The opening weekends of college football and the NFL have come and gone and now sports fans await the return of hockey. If you’re a fan of the Washington Capitals here are some dates to keep an eye on.
Things start off today with rookie camp as the rink will be closed to the public and media for player physicals. The first rookie camp on ice session takes place tomorrow.
The rest of the Capitals will officially open their training camp on Thursday September 22nd at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. The complete training camp roster and schedule will be announced at a later date.
Then the Capitals begin a six game preseason schedule on Sunday September 25 against the Buffalo Sabres. They’ll go on the road for three straight games before finishing out the final two preseason games at Capital One Arena.
Key dates
September 16: Start of Rookie Camp
September 22: Start of Training Camp
September 25: First preseason game
October 12: Opening Night at Capital One Arena vs. Boston Bruins
As of now you can catch four out of the six preseason games on NBC Sports Washington. All three home games will be televised while the road game against the Philadelphia Flyers on the 28th will be on NBCSW as well.
September 30th’s contest at the Detroit Red Wings and Oct. 1st’s game at the Columbus Blue Jackets aren’t going to be televised. At least as of right now. That could change.
The regular season local broadcast schedule for NBCSW will be announced at a later date. Opening Night vs. the Bruins is slated to be nationally televised on TNT. So the Caps open the season on a Wednesday night on TNT for the second year in a row.
In all the Caps will have 13 nationally televised games. That includes five games on TNT, three games on ABC and four games on ESPN including the 2023 Stadium Series on Feb. 18 against the Carolina Hurricanes. In addition, four of the Caps games will also be available on ESPN plus and one will be available on Hulu.
In between the preseason and regular season the Caps will be hosting an alumni weekend. That weekend also features a Stars and Spirits (hey that’s a cool name for an event!) rooftop function on Oct. 7. You can learn more at WashCaps.com/AlumniWeekend.