Seemingly out of nowhere, John Shannon of Sportsnet reported earlier this week that the Blackhawks will face the Flyers in Prague, of the Czech Republic, to open the 2019-2020 season. No dates have been announced.
As mentioned on HockeyCentral tonight…Philadelphia will play Chicago, in Prague to start the 2019-2020 season.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) March 8, 2019
This will be the third year of the NHL Global Series and the first time the Blackhawks have been involved. They have participated in some international play, though, as they opened up their Stanley Cup winning 2009-10 season in Finland against the Florida Panthers.
The Blackhawks have ties to the Czech Republic with current players David Kampf and rookie Dominik Kahun, as well as recent former players Michal Rozsival, Michal Kempny, Jan Rutta, Michael Frolik, Martin Havlat and future Hall-Of-Famer Dominik Hasek.
Philadelphia’s ties to the Czech Republic are Jakub Voracek, Radko Gudas, Michal Neuvirth and as well as former Flyer Jaromir Jagr for the 2011-12 season.