From the renewal of intense rivalries to superstars returning to their former home bases, the release of a new NHL regular-season schedule always foreshadows some of the upcoming campaign’s spiciest storylines. Here are five take-aways from the 2025-26 schedule released Wednesday:

(UN) WELCOME HOME

Toronto fans will have to wait until next year to see Mitch Marner’s anticipated return to Scotiabank Arena when the Vegas Golden Knights visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 26. The superstar forward spent his first nine NHL seasons with his hometown Maple Leafs before being sent to Vegas in a June 30 sign-and-trade amid a souring relationship between the club and the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Marner had 741 points in 657 games with the Leafs but bore a lot of the criticism from the Toronto faithful vexed at their team’s lack of playoff success. Expect Marner to get rough treatment from a segment of the Scotiabank Arena crowd upon his return, though he is sure to still have his supporters in the stands. Marner, who is set to start an eight-year, US$96-million contract, will reunite with former teammates a few days earlier when Toronto visits Vegas on Jan. 15.

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FINAL REMATCH

The Edmonton Oilers don’t have to wait too long to get another crack at the Florida Panthers, as the Stanley Cup finalists from the past two seasons are set to square off in Sunrise, Fla., on Nov. 22. The Panthers won their second straight Cup at Edmonton’s expense this year, capping off the 2024-25 season by winning the final series in six games. It marked the eighth time a Canadian team has failed to break the country’s Stanley Cup drought that stretches back to the 1993-94 season. The teams meet again March 19 in Edmonton. Florida won both regular-season games against Edmonton in 2024-25.

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RIVALRIES REKINDLED

The start of the season will see the resumption of hostilities among the NHL’s Canadian teams and their rivals. Edmonton opens the season Oct. 8 at home against the provincial rival Calgary Flames, with the Vancouver Canucks coming to town three days later. The Flames visit Vancouver the night after their season opener in Edmonton. The Winnipeg Jets open their season Oct. 9 against Dallas, the team that knocked the Presidents’ Trophy winners out of the second round of the playoffs. The Maple Leafs start at home Oct. 8 against the Original Six archrival Montreal Canadiens. The Ottawa Senators, however, have to wait until a Nov. 1 trip to Montreal before facing off with a Canadian division rival.

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BIG BREAK

The NHL’s return to Olympic competition means a chance for some players in the league to represent their country on one of sports’ biggest stages, and a nice extended break for the others. The league will pause action on Feb. 6 for 19 days to accommodate the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. It’s the first Games to feature NHL players since the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

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TURKEY TIME

The NFL may own Thanksgiving in the United States, but the Canadian version of the holiday will serve up an afternoon NHL doubleheader to kick off the season’s Prime Monday Night Hockey programming on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming platform. Detroit Red Wings at Toronto will air Monday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the St. Louis Blues at Vancouver Canucks at 4:30 p.m. PT.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2025.

&copy 2025 The Canadian Press

A Toronto man wanted for attempted murder in a stabbing last week is the same man convicted in relation to a high-profile mass shooting in 2012, Global News has learned.

Toronto police said Wednesday they are looking for 31-year-old Shaquan Mesquito in connection with a downtown stabbing on July 11 at Yonge and Dundas streets. Officers found a 30-year-old man who had been stabbed and was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Mesquito is wanted for attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

He is the same man who was convicted in a brazen mass shooting at a block party barbecue outside a public housing complex on Danzig Street on July 16, 2012. He was known as Shaquan “Bam Bam” Mesquito and was 18 at the time of the shooting.

According to police at the time, several members of the Galloway Boys gang attended the community barbeque in Scarborough and “took ownership” of it. Violence erupted after a squabble between members of the Galloway Boys and their traditional rivals from the Malvern area of Toronto.

The chaotic shoutout killed two people — 23-year-old Joshua Yasay and 14-year-old Shyanne Charles — and left 23 people injured.

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The Danzig shooting has been known as one of the worst in Toronto’s history.

The incident was called an “unprecedented” episode of violence by Toronto police, and stunned the country and rocked the community to its core.

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Back in 2012, Mesquito was initially charged with uttering threats when he was arrested shortly after the shooting in July. Then, in November 2012, the charges were later upgraded to include two counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder, 23 counts aggravated assault and one count of reckless discharge of a firearm.

However, in January 2015, Crown lawyers dropped several charges against Mesquito, who was 21 years old at that time.

The Crown withdrew two murder charges, one count of attempted murder, reckless discharge of a firearm and 23 counts of aggravated assault.

Mesquito pleaded guilty to four new, lesser charges including counselling two people “to commit the indictable offence of murder which offence was not committed,” as well as uttering threats and illegal firearm possession.

There was not enough evidence to link Mesquito directly to the murders. In an agreed statement of facts, Mesquito was angered after being kicked out of the party and attempted to recruit others to come back and take revenge. After the shooting, he bragged about it online but investigators found a security video that placed him far away from Danzig.

He was handed a nine-year prison term sentence in 2015, that included time served in pre-trial custody.

Police are asking anyone with information or who sees Mesquito to contact them immediately.

“He is considered dangerous and should not be approached,” police said on Wednesday.

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A traffic complaint led officers to the discovery of a truckload of contraband cigarettes worth millions of dollars, according to Ontario Provincial Police in Frontenac.

OPP say a concerned citizen called police to report a truck barrelling eastbound up Highway 401 near Shannonville Road on Tuesday just before 7 a.m.

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Officers soon tracked the big rig down near the Joyceville Road interchange in Kingston before several issues, including documentation, led them to escort the truck to the Ministry of Transportation scales in Gananoque for further inspection, according to provincial police.

Once they got into the trailer, police and MTO officers discovered 17,820 kilograms of contraband, fine-cut tobacco, which OPP pegged to be worth $4.4 million.

Police say the untaxed tobacco would also have added another $9.1 million to federal and provincial tax coffers.

A 60-year-old man from Puslinch, which borders on Cambridge, has been charged with trafficking contraband tobacco.

&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.