Vancouver bar and restaurant owners are hiring eight private security guards to help city police maintain order in the Granville Mall entertainment district, just in time for the NHL playoffs.

The Vancouver Canucks won their game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, assuring a playoff spot for the team.

A spokesman for the bars says that means there will be many more people in downtown Vancouver spending money on food and drink, which means a greater potential for problems.

"People come from around the province, they stay in the hotels, they go out for dinner in the restaurants, they go to the bars before the games, they go to bars after the games," said John Teti of Barwatch.

"You know, everybody wants to be with other people to share the experience and to share the glory."

Teti said the guards will be asking people to pour out alcohol if they're caught with it on the street.

The downtown bar strip has been a magnet for drunken violence since the previous city council began extending weekend closing times in 2003.

There are more than 5,000 licensed liquor seats in bars and clubs in the three-block strip, and the later closing time attracts young revellers from across the Lower Mainland.

The Canucks play their last regular-season game on April 8, with the playoffs starting a few days after that. The team sits third in the Western conference standings.