The Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators will open their 2020-21 seasons against each other in Prague, Czech Republic, at O2 Arena next October. Later in the fall, the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will face off in a pair of regular-season games at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. In addition, the Bruins and Predators will complete their training camps in Germany and Switzerland, respectively, and each will play an exhibition match as part of the 2020 NHL Global Series Challenge. Game dates as well as broadcast and ticketing information to the 2020 NHL Global Series and 2020 NHL Global Series Challenge will be announced when available. To keep up with the latest ticket details and to gain access to special ticket pre-sale offers for each event, fans should register at NHL.com/GSGermany, NHL.com/GSSwitzerland, NHL.com/GSCzechRepublic and NHL.com/GSFinland.

The 2020 NHL Global Series will mark the fourth straight year and 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 partners and the NHL’s streaming service, NHL.TV. 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 26 regular-season NHL games played in Europe, and the two matchups between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning scheduled for today and tomorrow in Stockholm, Sweden, will be the 27th and 28th such games. 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. There have been seven such games played in Finland, which have all been played at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki.

Prior to the Boston-Nashville season-opening matchup, the Bruins and Predators will complete their training camps in Europe and will each play in an exhibition match as part of the 2020 NHL Global Series Challenge. The Bruins will report to Mannheim, Germany, and play an exhibition game against Adler Mannheim at SAP Arena. The Predators will report to Bern, Switzerland, and play an exhibition game against SC Bern at PostFinance Arena.

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. Next fall, Switzerland natives Roman Josi and Yannick Weber of the Predators, along with Czech Republic natives David Krejci and David Pastrnak of the Bruins, will be playing in their respective home countries. In addition, Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi of the Avalanche, as well as Markus Nutivaara and Joonas Korpisalo of the Blue Jackets will all being playing in their home country of Finland, which is also where Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is from.

Boston, 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 Bruins split a pair of games against the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2010 NHL Premiere in Prague (Phoenix 5, Boston 2 on Oct. 9, 2010; Boston 3, Phoenix 0 on Oct. 10, 2010). The Blue Jackets also participated in the 2010 NHL Premiere, where they exchanged wins with the San Jose Sharks in two games played in Stockholm (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.

Today’s announcement was made by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, prior to the first of two games between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning, who are participating in the 2019 NHL Global Series. Earlier this season, the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers faced off in a regular-season game in Prague, Czech Republic, which was also part of the 2019 NHL Global Series. In addition, Chicago and Philadelphia matched up against Eisbären Berlin and Lausanne HC in Germany and Switzerland, respectively, as part of the 2019 NHL Global Series Challenge.

More information on the 2020 NHL Global Series and 2020 NHL Global Series Challenge will be announced at a later date. As part of the League’s eight international sites, NHL.com/fi, NHL.com/cs and NHL.com/de will serve as the official home for all of the latest news and information about the 2020 NHL Global Series as well as other features from around the NHL.