NHL announces 2013

The NHL season will begin XX. (Photo: Ed Mulholland, USA TODAY Sports)

The NHL's 2013-14 season will open on Oct. 1 and feature an Olympic break, a host of outdoor games and new division names.

The schedule was released about an hour after the league said it would shut down from Feb. 9-25 to send players to Sochi, Russia, for a fifth consecutive Olympic participation.

SOCHI-BOUND: NHL players heading to Olympics

The regular season will end on April 13 and the playoffs will begin on April 16.

This season will be the first one under realignment. Under the new format, there will still be two conferences - called the Eastern and Western Conferences - but now each one will contain two divisions, as opposed to three.

The Eastern Conference has 16 teams, with the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets joining. The Western Conference contains 14 teams, as the Winnipeg Jets are switching over.

The division names will continue to feature geographic titles, except for one, the Metropolitan Division, which will have the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes and Blue Jackets.

Five of those teams had played in the Atlantic Division, but that division name now encompasses the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Western Conference's division names are the Pacific (Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks) and Central (Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis and Winnipeg Jets).

Under realignment, every team will face every other team at least twice in the 82-game regular season, home and away.

The playoffs have also changed. It will still consist of 16 teams, with eight moving on to the postseason in each conference. Now, though, the best three teams make it from each division, and the top two remaining from each conference will advance as the wild card teams.

New regular-season schedule matrix

The outdoor games will be the Jan 1. Winter Classic (Maple Leafs-Red Wings at Michigan Stadium and the Heritage Classic (Senators-Canucks at BC Place. Also, the Los Angeles Kings will host the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 25, the Rangers and Devils (Jan. 26) and Rangers and Islanders (Jan. 29) will play at Yankee Stadium and the Penguins will visit the Blackhawks at Soldier Field on March 1.

Western Conference (7-team divisions)

Within conference (division): 29 games

* 5 games vs. five teams (3 away/2 away vs. two teams, 2 home/3 away vs. three teams) AND 4 games vs. one team (2 home/2 away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 5 X 5 =25 games

* 1 X 4 = 4 games

Within conference (non-division): 21 games

* 3 games vs. each team (2 home/1 away vs. four teams, 1 home/2 away vs. three teams). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 3 X 7 = 21 games

Non-conference: 32 games

* 2 games vs. each team (1 home/1 away)

* 2 X 16 = 32 games

Eastern Conference (8-team divisions)

(Exception: one team from each division plays one less game inside division and one more game inside conference outside division)

Within conference (division): 30 games

* 5 games vs. two teams (3 home/2 away vs. one team, 2 home/3 away vs. one team) AND 4 games vs. five teams (2 home/2 away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 5 X 2 =10 games

* 4 X 5 = 20 games

Within conference (non-division): 24 games

* 3 games vs. each team (2 home/1 away vs. four teams, 1 home/2 away vs. four teams). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

* 3 X 8 = 24 games

Non-conference: 28 games

* 2 games vs. each team (1 home/1 away)

* 2 X 14 = 28 games