Blackhawks’ 2025-26 schedule released: Home opener set for Oct. 11 vs. Canadiens

The Blackhawks will host the Canadiens in their regular-season home opener Oct. 11, the NHL’s 2025-26 schedule release revealed Wednesday.

In fact, six of the Hawks’ first 10 games will be at home, which marks a deviation from their usual trend of travel-heavy Octobers.

After starting the season in south Florida for the Panthers’ banner-raising ceremony Oct. 7, the Hawks will leap up the East Coast to Boston before returning to Chicago. Then, after the home opener, home games against the Mammoth, Canucks and Ducks will sandwich a quick trip to St. Louis.

A season-long six-game road trip will begin Oct. 30 in Winnipeg, where former Hawks captain Jonathan Toews — should his NHL comeback with the Jets prove successful — will face the Hawks for the first time.

Hawks fans will have to wait a while to see Toews back at the United Center, though, because the Jets’ two visits aren’t until Jan. 19 and March 31. They’ll also have to wait a while to boo Seth Jones, because — following the season opener — the Panthers’ lone visit isn’t until Jan. 25.

The Hawks’ traditional Black Friday game will return this season, albeit at night rather than in the afternoon — Nov. 28 against the Predators — after getting booted in favor of the Winter Classic last season. They will also play at home on New Year’s Day against the Stars.

The Hawks’ schedule will pause from Feb. 5-25 for the Winter Olympics. It will finish with a four-game homestand, concluding April 15 against the Sharks.

They catch a small break by facing the Avalanche and Stars only three times each, whereas they’ll face the other Central Division opponents four times each.

In total, they’ll host 20 home games on weekends (Friday, Saturday or Sunday), down from 21 last season and 25 the season before. And only three of those are currently scheduled as matinees, down from seven last season. Meanwhile, they’ll host six games on Mondays, up from three last season. Their business department won’t love all of those trends.

Most of the Hawks’ biggest games and hottest tickets, however, will be determined by when the team schedules the various ceremonies related to their centennial season. Those announcements could be coming soon.

Before the regular season begins, the Hawks will play a six-game preseason schedule with two matchups each against the Red Wings, Blues and Wild, as usual. Starting next season, the preseason will shorten to four games and the regular season will extend to 84.