While it looks like we’ll still be waiting around for a while longer for the much-anticipated drop of the NHL regular season schedule, we at least now have an early opportunity to begin working out the edges of our hockey related schedules. Everyone’s autumns are beginning to come into focus and we can begin to make our plans for any and all visits down the farm. That is, the Phantoms’ 2026-27 schedule is here!
The PPL Center will get a bit of a warmup in September, with the pair of rookie games set to take place on September 12 and 13, before they get rolling with their slate of preseason games at the end of the month (though those dates are still pending). And once all of that is done and dusted, the Phantoms are set to once again open up their regular season at home, for the first of six games on the season series agains the Hartford Wolf Pack, on October 3.
That weekend will offer them a quick look at how their first look roster shakes out, and then an immediate opportunity to tink with it, if need be — that Saturday opener is the only game on the schedule for that weekend, and then they’ll get a nice week of practice time in, before they’re thrown headlong into a busy stretch of five games in eight days.
For those looking to see some new teams in the mix this season — as we did a couple years ago with all of Grand Rapids, Rockford, and Milwaukee coming to town throughout the course of the season, and the Phantoms visiting their barns out West, in turn — you’re in luck. After spending all of last season playing in-conference opponents and in-conference opponents only, this year will see things changed up a bit, as the Phantoms will take a trip out to Iowa to face the Wild’s farm team in December, and then see those same Wild on their home turf again come February.
Of course, this season will still see no shortage of rivalry action taking place, with heaps and heaps of divisional matchups on the schedule. As it stands, the Phantoms are set to face both the Penguins and the Bears a whopping 12 times each, while they’ll face the Checkers eight times, and all of the Wolf Pack and the Thunderbirds six times each. That’s a lot of divisional play, made possible by the division itself shrinking — with the Islanders relocating to Hamilton, the newly minted Hammers will play in the North Division from here on out.
Also notable is the continued trend away from the three-in-three weekends. Once a real staple of the league, they’re becoming fewer and somewhat farther in between, and for the third year in a row, the Phantoms will only see five of them across the whole of the season.
We’re still a ways away from the season kicking off, but the anticipation is already building — the Phantoms ended their last season on something of a sour note, missing out on the playoffs entirely, but with some new faces in tow and a coaching staff with a full season of experience with this group under their belts, we know they’ll be anxious to adjust and get this thing rolling in the right direction again.
