Stanley Cup Final conflict forces Andrea Bocelli to reschedule concert

Arena availability during playoff time is always a tricking thing when trying to schedule games. So it comes as no surprise that the Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks is forcing the rescheduling of an event from San Jose’s SAP Center.

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli was set to perform on Saturday, June 4, but when the NHL released its schedule for the final round, the concert conflicted with Game 3.

As a resolution, Bocelli has moved the concert from Saturday to Friday and he “congratulates the San Jose Sharks for reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history and wishes them success in the best of 7-game series," according to a statement.

This isn’t the first time the Penguins have been involved in a series where a big concert forced a change in scheduling.

During the Penguins’ 2009 second-round series against the Washington Capitals, a scheduled Yanni concert at Mellon Arena forced the NHL to schedule Games 4 and 5 back-to-back in Pittsburgh and Washington. That upset Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, as the Penguins won both games.

It probably didn’t help that Yanni appeared to be a sleeper agent for the Penguins all along.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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