Panthers Schedule Released

    The Florida Panthers 2013-14 schedule was released by the National Hockey League after the approval of letting NHL players to be involved for the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics this February in Sochi, Russia. It will consist of 82 games in the regular season along with an Olympic break for several weeks.
    The Panthers will join the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators in the new Atlantic Division. It will consist of all former five teams from the Northeast Division, the Cats in-state divisional rivals from Tampa Bay and Detroit from the Western Conference.
    Florida will have 30 games against Atlantic Division opponents. They will play all seven teams in their new division at least four times with two games at home and two games on the road. The exception will be with two divisional foes as they will host an additional game against the Red Wings and travel for an additional game in Boston.
    The Panthers will see the eight squads of the Metropolitan Division three times a season for a total of 24 games. It will be a two home games and one away game scenario against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and Washington Capitals while it will be two road games and one home game versus the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets.
    The Cats will play all 14 Western Conference clubs twice in a season with one game at home and one game away for a combined 28 games. It will be the first time since the 1990's that every Western Conference team will make an appearance in Sunrise.
    Florida will host the Penguins in their first home game on October 11 in Sunrise to commemorate their 20th anniversary as an NHL franchise. They played their first home game in franchise history at Miami Arena against the Pens on October 12, 1993.
    The longest homestand for the Panthers will be six games during the month of October. It was a major surprise since the team has played more on the road for the first month of season in recent years.
    The team will play at home during holiday weeks. It will include a stretch with Philadelphia, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving week along with Tampa Bay, Detroit, Montreal and the Rangers on Christmas week. The club will play their final five games of the regular season at Sunrise in April.