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More Info on Devils’ Euro Trip

As reported back in January, the Devils will open the 2018-19 season overseas in Sweden. They will also be finishing up their training camp and exhibition season in Switzerland. More details have emerged regarding the trip via the NHL.

The Devils will finish up training camp in Switzerland and play their final exhibition game against SC Bern of the Swiss National League on October 1, 2018. The game will be at 7:30 PM CET, which is 1:30 PM ET here in the United States. That game will take place at the PostFinance Arena in Bern.

NHL.com spoke with Devils rookie Nico Hischier, a native of Switzerland, of course, “who grew up an hour from Bern.” He said, “I don’t think something like this will happen that often so I’ll really enjoy this.” He continued: “To be able to do something like this is going to be a lot of fun, for sure. To have the opportunity to do this is pretty amazing and I’m happy that the NHL does this.”

Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers will be in Cologne, Germany finishing up their training camp and exhibition season against Kolner Haie of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga at Lanxess Arena. Kolner Haie is actually coached by Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl’s father.

The teams will then meet up in their NHL season opener at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden on October 6, 2018. Puck drop for that game is 7 PM CET, or 1 PM ET here in New Jersey. That game is part of the 2018 NHL Global Series.

The 2018 Global Series will also include the Florida Panthers taking on the Winnipeg Jets for two regular season games in Helsinki, Finland on November 1 and 2, 2018.

According to the NHL.com article on the subject, the Devils and Oilers will play in the ninth regular season NHL game to be played in Sweden (the first in Gothenburg after eight in Stockholm). There have been 22 total NHL regular season games played in Europe. The Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators played in Sweden last season.

If you happen to be a Devils fan in Switzerland or Sweden or are planning to make the trip across the pond to see the Devils, you can get tickets to the games starting next week. The Devils game against SC Bern goes on sale on Monday at 10 AM CET (4 AM ET here) at www.ticketcorner.ch. The regular season game against the Oilers in Gothenburg, Sweden goes on sale at 9 AM CET (3 AM ET) on www.livenation.se.

The NHL says that “VIP hospitality packages will be available for purchase at a later date.” Broadcast details will also be announcer later. Swedish fans can also visit NHL.com/sv for more information.

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Devils to Play Games in Europe Next Season

The New Jersey Devils will be playing internationally next season.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced today in his All-Star Weekend press conference that the team will be joining the Edmonton Oilers in opening their 2018-19 season overseas.

The Devils will play a preseason game in Switzerland – native country of last year’s number one overall draft pick Nico Hischier – presumably against local competition. According to the NHL’s website, “the cities and dates for the preseason games have yet to be finalized.”

The Devils will then open their 2018-19 regular season against the Edmonton Oilers in Stockholm, Sweden. The Oilers will play a preseason warmup in Germany (home of their center, Leon Draisaitl) while the Devils are in Switzerland.

This is part of the larger initiative of the Global Series. It will also include the Florida Panthers playing the Winnipeg Jets in two regular season games in Finland. Florida features Aleksander Barkov and Winnipeg has Patrik Laine, both of whom are from Finland.

For the 2017-18 season, the Ottawa Senators had played the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL Global Series games, also played in Stockholm.

In addition, the NHL will be returning to China to play preseason games. This past preseason, the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings played a pair of preseason games in China – one in Beijing and one in Shanghai. Teams and cities for next year’s NHL China Games have not been finalized yet.

Bettman said at his press conference that “we are extremely pleased with the continuity of our international visits. You cannot develop an international strategy or establish presence without these events.”

This is great news for the Devils. First off, it exposes their brand internationally. For a team that is barely shown on national TV here in the US, this is great to see the Devils finally included in something like this. Second, on a more practical note, these games are not being played mid-season like the Ottawa-Colorado games. Since they are in the beginning of the year and the teams will be playing preseason games in Europe, they should be acclimated for the games when they count. The only problem is when they get back to North America, how will they acclimate back to that? All of those questions are to be answered, for now, it is just nice to see the Devils getting something like this for once.