The National Hockey League announced the full schedule for the 2016-17 season today. After providing everyone a teaser yesterday with the dates and opponents for each team’s home openers, the complete season listing was released this afternoon.
For Buffalo, the team will start off the highly anticipated 2016-17 season at their newly-named Key Bank Center against division rivals Montreal Canadiens on October 13th. The last two games of the season are on a Florida road trip, ending with the Lightning on April 9th.
At first glance, this looks like a reasonably well-balanced schedule for the Sabres, with two four-game home stands. The first is in the week leading up Thanksgiving, and then in early December. After opening at home the team flies to Canada’s West Coast for three consecutive games before going to the Flyers. The American West Coast trip is in mid-March, followed by a game in Detroit.
The games against the Toronto Maple Leafs are always charged affairs, and after this year’s NHL Draft, will only get even more hotly contested. The Sabres take on the Leafs at home on November 3rd for the first time, aand then again towards the end of the season on March 25th and April 3rd.
The Sabres go to Toronto on January 17th and February 11th.The Sabres play home-and-home sets against three different opponents, back-to-back dates with the Devils (Nov. 11 and 12), the Blue Jackets (March 10 and 11), and the Bruins (Dec. 29 and 31).
It’s a tough stretch to end the season, with 10 straight Conference games, including seven against Atlantic Division opponents.
Here’s the schedule from the Sabres website.
| October | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| THU OCT 13, 2016 | CANADIENS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SUN OCT 16, 2016 | SABRES | OILERS | 7:00 PM |
| TUE OCT 18, 2016 | SABRES | FLAMES | 9:00 PM |
| THU OCT 20, 2016 | SABRES | CANUCKS | 10:00 PM |
| TUE OCT 25, 2016 | SABRES | FLYERS | 7:00 PM |
| THU OCT 27, 2016 | WILD | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT OCT 29, 2016 | PANTHERS | SABRES | 1:00 PM |
| SUN OCT 30, 2016 | SABRES | JETS | 3:00 PM |
| November | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| TUE NOV 1, 2016 | SABRES | WILD | 8:00 PM |
| THU NOV 3, 2016 | MAPLE LEAFS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT NOV 5, 2016 | SABRES | SENATORS | 7:00 PM |
| MON NOV 7, 2016 | SABRES | BRUINS | 7:00 PM |
| WED NOV 9, 2016 | SENATORS | SABRES | 7:30 PM |
| FRI NOV 11, 2016 | DEVILS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT NOV 12, 2016 | SABRES | DEVILS | 7:00 PM |
| TUE NOV 15, 2016 | SABRES | BLUES | 8:00 PM |
| THU NOV 17, 2016 | LIGHTNING | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT NOV 19, 2016 | PENGUINS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| MON NOV 21, 2016 | FLAMES | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| WED NOV 23, 2016 | RED WINGS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| FRI NOV 25, 2016 | SABRES | CAPITALS | 5:00 PM |
| TUE NOV 29, 2016 | SABRES | SENATORS | 7:30 PM |
| December | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| THU DEC 1, 2016 | RANGERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT DEC 3, 2016 | BRUINS | SABRES | 1:00 PM |
| MON DEC 5, 2016 | SABRES | CAPITALS | 7:00 PM |
| TUE DEC 6, 2016 | OILERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| FRI DEC 9, 2016 | CAPITALS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| TUE DEC 13, 2016 | KINGS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| FRI DEC 16, 2016 | ISLANDERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT DEC 17, 2016 | SABRES | HURRICANES | 7:00 PM |
