NHL announces regular-season games, exhibition contests in Europe as part of 2022 NHL Global Series

The NHL is taking its 2022-23 season international, with regular-season games and exhibition contests scheduled for Finland, Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland.

The 2022 NHL Global Series and 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge will feature the Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche. It's the first time the NHL is playing regular-season games outside of North America since 2019.

The Predators and Sharks will open the regular season with games on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8 at the O2 Arena in in Prague, Czech Republic. It will mark the first time the Predators will play a regular-season game in Europe, after having previously played two of them in Japan in 2000. The Sharks have one of the biggest Czech-born stars in Tomas Hertl.

The Blue Jackets and Avalanche will play a pair of regular-season games on Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 in Tampere, Finland. The Blue Jackets have a Finnish-born star in winger Patrik Laine, while Colorado has Finnish-born Mikko Rantanen.

The 2022 NHL Global Series Challenge will feature exhibition games in Switzerland and Germany. The Predators will face SC Bern on Oct. 3 at PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland. Roman Josi of the Predators will be playing in his hometown of Bern.

The Sharks will take on Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany, on Oct. 4

Prior to their games in Prague, the Predators and Sharks will complete their training camps in Europe.