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European openers for Kings, Ducks next season

By Helene Elliott
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Yes, this season isn’t over -- and you can argue that with the playoffs opening Wednesday, it’s really just beginning.

But here’s something to look forward to next season: The Kings and Ducks will open the 2011-12 regular season in Europe.

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It will be announced Monday that the Kings will face the New York Rangers at Stockholm on Oct. 7 and the Buffalo Sabres at Berlin on Oct. 8. The Ducks will play the Sabres at Helsinki, Finland, on Oct. 7 and the Rangers at Stockholm on Oct. 8.

The Kings are expected to play an exhibition game -- probably in Berlin -- before their opener. The Ducks also are expected to play an exhibition game in Finland against Jokerit, Teemu Selanne’s former team. Selanne could still be playing for the Ducks then or he might be retired. Either way, there’s sure to be a ceremony involved.

The Kings and Ducks opened the 2007-08 season with two games in London against each other. The NHL has sent teams to Europe for exhibition and regular-season games for several years in an attempt to increase the game’s audience and emphasize its players’ multinational backgrounds.

-- Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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