| TUE DEC 20, 2016 | SABRES | PANTHERS | 7:30 PM |
| THU DEC 22, 2016 | HURRICANES | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| FRI DEC 23, 2016 | SABRES | ISLANDERS | 7:00 PM |
| TUE DEC 27, 2016 | SABRES | RED WINGS | 7:30 PM |
| THU DEC 29, 2016 | BRUINS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT DEC 31, 2016 | SABRES | BRUINS | 1:00 PM |
| January | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| TUE JAN 3, 2017 | SABRES | RANGERS | 7:00 PM |
| THU JAN 5, 2017 | SABRES | BLACKHAWKS | 8:30 PM |
| SAT JAN 7, 2017 | JETS | SABRES | 1:00 PM |
| TUE JAN 10, 2017 | FLYERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| THU JAN 12, 2017 | SABRES | LIGHTNING | 7:30 PM |
| FRI JAN 13, 2017 | SABRES | HURRICANES | 7:30 PM |
| MON JAN 16, 2017 | STARS | SABRES | 1:00 PM |
| TUE JAN 17, 2017 | SABRES | MAPLE LEAFS | 7:30 PM |
| FRI JAN 20, 2017 | RED WINGS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT JAN 21, 2017 | SABRES | CANADIENS | 7:00 PM |
| TUE JAN 24, 2017 | SABRES | PREDATORS | 8:00 PM |
| THU JAN 26, 2017 | SABRES | STARS | 8:30 PM |
| TUE JAN 31, 2017 | SABRES | CANADIENS | 7:30 PM |
| February | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| THU FEB 2, 2017 | RANGERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT FEB 4, 2017 | SENATORS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| MON FEB 6, 2017 | SABRES | DEVILS | 7:00 PM |
| TUE FEB 7, 2017 | SHARKS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| THU FEB 9, 2017 | DUCKS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT FEB 11, 2017 | SABRES | MAPLE LEAFS | 7:00 PM |
| SUN FEB 12, 2017 | CANUCKS | SABRES | 7:30 PM |
| TUE FEB 14, 2017 | SABRES | SENATORS | 7:30 PM |
| THU FEB 16, 2017 | AVALANCHE | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT FEB 18, 2017 | BLUES | SABRES | 1:00 PM |
| SUN FEB 19, 2017 | BLACKHAWKS | SABRES | 6:00 PM |
| SAT FEB 25, 2017 | SABRES | AVALANCHE | 10:00 PM |
| SUN FEB 26, 2017 | SABRES | COYOTES | 8:30 PM |
| TUE FEB 28, 2017 | PREDATORS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| March | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| THU MAR 2, 2017 | COYOTES | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT MAR 4, 2017 | LIGHTNING | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SUN MAR 5, 2017 | SABRES | PENGUINS | 5:00 PM |
| TUE MAR 7, 2017 | FLYERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| FRI MAR 10, 2017 | SABRES | BLUE JACKETS | 7:00 PM |
| SAT MAR 11, 2017 | BLUE JACKETS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| TUE MAR 14, 2017 | SABRES | SHARKS | 10:30 PM |
| THU MAR 16, 2017 | SABRES | KINGS | 10:30 PM |
| FRI MAR 17, 2017 | SABRES | DUCKS | 10:00 PM |
| MON MAR 20, 2017 | SABRES | RED WINGS | 7:30 PM |
| TUE MAR 21, 2017 | PENGUINS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| SAT MAR 25, 2017 | MAPLE LEAFS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| MON MAR 27, 2017 | PANTHERS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| TUE MAR 28, 2017 | SABRES | BLUE JACKETS | 7:00 PM |
| April | |||
| DATE | VISITOR | HOME | TIME (ET) |
| SUN APR 2, 2017 | ISLANDERS | SABRES | 3:00 PM |
| MON APR 3, 2017 | MAPLE LEAFS | SABRES | 7:00 PM |
| WED APR 5, 2017 | CANADIENS | SABRES | 7:30 PM |
| SAT APR 8, 2017 | SABRES | PANTHERS | 7:00 PM |
| SUN APR 9, 2017 | SABRES | LIGHTNING | 5:00 PM |
What jumps out at you from this schedule announcement?
It’s what you’ve been waiting for.
Our full 2016-17 schedule! https://t.co/2h5X20dq4k #HereWeGoNow ⚔ pic.twitter.com/c6NyBIYYqe
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) June 21, 2016