Although the Bay Area unfortunately will be sitting out the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, I'd imagine there are plenty of hockey fans that will be looking to enjoy the 2011 battle for Lord Stanley's Cup. The Boston Bruins will square off with the Vancouver Canucks starting Wednesday night in Vancouver. The Canucks hold home ice advantage in the 2-2-1-1-1 best of seven series.
The Stanley Cup Finals will be aired on NBC and its new partner VERSUS. NBC will air games one, two, five, six and seven. VERSUS will air games three and four, and will also air pre- and post-game coverage around their games and the NBC games. The announcers for all seven potential games will feature Mike ‘Doc' Emrick on play-by-play and Eddie Olczyk as the primary analyst. Analyst Pierre McGuire will also be on hand and stationed "inside-the-glass."
VERSUS will host a wrap-up show each night during the Stanley Cup Finals, featuring the latest highlights, news, analysis and player interviews, live on-location from either the TD Garden in Boston or Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The shows will be hosted by either Bill Patrick or Liam McHugh with Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick serving as analysts as well as Darren Pang working as the in-arena reporter.
Here is a rundown of the best of seven game schedule, which is set up in a 2-2-1-1-1 format (all times pacific):
Game 1 -- Wed 6/1, Boston at Vancouver, 5:00pm NBC
Game 2 -- Sat 6/4, Boston at Vancouver, 5:00pm NBC
Game 3 -- Mon 6/6, Vancouver at Boston, 5:00pm VERSUS
Game 4 -- Wed 6/8, Vancouver at Boston, 5:00pm VERSUS
Game 5 -- Fri 6/10, Vancouver at Boston, 5:00pm NBC
Game 6 -- Mon 6/13, Boston at Vancouver, 5:00pm NBC
Game 7 -- Wed 6/15, Boston at Vancouver, 5:00pm NBC
For more on the 2011 Stanley Cup, SB Nation's NHL page will have plenty of game coverage. For nitty-gritty discussion by Bruins fans check out Stanley Cup of Chowder and for Canucks fans check out Nucks Misconduct.