New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - The National Hockey League announced Wednesday that the 2003-04 schedule will open on October 8.

Opening night will feature the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils visiting Boston; the Western Conference champion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at Dallas; and the Minnesota Wild at Chicago.

The Devils will open their title defense with consecutive road games before returning to the Meadowlands to raise their third Stanley Cup banner prior to a matchup with Toronto on October 16.

This year's NHL docket will feature the first-ever outdoor regular-season contest, as the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens will square off at Edmonton's 50,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium. The tilt, part of the Oilers' 25th anniversary celebration, will be played on November 22, a date that marks 86 years since the inception of the NHL.

The Buffalo Sabres will host the another off-site game this coming season. On November 12 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, the home of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Sabres will welcome the Devils.

The Phoenix Coyotes, meanwhile, will say goodbye to America West Arena and are expected to move into their new home in Glendale, Arizona on December 27 against Nashville.

Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, will host NHL All-Star Weekend on February 7-8, 2004.

In 2003-04, each club will play six games (24 total) against each of its division rivals, four more than last season, while playing four contests against all non-division clubs in the conference (40 total), one against each club from the other conference (15) and three other games against non- conference opponents. As playoff races head down to the wire, every game on the final six dates of the schedule, which concludes April 4, is intra- conference. In all, 960 of the 1,230 games (78 percent) on the slate will be played within the conferences.

The regular-season conclusion is the earliest since the 1990-91 season ended March 31, 1991. The Stanley Cup playoffs will begin April 7 and will conclude no later than June 7.