ESPN TRIPLEHEADER SHOWCASES SEASON’S FIRST SET OF STATESIDE GAMES TUESDAY

Each of the first three games in North America during the 2024-25 regular season will be carried by ESPN on Tuesday, with the Blues-Kraken opening the nearly nine-hour telecast followed by the Bruins-Panthers and Blackhawks-Utah Hockey Club. All three contests are also available on ESPN+ in the U.S. as well as on Sportsnet programming and TVA Sports in Canada.

* Utah will contest its highly-anticipated first game in franchise history after claiming the title of newest NHL club from Seattle, which opens the season in momentous fashion with the League’s first full-time female assistant coach behind its bench. The historic contests for Utah and the Kraken bookend the reigning Stanley Cup-champion Panthers officialy beginning their quest to repeat and reach the Final for a third straight season.

* ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro is set to call the game in Seattle before making the 700-mile trip to Salt Lake City and joining Bob Wischusen as well as AJ Mleczko for the finale. Steve Levy, Mark Messier and P.K. Subban will provide studio coverage from Utah starting with The Point (4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. MT), which precedes a free concert outside Delta Center by country music star **Shaboozey** (7:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. MT).

* The morning skates for Utah and Chicago will be livestreamed, with NHL reporters Kate Pettersen and Jason Demers hosting on the League’s YouTube channel (12:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. MT). Pettersen and Demers return for “Utah Hockey Club Opening Night Live!” on the channel to share the excitement leading up to the franchise’s first game (8:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. MT). The show will include special guests and live fan interactions outside Delta Center.

* Many documents from #NHLStats are available on the Season-Opening Information page, including a Season Preview as well as notes on Season Openers and Approaching Milestones.

UTAH USHERS IN NEW ERA OF HOCKEY FOR SALT LAKE CITY AND “BEEHIVE STATE”

Newly-minted captain Clayton Keller will lead the Utah Hockey Club – the 40th franchise in NHL history – into the club’s inaugural regular-season game when they welcome Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks to Delta Center. Utah is considered a new franchise and **will write its own history of records** – the Coyotes franchise was rendered inactive after the transfer of their existing hockey assets was officially completed June 13.

* Keller was named the first captain in club history on Friday and has the most career NHL goals (166), assists (252) and points (418) among Utah players. Keller, who recently completed his first campaign with Logan Cooley and Josh Doan as teammates, will skate alongside other newcomers including Kailer Yamamoto as well as Stanley Cup winners Robert Bortuzzo, Ian Cole, Mikhail Sergachev and Kevin Stenlund. Cooley and Bedard were two of four rookies with 20 goals last season, while Doan debuted in late March and averaged nearly one point per game through his first 11 contests.

* The Oct. 8 edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates includes notes pertaining to achievements in a franchise’s first game.

* Bedard will begin his second campaign after leading rookies in goals (22), assists (39; tied) and points (61) last season. The reigning Calder Memorial Trophy winner will play his first game since mentor Nick Foligno was named Chicago’s captain on Sept. 18 as well as his first in nearly a year with fellow No. 1 NHL Draft pick Taylor Hall (last: Nov. 19, 2023). The Blackhawks also acquired several noteworthy players during the offseason including No. 2 pick Artyom Levshunov as well as Cup winners Laurent Brossoit, Pat Maroon, Alec Martinez and Teuvo Teravainen.

* Foligno, Hall, Martinez, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, TJ Brodie, Jason Dickinson, Ryan Donato, Seth Jones, Connor Murphy and Craig Smith have at least one point against 32 franchises and would be the first players in League history with one versus 33 clubs. Foligno, Hall and Smith can also become the NHL’s first players with at least one goal against 33 franchises.

CAMPBELL SET TO MAKE NHL HISTORY DURING SEATTLE’S SEASON-OPENING MATINEE

Jessica Campbell will become the first woman in League history to work a regular-season game as an assistant, associate or head coach when the Kraken battle the Blues during a matinee at Climate Pledge Arena. Campbell was hired as an assistant July 3, after the club named Stanley Cup winner Dan Bylsma head coach May 28.

* Campbell is a member of the NHL Coaches’ Association’s Female Coaches Program, which supports female coaches with skills development, leadership strategies, communication tactics, networking and career advancement opportunities. The NHLCA Female Coaches Program is in its fifth year and has over 100 women (including 34 new members this season), the largest membership in the program’s history. Members vary in the level at which they coach, but the majority are in the NCAA or U Sports – the wide breadth of skills, talent and experience of this group, with the support from the NHL and its clubs, will continue to pave a path for more female coaches to break through to the highest levels of hockey.

