Florida Opens at Philadelphia Oct. 4; Home Opener
Slated for Oct. 6 vs.<br>Islanders<br><br>SUNRISE, FL -
The Florida Panthers will open the 2000-01 season,
their ninth<br>in the <br>National Hockey League and
fourth at National Car Rental Center, with a
road<br>contest at <br>the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, Oct.
4 at 7:30 p.m. The home opener will<br>follow
<br>just two days later, as the Panthers host the New York
Islanders at National<br>Car Rental <br>Center on Saturday,
Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers will close the
season<br>with a Sunday <br>matinee against the Tampa Bay
Lightning at 3 p.m. on April 14.<br><br>The Panthers will
play 20 home games on Fridays and Saturdays, one
Sunday<br>matinee <br>(April 14) and two special Monday holiday
matinees (New Year's Eve versus the<br>Atlanta
<br>Thrashers on Monday, Dec. 31 and Jan. 21 against the
Montreal Canadiens),<br>both of <br>which start at 3 p.m.
Fox Sports Net will continue to be the
Panthers'<br>flagship television <br>outlet, as the cable network is
scheduled to televise a minimum of 75<br>regular-season
<br>games during the 2001-02 campaign.<br><br>The Panthers
will host the Southeast Division Champion Washington
Capitals<br>and the <br>Atlanta Thrashers, Florida's newest
Southeast Division rival, three times<br>each. All other
<br>Eastern Conference opponents, including Eastern
Conference Champion New<br>Jersey, will <br>visit National
Car Rental Center twice. Two teams that did not visit
National<br>Car Rental <br>Center last season - the Chicago
Blackhawks and Nashville Predators - will<br>return to
<br>South Florida this season. The Panthers will not travel
to Columbus, Detroit,<br>Phoenix or <br>St. Louis.
The Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Minnesota
Wild and Stanley<br>Cup <br>Champion Colorado
Avalanche will not visit South Florida this season.
The<br>Cats visit the <br>Avalanche on Tuesday, Nov.
27.<br><br>The Panthers have a season-high five-game home stand
in November, starting<br>with a <br>Nov. 3 meeting
with the New York Rangers at 7:30 p.m. Pittsburgh
(Nov. 7), <br>Philadelphia (Nov. 10), Buffalo (Nov. 12)
and Toronto (Nov. 14) round out the<br>home
<br>stand. The Cats' longest road trip of the season is five
games, and is<br>separated by the <br>February Winter
Olympic break. The Panthers will visit Tampa Bay on
Thursday,<br>Feb. 7 <br>and will make stops in Boston, Nashville
and Chicago before the Feb. 14 break<br>for the
<br>Winter Olympics. Florida returns after the Olympic break
on Tuesday Feb. 26<br>at <br>Washington, returning
to National Car Rental Center on Feb. 27 vs.
Detroit.<br><br>The Panthers' 2001-02 home schedule includes one
Sunday, four Mondays, 16 <br>Wednesdays, six Fridays and
14 Saturdays, but no Tuesdays or Thursdays.
There<br>will be <br>five home games in October, seven in
November, eight in December, eight in<br>January, <br>three
in February, seven in March and three in
April.<br><br>The full Panthers 2001-02 season schedule can be
found at<br>www.floridapanthers.com.