How Do the NHL Playoffs Work This Year?

How do the NHL playoffs work this year? The Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us and it’s time to find out how the NHL’s postseason works.

Introduction

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NHL regular season. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded to the playoff champion at the end of the finals.

The playoffs consist of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The three division winners in each conference (based on regular season point totals) earn automatic berths in the first round, while the two “wild card” teams in each conference (the two non-division winners with the most points) also qualify for the playoffs. The seedings are used to determine home-ice advantage throughtout the playoffs.

In the first round, the division winner with the best record in each conference is matched against the wild card team with the poorest record; while the other division winner is pitted against the other wild card team. The second round features the winners of these series playing against each other; then, in each conference’s respective third round, those winners play against 1) either one of their division’s second or third place team or 2) a wild card team from their own conference that advanced further than their division’s second or third place team. Finally, for the Stanley Cup Finals, two remaining teams from each conference square off against each other regardless of divisional affiliation.

How the NHL Playoffs Work

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NHL’s regular season. The playoffs are structured so that teams from different divisions cannot meet until the semifinal round (the conference finals), ensuring the best possible match-ups. The tournament culminates with the Stanley Cup Finals, in which the Eastern and Western conference champions face off.

The Qualifying Round

In order to participate in the Stanley Cup playoffs, a team must first qualify. In the current NHL playoff format, 16 teams qualify for the playoffs – the top three teams in each division and two wild card teams in each conference. The first two rounds of the playoffs are divisional and played entirely within the conference. The divisional winners advance to round three, the Conference Finals, and then the Stanley Cup Finals which pit the Eastern Conference Champions against the Western Conference Champions.

In order to determine which teams will participate in the qualifying round,the regular season standings are used. The bottom four teams in each conference compete in a best-of-five play-in series to determine which teams advance to the first round of the playoffs. In previous seasons, there were no divisions and all playoff spots were determined by regular season points.

During the qualifying round, matchups are reseeded after every odd-numbered game (1, 3, 5). The team that has more total wins at that point will have home-ice advantage for the remainder of that series, regardless of whether they were seeded higher or lower originally. If both teams end up with an equal number of total wins (2-2 or 3-3), then whichever team was seeded higher originally will retain home-ice advantage for the remainder of that series.

The First Round

The First Round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series played between the 8th and 9th ranked teams in each conference. The winning team from each series moves on to the Conference Semifinals.

The Conference Semifinals

In the Conference Semifinals, the field narrows from eight to four teams. The four remaining teams in each conference (the top two seeds in each division and the next two best records regardless of division) play each other in best-of-seven series. The higher-seeded team hosts Games 1, 2 and 5 (if necessary), and the lower-seeded team hosts Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary).

In the First Round of the playoffs, the division winner with the best record in each conference is matched against the wild-card team with the lesser record; while the other division winner is pitted against the wild-card team with the better record. In Conference Semifinals, divisional seeding is disregarded and the winners of each series from Conference Quarterfinals are re-seeded one through four based on their regular season records.

The Conference Finals

Past the second round and into the conference finals, the playoffs are a best-of-seven series. From here on out, all the rounds are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The team with the better record in the regular season gets home-ice advantage.

In the conference finals, the team with home-ice advantage hosts games one, two, five, and seven. The other team hosts games three, four, and six. If you’ll recall from our explanation of the Stanley Cup Finals format, home ice is determined by record for that particular round of playoffs, not by regular season record. So if a wild card team has a better record than either division winner did in the second round, that wild card team would have home ice in the conference finals against whichever division winner it advanced past.

The Stanley Cup Final

The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Eight teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season points. The final round, the Stanley Cup Final, pits the conference champions against each other to decide who will hoist Lord Stanley’s mug.

The Stanley Cup Final is a best-of-seven series played between the champions of the Eastern and Western Conferences. The team with the better regular season record receives home ice advantage, meaning four of the seven games are played at their home arena. The team that wins four games first becomes Stanley Cup champions and receives a commemorative ring.

In order for a team to even make it to the Stanley Cup Final, they must first go through three grueling rounds of best-of-seven hockey. Here’s how it works:

The first two rounds are divisional, meaning that teams face off against opponents within their own division. The top team in each division earns playoff seeding and home ice advantage in every series. In total, there are 16 teams vying for a spot in the conference finals at this stage in the playoffs.

In the third round, conference semifinals, things get a little more cutthroat as teams now play against anyone in their conference regardless of division. The remaining four teams from each conference compete in this round with only two making it through to face off against each other in the conference finals.

Only once a team has made it through all three rounds do they have a chance at playing for Lord Stanley’s Mug –the most coveted trophy in all of professional sports.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the NHL playoffs are a complex and ever-changing system. They are constantly being tweaked to try and create the most fair and exciting postseason possible. With so many different teams and scenarios, it can be difficult to keep up with how it all works. However, by understanding the basic structure and format, you can get a pretty good idea of how the playoffs work and what to expect each year.