San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators to Open Regular Season in Prague, Czech Republic on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8

Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche to Face Off in a Pair of Games in Tampere, Finland on Nov. 4 and Nov. 5

2022 NHL Global Series Challenge to feature Predators vs. SC Bern on Oct. 3 and Sharks vs. Eisbären Berlin on Oct. 4

NEW YORK/TORONTO (April 21, 2022) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), in conjunction with Live Nation, today announced plans for the 2022 NHL Global Series and 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge, which will feature the Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Sharks and Predators will open the 2022-23 regular season against each other in Prague, Czech Republic, at O2 Arena with games on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8. The Avalanche and Blue Jackets will face off in a pair of regular-season games at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5.

Prior to their games in Prague, the Predators and Sharks will complete their training camps in Europe and will each play in an exhibition match as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge. The Predators will report to Bern, Switzerland, and play an exhibition game against SC Bern at PostFinance Arena on Monday, Oct. 3. The Sharks will report to Berlin, Germany, and play an exhibition game against Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Tickets to the 2022 NHL Global Series and 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge will go on sale to the public at the dates and times listed below. Ticket sale opportunities are available on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last.

• Tickets and VIP hospitality packages to the Oct. 7, and Oct. 8 NHL Global Series games between the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, will go on sale at 9 a.m. CET on Friday, April 29 at LINK.

• Tickets and VIP hospitality packages to the Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 NHL Global Series games between the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, will go on sale at 10 a.m. EET on Friday, April 29 at LINK.

• Tickets and VIP hospitality packages to the Oct. 4 NHL Global Series Challenge between the San Jose Sharks and Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany, will go on sale at 10 a.m. CET on Monday, May 9 at LINK.

• Tickets and VIP hospitality packages to the Oct. 3 NHL Global Series Challenge between the Nashville Predators and SC Bern at PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland, will go on sale on at 10 a.m. CET on Thursday, May 19 at LINK.

The 2022 NHL Global Series will mark the ninth season overall that the NHL has traveled to Europe to play regular-season games. These games reward the legions of loyal and passionate fans in Europe that enjoy live NHL games available via international broadcast and media partners. The NHL’s biggest stars are also featured across numerous social media platforms and on NHL.com in nine languages for the League’s international fans. There have been 28 regular-season NHL games played in Europe. To date, there have been five NHL regular-season games played in the Czech Republic, which have all been played at O2 Arena in Prague. This year’s games in Finland will mark the first NHL regular-season games to ever be played in Tampere.

The NHL is a global League, with more than 30 percent of NHL players this season having been born outside of North America. All four clubs feature a number of international stars on their rosters, including natives of the countries they are visiting. In October, Roman Josi of the Predators will be playing in his hometown of Bern, Switzerland, against his former team, SC Bern. Czech Republic natives Tomas Hertl and Radim Simek of the Sharks and David Rittich of the Predators will be playing in their home country for the first time as NHL players. In addition, the Blue Jackets and Avalanche games in Finland will be played in the home country of Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen of the Avalanche, as well as Tampere native Patrik Laine and Joonas Korpisalo of the Blue Jackets and Blue Jackets General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen.

San Jose, Colorado and Columbus have all played regular-season games in Europe, while Nashville has played two regular-season games in Japan and will be making its European debut. The Sharks and Blue Jackets split a pair of games against each other in the 2010 NHL Premiere Series in Stockholm, Sweden (San Jose 3, Columbus 2 on Oct. 8, 2010; Columbus 3, San Jose 2 (OT) on Oct. 9, 2010). Colorado traveled to Stockholm for the 2017 NHL Global Series, where they were defeated by the Ottawa Senators in two games (Ottawa 4, Colorado 3 (OT) on Nov. 10, 2017; Ottawa 4, Colorado 3 on Nov. 11, 2017). The Predators played the Pittsburgh Penguins during GAME ONe 2000 Japan, where they split two games with the Penguins in Saitama (Nashville 3, Pittsburgh 1 on Oct. 6, 2000; Pittsburgh 3, Nashville 1 on Oct. 7, 2000). For a complete list of NHL regular-season games played outside North America, click here.

COURTESY NHLmedia.com