NHL Schedule 2012-13: Conflicting Reports On Potential Tuesday Release

OTTAWA, CANADA - APRIL 23: Zenon Konopka #28 of the Ottawa Senators wins a faceoff against Brad Richards #19 of the New York Rangers in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Place on April 23, 2012 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Rangers defeated the Senators 3-2. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

A report that the NHL's schedule will be released tomorrow may or may not be correct. The league says there's no official date to release next year's schedule.

The release of the National Hockey League's regular season schedule is one of my favorite days of the year. 1,200 new matchups are released out into the wild for us to obsess over and make predictions, and have it all be for naught when a No. 6 and a No. 8 seed make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Mike Heika, ace Stars beat writer for the Dallas Morning News, tweeted out the following this afternoon, which suggests that the 2012-13 slate will be announced Tuesday:

Schedule release is tomorrow. I'm hearing Stars open with home and home _ at PHX, vs. PHX. Nashville on NYE. Two vs. NYR, WSH, TBL.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) June 18, 2012

That keeps in line with the NHL's recent strategy of releasing the schedule earlier. June 23 was the release date last year, after many years of traditionally having done so the day after the MLB All-Star Game.

However, I reached out to a couple of public relations reps for the NHL, and was told that "There hasn't been an official date to release next year's schedule yet."

So, it could potentially be any day, including Tuesday. I was told previously to expect an announcement by the end of June, much like last year. At least we know a bunch of Stars opponents for next year! Stay tuned.