Yesterday, the Chicago Blackhawks learned that they would be appearing in three other teams’ season openers. They’ll open the year at Vegas on Sept. 29, then head to Utah two days later and Buffalo two days after that. Then, they’ll finally get back to Chicago for their own season opener at the United Center against the Blues on Tuesday, Oct. 6. It’s the ninth consecutive year that the Blackhawks will kick off the season on the road.
We also already knew that the Senators and Blackhawks will headline the 2026 NHL Global Series Germany with regular-season games Dec. 18 and Dec. 20 at PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf.
On Thursday, the NHL finally released its full-season schedule. Here was the Blackhawks social media team’s take on the release.
A few shots in there, of course. But the full schedule isn’t as cheerful as it seems. The first thing that jumps off the page is how unlucky Chicago fans got. The Blackhawks will play seven straight home games from Oct. 10-27, the longest home stretch since 2022-23. That, combined with the season starting earlier than ever, means Blackhawks fans will have pretty much the fewest possible opportunities to see Connor Bedard at the United Center. After the recent announcement that he could be sidelined until mid-November, he’ll likely miss nine home games to start the year. If his timetable is accurate, it would be nice to see him back on the ice to kick off a four-game home stand beginning Nov. 12.
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The schedule makers did seem to make up for it with the way they scheduled Chicago around the holidays, however. The Blackhawks will be at home throughout Thanksgiving weekend, with games against the Rangers on Black Friday afternoon and the Wild in a Sunday matinee. They’ll also be home on either end of the Christmas break, with a four-game home stand spanning Dec. 20-Jan. 1.
One other detail of note is that the Blackhawks are set to play nine home matinee games throughout the year, plus five on the road. They’ll close out the year with two games at home, against the Predators on April 8 and the Kraken on April 10. Will those games have playoff implications?
The Blackhawks have scheduled four preseason games, two each against Minnesota and St. Louis. The preseason slate will run Sept. 19-26.