* Campbell and Bylsma spent the last two seasons with Coachella Valley of the AHL and the Kraken feature several players from the Firebirds’ runs to consecutive Calder Cup Finals. Matty Beniers signed a seven-year extension Aug. 20 and is set to skate alongside several newcomers including Cup winners Josh Mahura, Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson.

* Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou start their seventh season with the Blues, whose noteworthy offseason additions include two sets of teammates from other clubs – Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway (EDM) along with Radek Faksa and Ryan Suter (DAL) – as well as brothers Mathieu and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Broberg and Holloway played against Montour during the 2024 Final, while the Josephs will become the seventh set of siblings to play a game together with St. Louis.

SUN RISES ON NEW SEASON AS FLORIDA OFFICIALLY COMMENCES CUP REPEAT QUEST

Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and the Panthers will play their first regular-season contest since the championship-clinching win in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final when they duel David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and the Bruins, who will begin the 100th season in franchise history.

* The triumphant season for Florida was recently chronicled in the two-hour movie *Stanley Cup Championship Film* – now available to stream on ESPN+ and Prime Video Canada. Separately, the six-part docuseries FACEOFF: Inside the NHL culminates with Episode 6, Cup or Bust Part II, which focuses on Tkachuk and Oilers captain Connor McDavid. Unprecedented access shows the moments of elation and sorrow that come with Game 7 of the Final.

* Barkov, who received his ring alongside teammates Monday and is one of 14 reigning champions still with the Panthers, became the first Finnish-born player in NHL history to captain a Cup winner and will represent his country later this season at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February (but will first return to his hometown of Tampere for the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal from Nov. 1-2).

* Pastrnak can reach the 110-point mark for a third straight season and has the League’s second-most goals since the start of the 2022-23 campaign. He was featured in Episode 1 of FACEOFF: Inside the NHL, Best of Rivals, while Episode 3 titled Learning to Win spotlighted Jeremy Swayman who signed an eight-year extension on Oct. 6.

REST OF THE WEEK FEATURES MORE NATIONAL GAMES, NHL COAST TO COAST DEBUT

Other national broadcasts to look forward to during the opening week in North America:

Wednesday, Oct. 9 – Three games across Sportsnet and TVA Sports

* Three all-Canadian matchups are featured: Auston Matthews contests his first game wearing the “C” for the Maple Leafs as he pursues the franchise goals record; Connor McDavid starts his 10th season needing just 18 points to hit 1,000 in his career; and Quinn Hughes is back in action after helping the Canucks reach Game 7 of the 2024 Second Round.

Wednesday, Oct. 9 – Doubleheader on TNT

* The season’s first NHL on TNT telecast features Artemi Panarin pitted against Sidney Crosby who commences his 20th season needing four points to become the 10th player in League history with 1,600 in his career, followed by Nathan MacKinnon jousting Jack Eichel in a mutual opener between the 2022 and 2023 Stanley Cup champions.

Thursday, Oct. 10 – NHL Coast to Coast premieres on Prime Video

* Prime Video’s weekly whip-around studio show premieres for Prime Members in Canada and will feature live look-ins, highlights as well as expert analysis of all nine games, which could include Macklin Celebrini making his highly-anticipated League debut.

Saturday, Oct. 12 – Bedard, Crosby, Matthews, McDavid highlight Hockey Night in Canada

* Thanksgiving weekend in Canada will include a star-studded season premiere of Hockey Night in Canada: Sidney Crosby and Matthews collide in Toronto; Connor Bedard and McDavid will meet for the second time; Brady Tkachuk and Nick Suzuki will captain their clubs in an Atlantic Division showdown; and Travis Konecny will lead the Flyers into Calgary to face Nazem Kadri and the Flames on what will be an emotional home opener honoring Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau.

QUICK CLICKS

* #NHLStats: Live Updates – Oct. 8, 2024

* ‘Faceoff: Inside the NHL’ is a binge-worthy series for everyone

* NHL Network set to air new-look schedule

* Utah Hockey Club preps night to remember for inaugural game celebration

* Utah players, fans ‘fired up’ for Hockey Club’s inaugural game