The Chicago Blackhawks will open the season in September for the first time in franchise history when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 29. Will they be playing in late April? That depends on what happens in the 84 games in between.The NHL released its 2026-27 schedule on Thursday afternoon, as the league switches to an 84-game slate for the first time since the 1993-94 season. Here are some first-glance takeaways:1. City-dwellers and sportswriters on deadlines rejoice. Far suburban fans recoil. The Blackhawks have shifted the start of most home games to 7 p.m. CT rather than 7:30 p.m. Chicago tried this for the 2013-14 season, and enough season-ticket holders — a good chunk of whom live in the north and west suburbs — complained about the traffic issue to convince the team to go back to 7:30 p.m. starts. But 7 p.m. starts are commonplace around the league, and a recent internal team survey found that current fans wanted the games to start earlier. That should make life easier on kids who want to attend weeknight games, or watch them on television. A whopping nine afternoon home games is a bonus. The Blackhawks had a lot of success two seasons ago with their kid-centric “Best Day Ever” theme on weekend afternoon games.2. The Blackhawks will start on the road for the ninth consecutive season (including the 2019-20 season, which began in Prague). Their last home opener to begin a season came in 2017.Of their last eight road trips, there was only one where they returned to Chicago with a winning record.2025-26: Two games, 0-1-1 record2024-25: Four games, 1-2-12023-24: Five games, 2-3-02022-23: Three games, 1-2-02021-22: Three games, 0-2-12020-21: Four games, 0-3-12019-20: One game, 0-1-02018:19: Two games, 2-0-0As for why the Blackhawks consistently start on the road, the belief is the league likes to tap into the Blackhawks’ large audience and use that to help pump up a national broadcast game. Teams have little say in their own schedule, too. They’re able to ask to tweak the schedule if needed, especially when their building is occupied otherwise, but it’s not much.