The Blackhawks will play the Flyers in their 2019-20 season opener Friday, Oct. 4 at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic as part of the NHL’s Global Series, the league announced Thursday.
John Shannon of Sportsnet first reported the news two weeks ago.
In addition, the Flyers and Blackhawks will complete their training camps in Switzerland and Germany, respectively, and each will play an exhibition match as part of the 2019 NHL Global Series Challenge. The Blackhawks will play an exhibition game against Eisbären Berlin on Sunday, Sept. 29, at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany. The Flyers face off against Lausanne HC on Sept. 30 at Vaudoise aréna in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Blackhawks will drop the puck at 7:30 p.m. Central time in Berlin and 8 p.m. in Prague.
“Participating in marquee National Hockey League events like the NHL Global Series is always something the Blackhawks organization does with great honor,” Blackhawks President and CEO John McDonough said in a statement. “Similar to the last time we played in Europe in 2009, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Blackhawks and this is a great opportunity to share that passion with our fans across Europe.”
This won’t be the first time Chicago plays a regular-season game overseas as they split a back-to-back with the Panthers in 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. The Blackhawks dropped the first game 4-3 in a shootout before a 4-0 win the next day. Chicago went on to win the Stanley Cup that season for the first time in 49 years. Next year’s season opener will be the Flyers’ first international regular-season game.
Chicago has four players left from its 2009 roster: Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews. Kane had a goal and an assist in each game, but was unsuccessful on his shootout attempt in the first game. Seabrook had one assist in the loss and two helpers in the win. Keith also had an assist in the win.
The Blackhawks have two Czech-born players with forwards David Kampf and Dominik Kahun. The Flyers have three: Jakub Voracek, Radko Gudas and Michal Neuvirth. Kahun also won a silver medal with Germany at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“It’s almost unbelievable because Berlin, I played with Munich a lot of times there last year,” Kahun said in a release. “We also had our final series against them which went down to Game 7 and then we beat them. It’s going to be funny to be there. I don’t know if they’re going to cheer me because I’m German or hate me because I’m from Munich.
“I’m just really excited to go there.”
Kampf was surprised when he learned the news and is looking forward to playing in his home country.
“I think it’s unbelievable. It’s a dream,” Kampf said.
The Lightning and Sabres will also play two regular-season games at Ericsson Globe on Nov. 8-9 at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden.
Tickets for all games will go on sale at 8 a.m. March 27. Blackhawks fans can purchase tickets for the exhibition game at eisbaeren.de/NHL and tickets for the regular-season game in Prague can be found at livenation.cz.
Blackhawks games in Europe
Sept. 12, 1992: MTL 3, CHI 2 in London, England
Sept. 13, 1992: CHI 5, MTL 4 (OT) in London, England
Sept. 28, 2009: CHI 9, HC Davos 2 in Zurich, Switzerland
Sept. 29, 2009: ZSC Lions 2, CHI 1 in Zurich, Switzerland*
Oct. 2, 2009: FLA 4, CHI 3 (SO) in Helsinki, Finland
Oct. 3, 2009: CHI 4, FLA 0 in Helsinki, Finland
*Victoria Cup