Vancouver Canucks to Face Los Angeles Kings and Bad Schedule in the First Round

On what was billed as Super Saturday in the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks clinched their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy by defeating the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 at Rogers Arena. The win guarantees the team home-ice advantage throughout the entire Stanley Cup playoffs.

In California, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 after Dan Boyle scored the overtime winner. The win moved the Sharks into seventh place and the Kings dropped to eighth to face the Canucks.

The Canucks probably would have liked to play the Sharks in the first round since they match up better against them, but more importantly the ice conditions and scheduling will be much more preferable at the HP Pavilion in San Jose than at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Staples Center hosts over 250 events in a year and is home to the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers in addition to the NHL's Kings. 

There are basketball games at the arena April 13th through to the 17th. The games on the 14th and 26th are a 12:30 p.m. start and the rink could be converted in the late afternoon for a 7:30 p.m. hockey game. Latin band Mana will be performing on the 19th and 20th. 

At Rogers Arena, Coldplay has the arena back-to-back on April 20th and 21st.

We will be in for a wacky first-round schedule and not the traditional every-other-night games. Based on the arena availability of Staples Center and Rogers Arena, the first-round schedule is likely to be:

Game 1: Wednesday, April 11
Game 2: Friday, April 13
Game 3: Sunday, April 15
Game 4: Wednesday, April 18
Game 5: Thursday, April 19
Game 6: Saturday, April 21
Game 7: Monday, April 23

The National Hockey League will announce their schedule later today at 1 p.m. ET and 11 a.m. PT.