with a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, April 13.

The Blueshirts will play 26 games against their seven Metropolitan Division opponents (Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington) this season; the Rangers play four games apiece against Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, and Washington, and three games apiece against the Islanders (two at home, one on the road) and Flyers (two on the road, one at home). The Rangers will also play three games apiece against each of their eight Atlantic Division opponents (Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, and Toronto) and two games apiece (one at home and one on the road) against each of their 16 Western Conference opponents.

Below are additional facts about the Rangers’ schedule:

New York is set to play in 16 sets of back-to-back games, beginning with their first two road games in Minnesota (Oct. 13) and Winnipeg (Oct. 14).

Twenty-six games will take place on either a Saturday or Sunday. Nine of those contests will be at home.

Nineteen games will be played on Thursday, the most of any day of the week.

The Rangers are set to play in seven games starting at 4:00 PM local time or earlier, including four at 1:00 PM local time.

The Rangers’ longest homestand of the year is a five-game stretch from March 14-21 (vs. WSH, PIT (2x), Nashville, Carolina).

New York will have three road trips that includes four games (Nov. 17-23, Feb. 11-18, March 4-12), its longest trips of the season.

For information on Rangers season memberships, visit nyrangers.com or call 212-465-6073.

You can also find a better graphic of the schedule here: https://cms.nhl.bamgrid.com/images/assets/binary/334830664/binary-file/file.pdf

I’m looking forward to seeing CZAR IGOR and company in just a few months. Photo Credit: ESPN

If there are any thoughts I have about the schedule, it’s that I think it’s very fan-friendly. There are a ton of Saturday night games. In addition, 32% of the schedule will be played on either Saturday or Sunday night.

For road-trippers like myself, yours truly and my buddy are looking at two road-trips right now – Dallas & Arizona and Buffalo & Pittsburgh.

I’ve never been to Dallas before, so it will be one to cross off of my bucket-list, as I have only six more cities to visit. After that, I’ve hit them all.

I’m very interested in seeing how Arizona does things, now in Tempe and at a college campus. The experience will be unique, and to see an NHL game in what should be an intimate setting is too good to resist.

Prior to the pandemic, as in just a week before the world went to hell, I was supposed to go see the Rangers in Buffalo and in Pittsburgh. Last season, the Rangers didn’t play these two teams back-to-back. This season, they will, so I’m looking forward to seeing the Steel City and dining on authentic wings. (Plus, I hear there are casinos in these two cities too!)

In addition to these road-trips, for people who aren’t fans of air travel, there are many Saturday road games within driving distance, including Philadelphia, Carolina, Washington and Boston. Maybe I’ll get to some of these too – depending on how well my upcoming books sell!