Sharks to open next season with two games in Europe

SAN JOSE — The Sharks will be opening the 2022-23 season with two games in the Czech Republic against the Nashville Predators.

The Sharks-Predators games will be at O2 Arena in Prague on Oct. 7-8 as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series.

The Sharks as of now have two Czech-born players on their roster in center Tomas Hertl, who was born in Prague, and defenseman Radim Simek is from Mlada Boleslav, which is about 45 miles northeast of Prague. Barracuda forward Adam Raska is also a Czech native.

The Sharks and Predators will also complete their respective training camps in Europe and play one exhibition game against a club team as part of the NHL Global Series Challenge.

The Sharks will play Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 4, and the Predators will be in Bern, Switzerland to play an exhibition game against SC Bern at PostFinance Arena on Oct. 3. Sharks owner Hasso Plattner is from Germany.

The Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will also be part of the Global Series, as they will play in two regular-season games against each other at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 4-5.

The Sharks have competed outside of North America twice before.

In 1998, the Sharks played two regular-season games with the Calgary Flames in Tokyo, and in 2010, they were one of six teams to take part in the NHL Premiere in Europe. The Sharks played one game in Germany, vs. Adler Mannheim in an exhibition game, and two games in Stockholm against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Per the NHL, tickets and VIP hospitality packages to the Sharks and Predators in Prague go on sale at 9 a.m. (Central European Time) on April 29 at LINK.

Tickets and VIP hospitality packages to the Oct. 4 game between the Sharks and Eisbären Berlin go on sale at 10 a.m. (Central European Time) on May 9 at LINK.