By Jill Lipson
Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

The Philadelphia Flyers will open their 38th National Hockey League season on Wednesday, October 13 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. After three more games on the road the Flyers will commence the home portion of their 2004-05 regular season schedule on Thursday, October 21 against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Wachovia Center. The 82-game regular season slate will conclude on Saturday, April 9, with a game in New York against the Islanders.

The Flyers compete in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference, along with the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers will play six games against each of their four divisional opponents; four games against each of the five teams in the Northeast Division (Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs); four games against each of the five teams in the Southeast Division (Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals); and one game against each of the 15 teams in the Western Conference, except the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, whom they will play twice.

A breakdown of the Flyers' schedule by days of the week is as follows: Saturday, 21; Thursday, 18; Wednesday, 13; Tuesday, 12; Monday, 9; Friday, 6 and Sunday, 3.

The longest Flyers' road trip of the season lasts eight games, from December 23 through January 8. During the trip they will play games against Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Chicago, Minnesota, Anaheim and Los Angeles. The Flyers' longest homestand of the season is a four-game stretch from February 3 through 10. During the homestand they will host Anaheim, New Jersey, Los Angeles and San Jose.

The NHL All-Star Weekend gets underway on Saturday, February 12, at Philips Arena in Atlanta with the NHL SuperSkills Competition and the YoungStars Game and will be followed by the 55th NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, February 13. The 29th Annual Flyers' Wives Fight For Lives Carnival is scheduled for Sunday, January 30.

All night games at the Wachovia Center start at 7:00 p.m.; except on December 10, December 15, January 12, and January 25, which all begin at 7:30 p.m. The Flyers' 41-game home schedule will feature six regular season afternoon games, which all start at various times (November 26 vs. Atlanta at 1:00 p.m.; February 26 vs. Colorado at 1:30 p.m.; February 5 vs. New Jersey at 2:00 p.m.; March 12 vs. Pittsburgh at 3:00 p.m.; April 3 vs. Detroit at 3:30 p.m.; January 29 vs. Atlanta at 4:00 p.m.).

The television and radio schedule for the Flyers' 2004-05 regular season games has not been announced.

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