The National Hockey League has officially released the schedule for the 2014-15 Stanley Cup Finals, which are set to kick off on June 3rd.
There are currently four teams remaining in the National Hockey League that are vying for the opportunity to embrace their date with destiny and do battle on the ice for the privilege of hoisting the greatest trophy in all of sports high above their heads.
Unfortunately, when all is said and done there will only be two teams who will be able to call the pleasure of battle their own. In the Eastern Conference it will either be our Tampa Bay Lightning or the President’s Trophy winning New York Rangers. In the Western Conference it will be either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Anaheim Ducks.
No matter which of these four teams are victorious, we now know when the battle will officially begin. The National Hockey League has officially announced the schedule for the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals. All of the action will officially kick off on Wednesday, June 3rd.
As you can imagine, home ice advantage will be determined by which two teams advance to the Final Round and which of those two teams walked away from the regular season with the best record.
If the Tampa Bay Lightning should advance to the next round, which is obviously the first choice of all of us here in the Bolts Nation, the Bolts would face one of two teams; the Chicago Blackhawks or the Anaheim Ducks.
If the Ducks were to take the Western Conference, they would be awarded home ice advantage due to the fact that they finished their season with one more point than the Lightning. This would mean the Honda Center would play host to Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 while the Amalie Arena would host Games 3, 4, and 6.
On the other hand, if the Blackhawks were to be victorious in the Western Conference, the Tampa Bay Lightning would be awarded home ice advantage and the roles would be reversed. This scenario would cause a bit of a complication for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
You see, country music superstar Garth Brooks is scheduled to perform two shows at the Amalie Arena, June 5th and June 6th. If the Bolts play the Hawks and the Lightning have home ice advantage, Game 2 is scheduled for June 6th leaving the Tampa Bay Lightning with nowhere to play.
We are sure that if this scenario does come into play that there will be some sort of alteration made, whether it is to the schedule itself or simply the time of the game. At this point and time all games are set to take place at 8:00 p.m. EST. As usual, Games 5,6, and 7 are on an as needed basis.
| Game 1 | Wednesday, June 3rd |
| Game 2 | Saturday, June 6th |
| Game 3 | Monday, June 8th |
| Game 4 | Wednesday, June 10th |
| Game 5 | Saturday, June 13th |
| Game 6 | Monday, June 15th |
| Game 7 | Wednesday, June 17th |
It will certainly be interesting to see how this scenario plays out. Of course, all of us here in the Bolts Nation hope that when the Tampa Bay Lightning return home after tomorrow night’s Game 7 it will be with a new schedule in hand and not with the sting of defeat.
The good news is, we have full faith in our Boys in Blue and know that they are ready to get the job done and bring the battle for the Stanley Cup back here to the Bay Area. As we said before, win or lose, we are proud of what the Lightning has accomplished this season, but we would much rather see the battle rage on.
In any case, the Stanley Cup Finals are only a matter of days away. No matter what the outcome in the Eastern and Western Conferences, we are in for one heck of a series.
Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: Positives and Negatives of Game 7
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