The Stanley Cup playoffs will begin this weekend, but it sounds like the Vancouver Canucks will be waiting a bit longer to get started.
The NHL has changed its playoff plan on the fly this year. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin on Monday, April 22, giving the league three days off after the conclusion of the regular season on Thursday.
Reports surfaced in recent weeks that the NHL had quietly changed its mind, and the league now plans to start the season on Saturday, April 20.
But when will the Canucks start?
Vancouver plays its regular season finale Thursday in Winnipeg, so starting Saturday or Sunday would be an usually quick turnaround.
It sounds like Game 1 of the Canucks’ playoff series won’t start until Tuesday, given the comments from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
“I don’t think Vancouver’s starting until next Tuesday,” Friedman said.
The Canucks will have home-ice advantage, meaning that Game 1 and Game 2 (as well as Game 5 and Game 7, if necessary) will take place at Rogers Arena.
NHL schedule makers will need to work around a few upcoming concerts at Rogers Arena, as Justin Timberlake (April 29), 21 Savage (May 1), and Pearl Jam (May 4 and 6) all visit Vancouver in the next three weeks.
Their opponent is not yet finalized, with three teams remaining as possibilities. The Canucks are most likely to play the Nashville Predators, but they could also still play the Los Angeles Kings or Vegas Golden Knights.
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Nashville is one of two playoff teams that will actually play their 82nd and final regular season game tonight, which means that they’ll get more than a week off if they play the Canucks in Round 1.
In terms of travel, the Predators would be the worst opponent for the Canucks. Geographically, there isn’t a further Western Conference city to Vancouver than Nashville. By contrast, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are two of the closest NHL cities to Vancouver.
In terms of head-to-head play this season, the Canucks had the most success against Nashville, winning all three matchups. Vancouver split their four games against Vegas, though their two losses to the Golden Knights were both ugly.
The Kings seemed to really have Vancouver’s number this year, winning three of four games played between the two teams, which includes a pair of stinkers by the Canucks.
Whenever the Canucks do hit the ice for the postseason, it’ll mark the first time the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been played at Rogers Arena in nine years. They made the second round of the 2020 playoffs, which were played without fans in Edmonton.
The Canucks haven’t won a playoff series with fans in the stands since Kevin Bieksa’s overtime goal against San Jose sent them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011.