RALEIGH, NC—Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced the schedule for the team’s 2010 training camp, which will be based in Raleigh until the team departs for Europe on Oct. 1.

The Hurricanes will open training camp with player physicals on Sept. 17, and then hit the ice for their first official practices at the RBC Center on Saturday, Sept. 18, beginning at 9 a.m. The Hurricanes host the Florida Panthers in their first exhibition game three days later, with face-off set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

On Saturday, Sept. 18, the team will also host its annual Caniac Carnival at the RBC Center, the season kick-off event which includes rides, interactive games, live music and two RBC Bank autograph sessions with select Hurricanes players. The Caniac Carnival begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m., and is free to all fans.

The Hurricanes’ North American-based training camp concludes with an exhibition game against the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday, Oct. 1, at 1:30 p.m. at the RBC Center, which will be free to the public. Tickets to the game have been distributed throughout the summer, and will also be available for pick-up at the Caniac Carnival on Sept. 18. Following the game against the Thrashers, the Hurricanes depart for St. Petersburg, Russia, where they will play an exhibition game against SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League. The team opens its 2010-11 regular season with two games against the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, as a part of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere.

All training camp practices are open to the general public. Please find the full training camp practice schedule below.