CBC's Hockey Schedule

With the Olympics being included into next season's scheduling for the NHL, the CBC unveiled its highlighted games today. Needless to say, there are more than one outdoor game on this season's televised games thanks to the NHL's need to have approximately half the schedule played outside. There are some other games, though, that should be noted thanks to the CBC's involvement in the NHL and its scheduling, and this gives the CBC exclusive rights to these games. If you're Canadian and you like hockey, the country's public broadcaster has some great games scheduled for this winter's television season.

Let's start with January 1, 2014 when the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Detroit Red Wings from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The Bridgestone Winter Classic will take center-stage on CBC on New Year's Day as Canada finally has a team playing in the big game. While I feel that Toronto won't be the winning team that day, there should be some great story lines surrounding the game as Toronto and Detroit are division rivals this coming season.

The following day, the Tim Hortons Heritage Classic takes place in Vancouver as the Canucks host the Ottawa Senators in an outdoor game. These two teams don't have a ton of history between them, but there will be some good players on the ice as Spezza, Karlsson, and newly-acquired Bobby Ryan battle the Sedins and Robert Luongo. Vancouver's weather could be a factor in this one, so you may want to turn in just to see if the two teams play street hockey outdoors over ice hockey.

Later in the month, CBC is the Canadian rights-holder to the 2014 Coors Light Stadium Series. The Coors Light Stadium Series features the rest of the non-Winter Classic outdoor games. CBC will feature the Anaheim Ducks visiting the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, January 25, and they'll jump across the country for the New Jersey Devils hosting the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, January 26.

Kraft Hockeyville on Saturday, September 14 will see former division rivals play one another in Belleville, Ontario when the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals descend upon the town. The township of Sterling-Rawdon, Ontario will host the majority of the events for Kraft Hockeyville.

Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada will take place on Saturday, January 18 as the city of Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan welcomes the CBC crew to town. Games featured that day will include the New York Rangers visiting the Ottawa Senators at 2pm ET for Ontario-East, and the Edmonton Oilers play the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre at 2pm ET for Manitoba-West. The Montreal Canadiens visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7pm ET nationally, and CBC closes out the night with the Calgary Flames visiting the Vancouver Canucks.

In total, CBC's Hockey Night In Canada will air 94 games including:

• 33 all-Canadian matchups.
• 16 Original Six matchups.
• 4 "Battle of Alberta" games.
• 4 Chicago Blackhawks games.
• 4 Boston Bruins games.
• 3 Pittsburgh Penguins games.
• 3 Washington Capitals games.

For Jets fans, I have taken the liberty of scouring the CBC schedule to pull out these games:

• Tuesday, October 1 at Edmonton.
• Saturday, October 26 at Dallas.
• Saturday, November 3 vs. Chicago.
• Saturday, December 7 at Tampa Bay.
• Saturday, December 14 vs. Dallas.
• Saturday, January 11 vs. Columbus.
• Saturday, January 18 vs. Edmonton (Hockey Day In Canada).
• Saturday, January 25 vs. Toronto.
• Sunday, February 2 at Montreal.
• Thursday, March 6 vs. Los Angeles.
• Saturday, March 8 vs. Ottawa.
• Saturday, March 22 vs. Carolina.
• Saturday, March 29 at Los Angeles.
• Saturday, April 5 at Toronto.

There are your CBC games, kids. Clear your calendars on those days and night because it's nealry hockey season again!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!