The Conference Finals are in full swing and although we don’t know who will represent their respective conferences, we do know when they will play. The Western Conference finals are currently scheduled to end on Tuesday, June 4th, while the Eastern Conference Final will end on Monday, June 3rd (if necessary). Today, the NHL announced the schedule for the Stanley Cup Finals (as per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period).
The schedule will be as follows:
Game 1 – June 8
Game 2 – June 10
Game 3 – June 13
Game 4 – June 15
Game 5* – June 18
Game 6* – June 21
Game 7* – June 24
*if necessary
Home ice will be determined once the eventual finalists are through the Conference Finals. Of the four teams in the Conference Finals, only the Edmonton Oilers are unable to get a home-ice advantage as they finished with the fewest points in the regular season. Typically, the higher-seeded team would have home-ice advantage, however, in the Stanley Cup Finals, home-ice advantage goes to whichever team had a better regular season record.
The finals will feature two-day breaks to accommodate for travel, while Games 1 and 2 as well as Games 3 and 4 will have a one day break between games. If the finals do go seven games the cup will be rewarded 11 days later than it was last season when the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in five games on June 13th. However, it would be in line with the 2022 finals which were completed on June 26th, 2022.