NEW YORK -- The National Hockey League announced today the schedule for the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, which begins Wednesday, June 12, in Chicago.
Based on their superior regular-season point total, the Western Conference Champion Chicago Blackhawks will host Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven Final, as well as Games 5 and 7, if necessary.
Games 3 and 4, as well as Game 6, if necessary, will be hosted by the Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins.
In the U.S., NBC will broadcast Games 1 and 4 of the Final and, if necessary, Games 5-7. NBC Sports Network will telecast Games 2 and 3.
In Canada, CBC and RDS will televise the entire series.
All games also will be carried on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. NHL Network will feature special programming surrounding the Stanley Cup Final and NHL.com will continue to provide extensive digital coverage.
Media Day in advance of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final will be Tuesday, June 11, at the United Center. Interview opportunities will be available with the general manager, head coach and entire roster of both the Blackhawks and Bruins. A full schedule of events for Media Day will be released at a later date.
All games are at 8PM Eastern Time (but still subject to change.)
2013 NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS
SERIES O 1 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs. BOSTON BRUINS 4
Game 1: Wed. @CHI Game 2: Sat. @CHI Game 3: 6/17 @BOS Game 4: 6/19 @BOS Game 5: 6/22 @CHI * Game 6: 6/24 @BOS * Game 7: 6/26 @CHI *
* if necessary
I wasn't really impressed with the Hawks, but they looked a lot better against the Kings than they did against the Wings. The Bruins, on the other hand, have had a pretty easy time of it against the Rangers and the Penguins, so how can I not pick them? Let's say... Bruins in 6.
Hard to believe this is the first time the Blackhawks and Bruins have ever met in a Stanley Cup finals. Original Six 4 Life.
Boston in six, but my god, I'm rooting for the Blackhawks since I hate the Bruins.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you... It's agonizing how close I was on the Western finals predictions. If the Kings had stolen Game 1 like I thought they would, the whole dynamic would have been different and it almost assuredly would have gone seven. The Bruins, on the other hand, ran into an opponent that was even more flawed in retrospect than I and many others thought - minus their own self-inflicted stupor in the Toronto series, Boston's had by FAR the easier path to get here in terms of competition.
The Blackhawks will hoist the Cup at home, whether that means the series goes 5 or 7.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
Boston in 7. They are playing great right now, but remember they were down 4-1 in the 3rd period of Game 7 against Toronto. They have been awesome since then, but the Hawks are a pretty good team, too.
Hawks in 6. Kane is coming on and Duncan Keith has been amazing in the playoffs. Their 4th line has been playing great and and Shaw, a guy we didn't think much of during the regular season, has been great. Plus they are great penalty killers.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift
I am gonna go with Hawks in 6. This seems like a very even matchup and I wouldn't be surprised if it does go 7. I admit, I don't know much about Boston's lineup, so this is purely a guess.
Hawks in a low scoring 7 game series. The Bruins have been a team of destiny since their miracle comeback against the Leafs but I feel their time is up.
(I would actually prefer the Hawks win in 6 so Pieman will have to watch someone else celebrating on HIS ice)
Bruins in 6. I want the Blackhawks to win but Boston just looks like they're hitting their peak at the right time. I'm still amazed at how easily they totally shut down Pittsburgh's offense; that was as dominant a conference final series as I remember seeing in a while.
Originally posted by jerichofan717Can't root for Boston after what they did to my Penguins...so I'll say Hawks in 5.
I'm with you. Can't root for Boston after what they did to my Leafs.
Hawks in 7.
If I was a Penguins or Maple Leafs fan, I'd be more pissed at my team for not showing up for a series or blowing a 3 goal lead halfway through the 3rd period of a series clinching game. But that's just me.
Despite the outcome of last night's game, I'll say Bruins in 6.
"I like this Ray Lewis fellow. He would do well in my era. Men who killed other men were an integral part of 1880s base ball." - Old Hoss Radbourn
Looks like this matchup is good for ratings. Highest rated Finals Game 1 since 1997.
NEW YORK -- Chicago's 4-3 triple-overtime win over Boston attracted the most TV viewers for an opening game of the Stanley Cup finals in 16 years.
NBC's broadcast averaged 6.358 million viewers, the most to watch a Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals since Detroit and Philadelphia drew 9,000 more on FOX in 1997.
It marked an increase of 119 percent compared to the Stanley Cup finals series opener last year with the Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils.
NBC is averaging more than 3 million viewers during the playoffs, an increase of 38 percent compared to last year. NBC and the NBC Sports Network are combining to average 1.191 million viewers for each game, an increase of seven percent versus last year.
Can't believe all 7 games won't be on national TV. It'll be interesting to see what the ratings are now that the games are switching to cable.
Originally posted by jerichofan717Can't believe all 7 games won't be on national TV. It'll be interesting to see what the ratings are now that the games are switching to cable.
Cable is "national TV" but if you meant network TV, oddly enough, a full NHL Stanley Cup Finals series has NEVER been 100% on network TV, if you choose to believe Wikipedia.
This is actually the first season where NBC got games 1 and 4 - in the past, it had either had 1 and 2 OR 3 and 4 with OLN/Versus/NBC Sports showing the other two. (NBC always had any Games 5-7 since taking over from ESPN/ABC.)
RIMSHOT! I am having a hard time with this. There really shouldn't be any involvment from the police in sport. But again, you don't do what Bert did... In other words...I am making no sense...