NHL releases 2020-21 regular season schedule, Leafs play opening night vs. Montreal

Now that the NHL has confirmed all the details for the upcoming NHL season, the next big thing on every fan’s radar is the schedule. Thankfully, today is that day, as the NHL unveiled it this afternoon.

The biggest date for the Leafs is that they’ll start January 13th, with a game against the Montreal Canadiens lined up for it to kick off the season. They also finish the season against Montreal on May 7th and 8th, with both games (as well as the season opener) happening at home.

What will be considered home for Toronto, and several other teams, has yet to be determined as the league is still working on things with some of the Canadian provinces to allow travel in and out for NHL games.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you also already know that this season will feature new divisions to help with travel during the pandemic. The Leafs will be with the other six Canadian teams in their own division, and they will only play within their division. They’ll play the Canadiens and Jets 10 TIMES this season, while they will play the Senators, Oilers, Flames, and Canucks 9 times.

Another big difference this year is the travel schedule. The NHL is trying to keep travel to a minimum, so there are many instances of back-to-back games being against the same team in the same building, highlighted by three game stretches in Edmonton and Winnipeg, as well as a couple three game home stretches against Vancouver and Winnipeg.

This is all subject to change somewhat as the season progresses, as the constantly changing situation that is COVID-19 will probably require some adjustments depending on if it gets worse or how the vaccine advances.