2010-11 NHL season

&nbsp The 2010–11 NHL season is the 93rd season of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is the fourth consecutive season that will open in Europe with NHL Premiere games. A record three events are scheduled, all in previous NHL Premiere cities: Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Prague, Czech Republic. The season started on October 7, 2010. The 58th All-Star Game will be held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, home arena of the Carolina Hurricanes, on January 30, 2011. The regular-season is scheduled to conclude on April 10, 2011.

US television deals
The league's broadcast agreements with NBC and Versus are set to expire at the end of the season.

New arena
Consol Energy Center is the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins with the start of the 2010-2011 season. The arena replaces the Mellon Arena, also known as "The Igloo", where the Penguins have played since their inception in. This new arena has a seating capacity of 18,087, and is to be officially inaugurated with the continuation of the "Battle of the Keystone State" between the Penguins and their fellow Atlantic Division rivals and defending Eastern Conference champion the Philadelphia Flyers on October 7 as part of the NHL's Opening Face-Off. The Flyers defeated Pittsburgh 3-2 in the Penguins debut in the Consol Energy Center. Rogers Arena is the new home to the Vancouver Canucks.

Salary cap
On June 23, 2010, the NHL announced that the salary cap would be increased by $2.6 million. As a result, the new salary cap ceiling is set at $59.4 million while the salary cap floor is $43.4 million.

Entry Draft
The 2010 NHL Entry Draft took place on June 25–26, 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. Taylor Hall was selected first overall in the draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Tyler Seguin was picked second by the Boston Bruins. Erik Gudbranson was 3rd overall by the Florida Panthers.

Uniform changes
Several teams have announced plans to change their uniforms in the 2010-11 season. The Buffalo Sabres, as part of their 40th Anniversary season, have reverted back to the classic crossed swords insignia (replacing the infamous "Buffaslug" logo) and uniforms they wore from 1970 through 1996, when they left Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and moved down the street to the HSBC Arena with blue and gold trim. The blue version was previously their third jersey for the past three seasons. A new third jersey (also in blue) will feature the city's name in white script on the chest, along with "quilted" numbers on the back and a gold nameplate with blue lettering. The Columbus Blue Jackets, will be unveiling a third jersey November 24 as part of their 10th season celebration. The new jersey will make its debut on November 26 when the Blue Jackets host the Detroit Red Wings. The Philadelphia Flyers adopted their 2010 NHL Winter Classic white uniforms as their new road uniform and have dropped the black third jersey they have worn since changing to Reebok's "NHL Edge" template. The New York Islanders have also reverted to the uniforms they made their debut back in 1972-73; their royal blue uniforms were their third jersey for the past two seasons. The road white unis are also from the 1972-73 season. The New York Rangers are also releasing a new third jersey. The jersey will look like the one worn by the team in its early years, notably during their Stanley Cup championship years of 1928 and 1933, but with "NEW YORK" across the jersey, instead of "RANGERS". The Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled new home and road jerseys on June 14, 2010, seeing the return of the horizontal stripes on the bottom of the jersey and the "veined leaf" logo on both shoulders. The jersey also includes a white collar with string lace-up instead of a V-shaped collar. In third jersey items, the Calgary Flames will use the third jerseys they debuted this past season onto the Edge template in a retro style from the 1988-89 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets will debut a new alternate jersey with a cannon on the front of the chest, and after a three-year hiatus, the Anaheim Ducks will unveil a new third jersey on November 26 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Los Angeles Kings will wear a throwback purple and gold uniform, with of purple, gold and white crown graphic on the jersey front for up to four games, and the Dallas Stars will swap designations on their two white jerseys. The Vancouver Canucks, like the Sabres, are also celebrating their 40th anniversary and will wear replicas of their original 1970-71 white jerseys for several home games as well. Despite the league rules stating that all team jerseys must have nameplates on the back, both the Canucks and Kings were granted permission to wear jerseys without nameplates.

2010 Kraft Hockeyville
Every year since 2006, Kraft Foods has sponsored a contest called Kraft Hockeyville, where small Canadian towns compete against each other for the title of Hockeyville. The winning town also gets to host an NHL preseason game in a local arena, as well as hosting an event called the 'Stanley Cup Jamboree'. Dundas, Ontario won the 2010 contest, and hosted the pre-season game between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres on September 28, 2010.

