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Dallas Stars Release Full Regular Season Schedule For 2017-18 Season

By Josh Clark |
Apr 16, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the arena as the Dallas Stars go on the power play against the Minnesota Wild during the third period of game two of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Wild 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 16, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the arena as the Dallas Stars go on the power play against the Minnesota Wild during the third period of game two of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Wild 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Stars 2017-18 regular season schedule was just released. It’s time to get out your calendars and pocketbooks and start planning your trips to the AAC or even outside of Dallas. It’s going to be a fun year.

Amidst all of the craziness in the NHL offseason, there is also joy. That joy made itself known just moments ago when the league released the full regular season schedule for all 31 teams, including the Dallas Stars.

So get a quick celebration in! There’s plenty of games on the schedule that catch the eye, both at home and on the road.

But before you start diving in to the planning and excitement, let’s go through it and look at a few things that may not have stuck out to you.

Schedule layout

-The Dallas Stars will play 82 games (shocker), with 41 being at home and 41 being on the road. The longest homestand will be six games long, spanning from Dec. 29 – Jan. 13. So for all the kids and college students, that means Christmas/winter break will be a prime time to catch a lot of Stars’ games at the AAC. The longest road trip will be six games, spanning from Mar. 11-20.

Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars /

Dallas Stars

-The Stars longest break of the season with no scheduled games will span from Jan. 7-12.

-Within the Central Division, Dallas will play the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets four times (2H,2A) and the Colorado Avalanche (2H,3A) and St. Louis Blues (3H,2A) five times. That’s a total of 26 games within the division.

-They will play each of the eight Pacific Division teams (Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver, Vegas) three times, with four matchups being 2H,1A and the other four being 1H,2A. The newly established Vegas Golden Knights will visit Dallas twice (Oct. 6 and Dec. 9).

-In the Eastern Conference, the Stars once again play each team twice in a 1H,1A format. So they will visit every team at least once this year and every team will visit the AAC at least once.

-The Dallas Stars will open their season at home against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 6 and close the season on the road against the Los Angeles Kings on Apr. 7.

-The Stars’ final home game of the regular season will happen on Mar. 31 against the Minnesota Wild. In other words, this will be Fan Appreciation night.

-The day-by-day breakdown of the schedule goes likes this: Monday – 7, Tuesday – 18, Wednesday – 5, Thursday – 16, Friday – 12, Saturday – 17, Sunday – 7

-The month-by-month breakdown of the schedule goes like this: Oct. – 12, Nov. – 13, Dec. – 15, Jan. – 11, Feb. – 12, Mar. – 16, Apr. – 3. The months of December and March (which include the big homestand and road trip) will be critical portions of the schedule.

-The Dallas Stars will face 12 different back-to-back sets throughout the year. 1 will be a road-to-home setup, 4 will be a home-to-road setup, and 7 will be a road-to-road setup.

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Special nights involving players

-As part of the Dallas Stars celebrating their 25th anniversary in Texas, the club will retire Jere Lehtinen’s no. 26 into the rafters. The retirement ceremony will happen on Friday, Nov. 24 against the Calgary Flames. That is the day after Thanksgiving, in case you were wondering.

–Cody Eakin, who was selected last night by the Vegas Golden Knights, will make his first appearance back at the AAC on opening night and will likely receive some sort of tribute for his five seasons with the team. Wear your Eakin shirt/jersey if you want.

-Jordie Benn, the older brother of Jamie, was traded to the Montreal Canadiens at last year’s deadline and has not been back to the AAC since. His return will be on Nov. 21 (assuming he is still with Montreal, which is likely).

-Trevor Daley and the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins will visit the AAC on Friday, Feb. 9. A perfect way to start the weekend.

-If Patrick Eaves re-signs with the Anaheim Ducks (as it has been reported that he will), his first visit will be on Mar. 9, Anaheim’s only visit to Dallas this season.

Special dates

–Opening Night will be a big one, considering the Dallas Stars will help welcome the Vegas Golden Knights into the league as their first ever opponent. It will be a historic night, and you don’t want to miss it.

-Black Friday will be a special day with Jere Lehtinen’s jersey retirement.

-The Dallas Stars will also welcome the San Jose Sharks to the AAC on New Year’s Eve.

For more on the schedule, click here to read the full report on DallasStars.com.

So that’s how it is going to go in 2017-18, Stars fans. Make sure to adjust your calendars accordingly.

Next: Vegas Will Cause Changes To Stars' Schedule Layout

Which games are you looking forward to seeing at the AAC? Are you planning on going to any road games this season? If so, which barn do you want to see? Let us know in the comments.

Only 106 days until we do it all over again.

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