The Canadian Press reports that the Phoenix Coyotes are among the six teams that will being the 2010-11 NHL season in Europe.

Rumblings first came out a few weeks ago about this possibility, but the report was confirmed by a league source at the NHL Board of Governors meetings which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Pebble Beach, Calif. The other teams reportedly heading to Europe are Columbus, Boston, Minnesota, San Jose and Carolina, which is up from four teams in previous seasons.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed six teams will play six games in Europe to open the 2010-11 NHL regular season but he wouldn’t identify the teams. He also said three likely sites for the games are Prague, Stockholm and Helsinki.

The NHL has opened the regular season in Europe for the last three years and in 2009 opened with four games in Europe as the Detroit Red Wings played the St. Louis Blues in Stockholm, Sweden and the Chicago Blackhawks played the Florida Panthers in Helsinki, Finland.

The prospect of playing overseas is met by different responses depending on the franchise. For the Phoenix Coyotes, the opportunity is a way to account for one home game during the early part of the season when the club struggles to draw a large home crowd even during the best of times. Plus, if Ice Edge Holdings is successful in purchasing the club and their idea of playing five regular-season games in Saskatoon is accepted by the NHL Board of Governors, then the Coyotes will have six less midweek home games to play in front of sparse crowds.