How Many Games Are In The NHL Playoffs?

How many games are in the NHL playoffs? It depends on how far your team goes! Find out here.

How the NHL Playoffs Work

The Stanley Cup is the most coveted trophy in all of professional hockey, and the road to winning it starts with the Stanley Cup playoffs. The playoffs consist of 16 teams, eight from each conference (Western and Eastern), who play each other in a best-of-seven series.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs Format

The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) that determines the league champion and the winner of the Stanley Cup. The playoffs began on April 11, 2019, after the 2018–19 NHL season. The Stanley Cup Finals will began on May 27, and will end no later than June 12.

The Stanley Cup Finals is a best-of-seven series between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions, who are determined through two best-of-seven series—the first round (conference quarterfinals) and second round (conference semifinals).

The format of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has changed several times since 1908, when the tournament was created to determine the National Hockey Association’s top team. The NHL took over control of the championship in 1926. From 1927 to 1938, there were three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. In 1939, a single qualifying round was introduced prior to the quarterfinals; three rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals and finals) were played from 1940 to 1949; four rounds (two qualifying rounds followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and finals) were used in 1950; five rounds (three qualifying rounds followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and finals) were used from 1951–52 until 1966–67; four rounds have been used ever since 1967.

In most years between 1927 and 1938, all games were played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto; for parts of those seasons when Montreal Forum was available as an alternative site, some games were played there as well. Games 1 through 4 of all Stanley Cup Finals series have been played at Maple Leaf Gardens/Toronto Maple Leafs home ice (Air Canada Centre since 1999), with game 5 played at Montreal Forum/Montreal Canadiens home ice (Bell Centre since 1996), regardless of which teams were competing. Originally all games prior to the Final series were played in arenas of whichever team survived each previous series—in other words, there was no attempt made to create “neutral sites” for any playoff games prior to 1947 nor for non-Final playoff games before 1987.

How Many Games Are In The NHL Playoffs?

If the Stanley Cup Playoffs started today, which teams would be in and how would the bracket look?

The field of 16 is set for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which will begin August 1 with four best-of-five Qualifying Round series. Here’s a look at the matchups and schedule:

Eastern Conference
(1) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Carolina Hurricanes
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers
(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens
(6) Washington Capitals vs. (7) New York Islanders

Western Conference
(1) St. Louis Blues vs. (4) Vancouver Canucks
(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3) Dallas Stars
(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks
(6) Nashville Predators vs. (7) Arizona Coyotes

The first round of the playoffs will consist of eight best-of-seven series played between August 1 and August 23, 2020. The conference semifinals are scheduled to start August 25 and conclude no later than September 10, 2020. The conference finals are slated to start September 12 and end no later than September 26, 2020, while the Stanley Cup Final is set to start September 28 and conclude no later than October 13, 2020.

How the NHL Playoffs Are Structured

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, or Stanley Cup Finals.

The First Round

In the First Round of the playoffs, the schedule format is a 2-2-1-1-1. The higher seed will host games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (if necessary). The lower seed will host games 3, 4, and 6 (if necessary).

In the First Round, each best-of-seven series is played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The higher seed will host games one, two, five (if necessary), and seven (if necessary). The lower seed will host games three, four (if necessary), and six (if necessary).

For example, if the Nashville Predators are playing the Colorado Avalanche and the Predators have home ice advantage, the schedule would look like this:

Game 1: Thursday, April 11 in Nashville
Game 2: Saturday, April 13 in Nashville
Game 3: Monday, April 15 in Colorado
Game 4: Wednesday, April 17 in Colorado
Game 5: *Friday, April 19 in Nashville
Game 6: *Sunday , April 21 in Colorado
Game 7: *Tuesday , April 23 in Nashville

The Second Round

The second round of the playoffs, or the conference semifinals, is a best-of-seven series played between the four remaining teams in each conference. The team that advanced from the first round by winning the fewest games will face the team that advanced by winning the most games. The other matchup will feature the two other teams.

The Conference Finals

The Conference Finals are the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Conference Finals are played between the winners of the two semifinal series in each conference. The Conference Finals are best-of-seven series.

The Stanley Cup Final

The final series to determine the Stanley Cup champion is a best-of-seven series. The team that has accumulated the most points in the regular season is awarded home-ice advantage, meaning they will host Games 1, 2 (if necessary), 5 (if necessary) and 7 (if necessary). The other team will host Games 3, 4 (if necessary) and 6 (if necessary).

How the NHL Playoffs Have Changed Over Time

The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, or Stanley Cup Finals.

The Original Format

The first official NHL playoffs were held in 1917. At that time, the league consisted of four teams: the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and the Montreal Wanderers. The playoffs were a two-stage affair. In the first stage, the Wanderers and Senators played each other in a best-of-seven series while the Canadiens and Maple Leafs had a bye to the second stage. The winner of the Wanderers-Senators series then played the loser of the Canadiens-Maple Leafs series in a best-of-seven series with the winner advancing to play thewinner of the Canadiens-Maple Leafs series for the Stanley Cup.

The Current Format

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 teams, 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where the top team from each conference gets a bye to the second round, while the other 8 teams start in the first round. In order to make it to the Stanley Cup Final, a team must first win 3 best-of-7 series’.

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a best-of-5 series. The Conference Quarterfinals used to be best-of-7, but was changed to best-of-5 in 2015. From there, the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals are both best-of-7 series. The Stanley Cup Final is also a best-of-7 series.

In total, a team must win 16 games in order to hoist the Stanley Cup.

How the NHL Playoffs Affect the Regular Season

The NHL playoffs are a win-or-go-home tournament held at the end of the regular season to determine the Stanley Cup champion. The playoffs are comprised of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, or the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Importance of Home-Ice Advantage

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, home-ice advantage is the competition arrangement whereby the team with the better regular season record is awarded the opportunity to host more playoff games, including potentially the seventh game of a series. Home teams typically fare better in playoffs than in regular season. In Stanley Cup Playoffs history, home teams have won about 60 percent of all games.

The importance of home-ice advantage in the playoffs has been debated by NHL executives and broadcasters. Commissioners Gary Bettman and Clarence Campbell both indicated that home-ice advantage was important and should be maintained. Bettman later modified his stance, saying that while he believed it existed, its effects were “not as significant as some people think.” In 2006, Ed Olczyk, an analyst for Chicago Blackhawks broadcasts, said that “it’s not as big as it used to be” because of increased player mobility and parity in the league.

In a 2007 study, Wharton professor Cade Massey and University of British Columbia professor Richard Thaler found that while Bettman was correct that home-ice advantage’s effects were smaller than previously thought, it remained a significant factor. They wrote: “In our sample of 3142 series since 1984, we find that the HOME team wins 54% of games played, which is equivalent to an extra goal for every four goals scored.”

The Impact of the Playoffs on the Regular Season

The NHL playoffs have a significant impact on the regular season. For one thing, the playoffs are used to determine who wins the Stanley Cup, which is the biggest prize in hockey. The playoffs also have a big impact on the standings, as teams that do well in the playoffs tend to move up in the standings.

The NHL playoffs are also a very important time for TV ratings. The playoffs are one of the most watched events on television, and they generate a lot of revenue for the league. The playoff games are also very important for ticket sales. Tickets for playoff games are typically more expensive than tickets for regular season games, and they often sell out quickly.