MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs, the primary affiliate of the LA Kings, will open the 2011-12 season with back-to-back home games at the Verizon Wireless Arena against the Springfield Falcons on Friday, October 7 and the newest AHL team, the St. John’s IceCaps, on Saturday, October 8, the AHL and the Monarchs announced on Thursday.  Individual tickets for the 2011-12 season will go on sale to the public on Monday, September 26 at 6:30 a.m. and can be purchased by logging onto www.manchestermonarchs.com, by visiting the Verizon Wireless Arena Box Office or through Ticketmaster.

Following the Monarchs Opening Weekend at the Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester will hold their second annual Monarchs Education Day game on Wednesday, November 9 at 8:00 a.m. against the Portland Pirates.  The Monarchs will also host the Providence Bruins in their traditional New Year’s Eve celebration on Saturday, December 31 at 4:00 p.m.

The Monarchs Care Foundation and Catholic Medical Center are teaming up to fight breast cancer for the second annual Pink In The Rink game on Saturday, February 11 against the Connecticut Whale.  The Monarchs are also bringing back the Saturday matinee with a 12:00 p.m. contest against the Hershey Bears on Saturday, April 14.

The start times for all Monarchs home games Monday through Saturday for the 2011-12 season will be 4:00 p.m.  The puck will drop at 12:00 p.m. for home games on Sundays this season.

The Monarchs 76-game schedule includes 38 games at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.  The Monarchs will meet 12 of their 14 Eastern Conference rivals during the 2011-12 season.  Manchester will play 42 of the 76-game season against teams in the Atlantic Division, which includes the Worcester Sharks, St. John’s, Portland and Providence.  The Monarchs will play Portland and Worcester 12 times (six home and six road games), Providence 10 times (five home and five road games) and St. John’s eight times (four home and four road games).

The Monarchs will play 32 games of the season against teams in the Eastern Conference’s Northeast Division including the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Adirondack Phantoms, Albany Devils, Springfield and Connecticut.  Manchester will also play 10 games against the Eastern Conference’s East Division including the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Binghamton Senators and Hershey.  The Monarchs will play Springfield, Connecticut and Bridgeport six times (three home and three road games), Adirondack, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey four times (two home and two road games) and Albany and Binghamton twice (one home and one road game).