More on Stanley Cup Finals schedule. (UPDATED)

The NHL has a new, though not necessarily improved, schedule for its marquee event.

As mentioned earlier, the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals is currently slated to begin on a Friday night. Currently, Game 1 is set for Friday, June 5. However, if the NHL Conference Finals end before May 26, the opener would take place on Friday, May 29. Keep in mind that an NBC spokesman says there are “several scenarios” for the Stanley Cup Finals schedule.

Unlike previous years, when the Stanley Cup Finals had a Monday-Wednesday-Saturday rotation, there seems to be little rhyme or reason to the scheduling of days in this year’s version. The series is scheduled to open with games on back-to-back nights, before switching to an every-other-day pattern for the final five games. Games could potentially end up airing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Bizarrely, in the alternate schedule that has the finals beginning on May 29, the series would still kick off with back-to-back games, before featuring two-day breaks between Games 2 and 3, Games 5 and 6, and Games 6 and 7.

Regardless of the schedule, the NHL is set to go head-to-head with the NBA at least once. If the series starts on June 5, the Stanley Cup Finals will air on the same day as the NBA Finals twice — June 14 and 16. If the series starts on May 29, that will occur once, on June 4.

2009 Stanley Cup Finals schedule.
if the Conference Finals end after May 26

if the Conference Finals end before May 26

Updated 5/27/09: The Penguins/Red Wings 2009 Stanley Cup Finals will begin on Saturday, May 30.