NHL hockey is finally back, and this time it's official.
Nearly one week after a tentative labor deal was agreed to by the league and its players, the sides agreed to a required memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Saturday night that truly makes the lockout a thing of the past.Training camps will open today, and a 48-game regular season will begin next Saturday. The signing of the MOU also paved the way for the NHL to release the long-awaited revised schedule.Twenty-six of the 30 teams will play Saturday, including the Dallas Stars, who will open the season at home against the Phoenix Coyotes at 7 p.m.. All games will be intraconference this season.The Stars will travel to Minnesota to play the Wild next Sunday, then to Detroit on Jan. 22 before returning home for a two-game homestand Jan. 24 against Chicago and Jan. 26 against St. Louis.The Stars will begin a six-day training camp today that will run through Friday at the Dr Pepper Stars Center in Frisco. The team will practice Thursday at American Airlines Center. All practice sessions are free and open to the public. Today's hour-long practice starts at 2:15 p.m. A complete practice schedule is available on the team's website.It took another lengthy negotiation on Saturday to finally end the four-month lockout. The sides worked on the MOU all week, after a tentative deal was reached last Sunday morning -- the 113th day of the lockout -- and needed all day Saturday to finish it.The announcement that the deal was signed came several hours after the union easily ratified the tentative agreement that was reached after an all-night, 16-hour bargaining session last weekend.The more than 700 union members had a 36-hour window from Thursday night until Saturday morning to vote electronically. The NHL board of governors unanimously approved the deal on Wednesday.The new deal is for 10 years, but either side can opt out of it after eight.While this negotiation was long, the sides were able to rescue at least part of the season. The NHL also played a 48-game campaign following a lockout in the 1994-95 season.The 2004-05 was completely canceled because of a lockout. This one forced the cancellation of 510 regular-season games, the Winter Classic and the All-Star game. No preseason games will be played in the seven days before the regular season gets under way.2013 Dallas Stars scheduleDate Opponent TimeJAN 19 vs. PHX 7 PMJAN 20 at MIN 7 PMJAN 22 at DET 6:30 PMJAN 24 vs. CHI 7:30 PMJAN 26 vs. STL 7 PMJAN 28 at CLB 6 PMJAN 29 at DET 6:30 PMFEB 1 vs. PHX 7:30 PMFEB 2 at PHX 7 PMFEB 4 at COL 8 PMFEB 6 at EDM 8:30 PMFEB 8 vs. ANA 7:30 PMFEB 12 at EDM 8:30 PMFEB 13 at CAL 8:30 PMFEB 15 at VAN 9 PMFEB 17 vs. CAL 2 PMFEB 21 vs. VAN 7:30 PMFEB 23 vs. SJ 7 PMFEB 25 at NAS 7 PMFEB 26 at CLB 6 PMFEB 28 vs. EDM 7:30 PMMAR 3 vs. StL 2 PMMAR 7 at LA 9:30 PMMAR 9 at PHX 7 PMMAR 12 va. NAS 7:30 PMMAR 14 vs. ANA 7:30 PMMAR 16 vs. CHI 7 PMMAR 18 vs. CAL 7:30 PMMAR 20 at COL 8:30 PMMAR 21 at LA 9:30 PMMAR 23 vs. COL 7 PMMAR 25 vs. MIN 7:30 PMMAR 29 vs. MIN 7:30 PMMAR 31 vs. LA 5 PMAPR 1 vs. ANA 7:30 PMAPR 3 at ANA 9 PMAPR 5 at ANA 9 PMAPR 7 at SJ 3 PMAPR 9 vs. LA 7:30 PMAPR 12 at NAS 7 PMAPR 13 vs. SJ 7 PMAPR 15 at CHI 7 PMAPR 18 vs. Van 7:30 PMAPR 19 at StL 7 PMAPR 21 at LA 8 PMAPR 23 at SJ 9 PMAPR 25 vs. CLB 7:30 PMAPR 27 vs. DET 7 PMHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