European exhibition games
The six teams going to Europe to open their regular seasons there as part of the NHL Premiere games also played exhibition games against European teams under the banner of NHL Premiere Challenge to close out their pre-seasons, finishing with a 6–1–0 record.

Premiere Games
A record six teams will open the regular season in Europe, in a series branded the "2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Games." On October 7–8, 2010, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild played two games at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland The Canes swept the Wild. On October 8–9, 2010, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks played two games at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden The 2 teams split a 2 game premiere. On October 9–10, 2010, the Boston Bruins and the Phoenix Coyotes played two games at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic The 2 teams also split a 2 game premiere.

NHL Face-off
The regular season will also begin in North America on October 7 with four additional games. In Canada, CBC's Hockey Night in Canada will broadcast a double header featuring four Canadian teams. The first game will see the eastern Canadian Original Six-era rivalry rekindled, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Montreal Canadiens. This game will be followed by the Battle of Alberta when the Calgary Flames visit the Edmonton Oilers. In the United States, both 2010 Stanley Cup Finalists will be in action as well on Versus. Besides the previously mentioned Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins game to open Consol Energy Center, the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks will play against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center in the nightcap. The Blackhawks will have their home opener two nights later against their Central Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, and hoist their first Stanley Cup championship banner in 49 years in a pre-game ceremony.

2011 Winter Classic
The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic and play the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011. The game will be telecast on NBC in the USA and on CBC and RDS in Canada.

The Heritage Classic returns
A second outdoor game, the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic, is scheduled to be held in Canada at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta on February 20, 2011 between the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens. CBC, RDS and Versus are scheduled to telecast the game. This will be the second outdoor game held in Canada following the Heritage Classic in 2003 when the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4–3 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta.

Hockey Days
CBC will be hosting its 11th annual Hockey Day in Canada event on February 12, 2011 in Whitehorse, Yukon. The network will broadcast a triple header of games featuring all six Canadian teams. The Edmonton Oilers will host the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs will visit the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks will welcome the Calgary Flames. For the first time ever, the NHL and NBC will be hosting a Hockey Day in America event on February 20, 2011. The Philadelphia Flyers will play at the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals will visit the Buffalo Sabres, the Red Wings will visit the Minnesota Wild, and the highlight game of the afternoon, a meeting of the last two Stanley Cup champions, as the Penguins will be visiting the Blackhawks.
 * Canada
 * USA

Highlights
On October 30, 2010, four penalty shot goals were scored on one night for the first time in league history. David Booth, Frans Nielsen, Ryan Callahan and David Steckel were the scorers. The previous record was three penalty shot goals in one night. Four penalty shot attempts in one night has occurred previously. On November 20, 2010, the 50,000th game in the NHL's history was played, counting all regular season and Stanley Cup playoff games, going back to the league's inaugural season in 1917.

Playoffs
The 2011 playoffs will start on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. The last possible date for the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Friday, June 17, 2011.

Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the games played on December 22. GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season games played on December 22 while playing at least 600 minutes.

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2009–10, listed with their first team:


 * Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers

Last games
The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2010–11, listed with their team:

Major milestones reached

 * On October 22, 2010, Ottawa Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson recorded a hat trick with the third goal being his 1,000th career NHL point. He became the 75th player in league history to record 1,000 points.
 * On October 26, 2010, Ottawa Senators defenseman Sergei Gonchar participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
 * On October 28, 2010, Calgary Flames forward Craig Conroy participated in his 1,000th NHL game.
 * On November 3, 2010, Buffalo Sabres forward Mike Grier participated in his 1,000th career NHL game.
 * On November 6, 2010, Los Angeles Kings forward Ryan Smyth participated in his 1,000th career NHL game.
 * On November 22, 2010, Ottawa Senators forward Alexei Kovalev recorded his 1,000th career NHL point with a goal against the Los Angeles Kings. He became the 76th player in league history to record 1,000 points, and the third Russian born player to do so.
 * On November 24, 2010, Boston Bruins forward Mark Recchi scored two goals with the second being his 1,500th career NHL point. He became the 13th player in league history to reach this milestone.