But the Canucks needed just five games to beat San Jose in the Western Conference Final, so their break between games will be eight days before Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final in Vancouver on Wednesday. Staying sharp with such a long layoff can be a challenge, but Canucks coach Alain Vigneault doesn't expect it to be an issue.
"It's the same answer as when we had two days off," Vigneault said after practice Monday at Rogers Arena. "I said that was great. I said if we would have had nine days off it would have been great. So we have eight days between games and that's perfect."
The extra time has helped Vancouver get a bit healthier, and at least one player enjoyed the extra rest.
"It was definitely nice to get some extra days," defenseman Christian Ehrhoff said. "That definitely helped."
Ehrhoff missed the final two games of the San Jose series with an upper-body injury, but declared himself good to go in Game 1 against Boston. While Ehrhoff benefited from the long break, even he is ready to get back to work.
"We're definitely kind of eager," Ehrhoff said. "The days are kind of stretching a lot and we'll be happy to get it started on Wednesday."
Vigneault has tried some different approaches to practice to keep the Canucks sharp. Monday's workout opened with a lengthy scrimmage, the second scrimmage the club has had in the last three days to try to simulate game conditions.
"It was just to make sure our guys are physically and mentally sharp on the ice," Vigneault said. "Instead of doing drills, we thought that this was the proper way to get them ready. After the 20-minute scrimmage of stop time, we did some power play and penalty killing work. We thought with this today and a good practice tomorrow we're going to be ready on Wednesday."