In the sports world, staying in the news for as long as possible in the off-season is the strategy du jour. The NFL does this by scheduling events all the way from the Super Bowl to training camp, with the NFL Draft combine, the Draft itself, free agency, and offseason workouts all taking place during that window.
With the NHL, the gap is slowly starting to shrink between the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final and the beginning of the following season. In that spirit, the Chciago Blackhawks, who only just won their second championship in four seasons two days ago, are already starting to reveal their preseason schedule for next season.
Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago has the details:
"The Blackhawks will host the Detroit Red Wings on Sept. 17, according to the Red Wings, who released their preseason schedule today. The Wings will host Chicago on Sept. 22. As for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who also released their preseason docket today, the Blackhawks will host them on Sept. 19 and play in Pittsburgh on Sept. 23."
The full slate will surely be forthcoming in the next few days, and the full NHL regular season schedule should come out sometime in July, provided that the league can come to an agreement with the International Olympic Committee about NHL players participating in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The Blackhawks do already have a regular season date booked, with an outdoor game against the Penguins taking place at Soldier Field on March 5th, 2014.
