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St. Louis Blues to open at Pittsburgh Penguins, host Dallas Stars in home opener

By Patrick Karraker

Nov 3, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock during the game against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars beat the Blues 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 3, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock during the game against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars beat the Blues 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Blues will host Ken Hitchcock and the Stars in their first home game of 2017-18.

The NHL announced dates and opponents for every team’s 2017-18 home opener on Wednesday, and in the process St. Louis Blues fans found out who two of the team’s early-season opponents will be.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they’ll host the Blues for their home opener on Wednesday, October 4, when they’ll unveil their 2016-17 Stanley Cup championship banner. That means the Blues will begin the season on national TV for the second straight season after opening up against the Chicago Blackhawks on NBCSN this past season.

It’s unknown whether the Blues will play any games on Thursday or Friday of that week–we’ll find out Thursday when they unveil their complete schedule for the 2017-18 season–but we do know that they’ll open up their home slate on Saturday, October 7 at Scottrade Center (or as it may then be known, TD Ameritrade Center), hosting former Blues coach Ken Hitchcock and the Dallas Stars.

The early-season Central Division tilt will mark a quick return to St. Louis for Hitchcock, who was fired on February 1 of this year after leading the Blues to five straight playoff appearances. He returned to Dallas, where he coached from 1996-2002, in early April.

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This will be the earliest visit the Blues have had to Pittsburgh in quite a while. The last time the Blues played in Pittsburgh during October was in 2009, when they lost 5-1 to the Penguins on October 20 at Mellon Arena. It’ll also be the first time the Blues have hosted the Stars in St. Louis since 2009. The last time that happened was on October 24 of that year, as the Blues lost 5-1 to Dallas at Scottrade Center.

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