Winnipeg Jets Open 2012-13 Season vs. the Carolina Hurricanes

Get out the magic marker, Winnipeg Jets fans, because you have some dates to circle on the calendar.

Start with Oct. 13, when the Jets (2.0) open their second National Hockey League season in a Saturday matinee against the Carolina Hurricanes. It will be the first of 15 day games for the Jets, including a 4 p.m. start on New Year's Eve when Steve Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning help bring in the New Year.

"I think it's probably good at times from a standpoint of the player's perspective," Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said of the matinee games (from the team's official website). "I think there are some benefits." 

Three nights after the opener, the Chicago Blackhawks and local boy Jonathan Toews pay a visit in a schedule that has the Jets playing five of their seven October games at the MTS Centre.

Here are some other noteworthy home dates:

Thursday, Nov. 14: CANADIENS @ JETS

Thursday, Nov. 29: MAPLE LEAFS @ JETS

Saturday, Dec. 15: PENGUINS @ JETS

Thursday, Feb. 7: MAPLE LEAFS @ JETS

Friday, Feb. 15: PENGUINS @ JETS

Sunday, Feb. 17: CANADIENS @ JETS

Also of note is the fact that the MTS Centre will be the scene of eight one-anthem games. That is to say, there will be visits from the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, for the first time in this second coming of the Jets, as well as the Ottawa Senators, the Leafs and Habs.

"We look forward to the same atmosphere and hopefully the same home-ice advantage as last year," said Cheveldayoff, whose Jets played to a packed house of 15,004 in all 41 home assignments last season.

The Jets will dine on home cooking from Jan. 11-19, which is their longest homestand, and they'll be road warriors from Nov. 17-27, when they play six games in foreign territory.

One final point of interest for Jets fans: The club has 11 back-to-back assignments, two less than last season when the Jets went 1-12 in the back half of the doubleheaders. It wasn't until Feb. 17, when they beat the Boston Bruins the night after topping the Minnesota Wild, that they won the second game of a twinbill. 

This schedule, of course, is on the proviso that the NHL and NHLPA reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The current deal expires Sept. 15.

To view the Jets complete schedule, click here. 

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1231644-winnipeg-jets-open-2012-13-season-vs-the-carolina-hurricanes

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