The City of Vancouver and British Columbia's provincial government have announced the terms of an independent review into last week's Stanley Cup riots. It will examine everything from the role that alcohol may have played to how the city's police force planned to deal with unruly crowds.

The review will also examine whether preparations ahead of the riot took heed of recommendations that came out of Vancouver's 1994 riot, which erupted following Game 7 of the NHL finals that year.

A report was conducted in the wake of the 1994 riot, although it was never publicly released.

The new review is scheduled to wrap up by Aug. 31 and will be made available to the public, the province has said.

Organizers had set up large screens in the city centre ahead of last Wednesday's Game 7 between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins, and the event drew more than 100,000 people to the area.

It took hours for police to bring the riots under control after Vancouver lost. Cars were overturned, store windows were smashed and smoke billowed from overturned vehicles that had been lit ablaze.

Looters were seen stealing makeup, clothing and even mannequins from major retailers that were targeted during the riots, leaving a trail of destruction across the city's downtown. More than 150 were injured, including several police officers.

On Monday, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Jim Chu, the chief of the city's police force, welcomed the review.

Robertson has been accused of dodging questions about the city's preparations ahead of the riot, while Vancouver police have issued a statement denying that there was any political interference in police planning for the event.

Bob Whitelaw, who helped research the riot that broke out following the 1994 Stanley Cup final, said last Thursday that police ignored many of the 100 recommendations in an early draft version of the report.

"It would have been reduced," Whitelaw said, when asked if the violence would have been as severe if police had followed more of the recommendations.

"We had six games with no problem at all, win or lose for Vancouver. It was a seventh game in ‘94 and the seventh game last night that the plans fell apart for whatever reason."

To date, Vancouver police say they've arrested more than 110 people for breach of peace, public intoxication and a range of other charges.

It remains to be seen who will lead the review, which will be paid for by the province.

With files from The Canadian Press