The National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) announced today, in an official press release, that the Boston Bruins – and five other NHL teams – will open the 2010-11 NHL regular season in Europe as part of 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere™ and NHL Face-Off™.  It will be the fourth consecutive season that the NHL will begin its regular-season overseas.

The Bruins will play two games against the Phoenix Coyotes at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, Oct. 9 and Sunday, Oct. 10.

The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Sweden on Thursday Oct. 7 and Friday Oct. 8, 2010.

And the San Jose Sharks open against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Stockholm, Sweden on Friday Oct. 8 and Saturday Oct. 9.

The Bruins roster includes Czech players David Krejci, who will represent the Czech Republic in the Olympics, and Vladimir Sobotka [RFA]. Also, team captain Zdeno Chara and Miroslav Satan [UFA] originally hail from nearby Slovakia.

This is the first time in 50 years that the Bruins have played in Europe. After the 1958-59 season, the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers went on a 10-city, 23-game European tour that included games in Antwerp, Berlin, Geneva, London, Paris, Vienna, and Zurich.