The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club tonight released its schedule for the 2012-13 National Hockey League regular season.  The Avalanche will begin the 48-game schedule on Saturday, Jan. 19 at Minnesota against the Wild.  The Avs will then return home to host the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings for the home opener on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at Pepsi Center.

Colorado will play 18 games against Northwest Division opponents, which includes five games against both Edmonton (three home, two away) and Minnesota (two home, three away), as well as four games each against Calgary and Vancouver (two home, two road).  

The Avalanche will play a total of 30 games against the remaining Western Conference teams, facing each of the Central Division and Pacific Division clubs three times apiece.  Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Nashville and St. Louis will visit Pepsi Center twice.

Colorado will play six home afternoon games this year, Feb. 2 vs. Edmonton (1:00 p.m.), Feb. 18 vs. Nashville (1:00 p.m.), March 16 vs. Minnesota (1:00 p.m.), March 30 vs. Nashville (1:00 p.m.), April 13 vs. Vancouver (1:00 p.m.) and April 21 vs. St. Louis (3:30 p.m.).  The Avs will have nine sets of back-to-back games.  

The Avalanche will conclude the regular season at home on Saturday, April 27 against Minnesota.

The complete broadcast schedule, including Altitude Sports & Entertainment telecasts, and information regarding the on-sale dates for regular season tickets will be released in the coming days.

Click here for the full schedule