The Chicago Blackhawks will open the season in September for the first time in franchise history when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 29. Will they be playing in late April? That depends on what happens in the 84 games in between.

The NHL released its 2026-27 schedule on Thursday afternoon, as the league switches to an 84-game slate for the first time since the 1993-94 season. Here are some first-glance takeaways:

1. City-dwellers and sportswriters on deadlines rejoice. Far suburban fans recoil. The Blackhawks have shifted the start of most home games to 7 p.m. CT rather than 7:30 p.m. Chicago tried this for the 2013-14 season, and enough season-ticket holders — a good chunk of whom live in the north and west suburbs — complained about the traffic issue to convince the team to go back to 7:30 p.m. starts. But 7 p.m. starts are commonplace around the league, and a recent internal team survey found that current fans wanted the games to start earlier. That should make life easier on kids who want to attend weeknight games, or watch them on television. A whopping nine afternoon home games is a bonus. The Blackhawks had a lot of success two seasons ago with their kid-centric “Best Day Ever” theme on weekend afternoon games.

2. The Blackhawks will start on the road for the ninth consecutive season (including the 2019-20 season, which began in Prague). Their last home opener to begin a season came in 2017.

Of their last eight road trips, there was only one where they returned to Chicago with a winning record.

2025-26: Two games, 0-1-1 record

2024-25: Four games, 1-2-1

2023-24: Five games, 2-3-0

2022-23: Three games, 1-2-0

2021-22: Three games, 0-2-1

2020-21: Four games, 0-3-1

2019-20: One game, 0-1-0

2018:19: Two games, 2-0-0

As for why the Blackhawks consistently start on the road, the belief is the league likes to tap into the Blackhawks’ large audience and use that to help pump up a national broadcast game. Teams have little say in their own schedule, too. They’re able to ask to tweak the schedule if needed, especially when their building is occupied otherwise, but it’s not much.

3. You know Connor Bedard is dissecting this schedule just like everyone else and trying to figure out where and when he might be able to make his return. Bedard’s shoulder surgery was on July 8, with a timeline of four months. The Blackhawks have four days off before hosting the Buffalo Sabres (and maybe Patrick Kane?) on Nov. 12, so that’s a very loose target, assuming all goes well with Bedard’s rehab.

4. The Blackhawks playing in the Sabres’ home opener on Oct. 3 certainly seems a lot more interesting than it would have a few months ago. Kane is currently weighing his options as an unrestricted free agent. Blackhawks ambassador Chris Chelios said on “670 The Score” in Chicago on Wednesday that he was down to the Blackhawks and the Sabres. We recently weighed whether Buffalo or Chicago would be a better fit for Kane.

It doesn’t sound like there is an exact timeline for Kane’s decision. He has been training at the Blackhawks Ice Center as he does every offseason.

5. The earlier start to the season is designed to accommodate the two extra games on the schedule. With the extra week or two, plus no Olympic break, the schedule is a lot less condensed this season. That likely means Spencer Knight gets an even larger percentage of the starts in net. While many teams are going to true tandems in net, Knight is the clear No. 1 and should end up with the kind of workload Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin get.

Last season, Knight started 55 games, which was about 67 percent of the season. Arvid Söderblom started 24 games, roughly 29 percent.

6. The Blackhawks have four breaks of at least five days (including right before and right after their two-game set against Ottawa in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Dec. 18 and 20). The Blackhawks have 11 back-to-backs, the same amount as last season.

7. The days of the circus trip and ice-show trip are long gone, but it’s still remarkable that the Blackhawks have just two road trips of more than three games. The longest is a nine-day trek through Dallas, Montreal, New York (the Rangers), New Jersey and Philadelphia that starts on Jan. 2. The other is a four-game jaunt from Utah to Colorado to Minnesota to Columbus in late March.

The Blackhawks do have seven three-game trips.

Meanwhile, after starting with four road games in their first five, the Blackhawks will be home for 19 straight nights, an incredibly rare stretch by NHL standards.

8. Anytime Connor McDavid comes to town, it’s a game worth circling on the calendar. But Edmonton’s Dec. 6 appearance at the United Center also will allow Chicago fans to show their appreciation for defensive stalwart Connor Murphy, who was a model citizen and teammate for nine seasons in Chicago. Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach (both of whom were, like Murphy, re-signed by the Oilers) also will be welcomed back.

9. Let’s say the Blackhawks exceed expectations and are playing meaningful games in late March and early April. If that’s the case, their schedule lines up potentially favorably over the final nine games. They face Nashville three times in the span, Seattle twice and Columbus once. You add in a game against Washington, and that’s seven games against four teams who failed to make the playoffs last season. Maybe that means something, maybe not.

10. What’s your guess at the Blackhawks’ record for the 2026-27 season? Leave your answer in the comments. Remember, there are 84 games this season.

England’s World Cup dreams were shattered on Wednesday as Argentina scored two late goals.

Anthony Gordon’s opener had allowed England fans to dream of a first World Cup final since 1966, before Enzo Fernandez equalised and Lautaro Martinez won it for the holders in injury time.

It marked the latest chapter of an intense World Cup rivalry between the two countries, which notably includes Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal in a 2-1 victory for Argentina at the 1986 tournament in Mexico.

Speaking after the match, Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes said the Falklands War was a “sad part of our history” and added the game “wasn’t just a football match” for his nation.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Argentina players who celebrated with the banner “must be barred from the final”.

He highlighted Spain players Alvaro Morata and Rodri being banned for one game by Uefa, the governing body of European football, after they chanted “Gibraltar is Spanish” during their side’s Euro 2024 victory celebrations.

The UK has had sovereignty over Gibraltar since 1713, although this is disputed by Spain, who claim the territory as their own.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The Falkland Islands are British. The Conservatives will always defend them.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he was “disgusted” at the behaviour of some Argentinian players, adding: “The most important thing to do is build up the Royal Navy quickly.”

Argentina vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X after Wednesday’s victory that “it wasn’t just another match” alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.

“The Falklands are Argentine,” Villarruel posted. “They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.”

Argentina players also sang chants which referenced the Falklands and Argentina greats Maradona and Lionel Messi following their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16.

Before the semi-final, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni had said he was “not going to mix” football and politics.

He said: “It was a very sad period in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it, that’s the reality.

“Things are happening elsewhere in the world, and we criticise the existence of war. We certainly remember those people, of course. But it is a football match – we shouldn’t confuse the two.”

What jumps out is that although both managers have started from opposite tactical viewpoints, there are clear similarities in both their tournament runs – much to Tuchel’s frustration.

After England’s victory against Norway, Tuchel said: “The result is fantastic but I’m not happy with the performance,” before adding, “[we were] sloppy, tactical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough.”

These all speak to fact that the principles he wanted to see in his side were not on show.

Both goals against Norway came from moments of individual brilliance against disorganised defences.

A goal-kick that fell short and landed at Elliot Anderson’s feet gave England possession against a Norway side not in their rigid 4-5-1 shape and through direct running and quick passing, Bellingham was then able to score.

The winner came from the second phase of a corner, before Rogers had a long shot parried into Bellingham’s path.

Those goals feel more Southgate than Tuchel – player-led, intuitive and slightly chaotic rather than repetitive, drilled and choreographed.