How Does the NHL Season Work?
How does the NHL season work? The NHL season is a long and grueling one, with 82 games played over the course of six months. Players must be in excellent shape and have a lot of stamina to make it through the season.
Introduction
The NHL season is a long and complicated affair, with a lot of moving parts. In this article, we’ll break down how the season works, from start to finish.
The NHL season begins in October, with training camp and the preseason. The regular season then runs from October to early April. The playoffs begin in April and can run into June.
The regular season is made up of 1,271 games, played by 30 teams. Each team plays 82 games, with 41 at home and 41 on the road. The games are spread out over six months, with each team playing every other team at least twice.
During the regular season, teams accumulate points based on their performance. The team with the most points at the end of the regular season is awarded the Stanley Cup.
The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament involving the 16 teams that have accrued the most points during the regular season. The playoffs are played over a period of two months, with the Stanley Cup being awarded to the team that emerges victorious from the final series.
The Regular Season
The NHL regular season is when each team plays 82 games. These games are used to determine playoff seeding. The regular season starts in October and ends in April. The NHL playoffs start in April and end in June.
Format
During the regular season, each team plays 82 games: 41 home games and 41 away games. For purposes of standings points, all games are grouped into two categories: divisional and non-divisional. A team gets two points for a win, one point for a loss in overtime or a shootout, and no points for a regulation loss.
teams areranked in the standings by their combined points. The top three teams in each division earn automatic berths in the playoffs. The next two best teams in each conference (based on regular season points) earn wild card berths.
In the first round of the playoffs, the wild card teams are matched up against the division winners that have the fewest number of points. The other division winner is matched up against the team with the best record that did not win its division. The first round is a best-of-seven series played entirely within one conference.
The winners of each first-round series advance to the second round, where they are reseeded to play another best-of-seven series against an opponent from either conference. The second round is also known as the Conference Semifinals.
The Conference Finals are next, and like the Conference Semifinals, they are best-of-seven series played between conference rivals. The winners of each Conference Final advance to the Stanley Cup Final, which is also a best-of-seven series.
Length
The National Hockey League (NHL) regular season typically runs from October to early April, with each team playing 82 games.
The regular season is followed by the Stanley Cup playoffs, a best-of-seven single-elimination tournament among the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs. The playoff champion is awarded the Stanley Cup.
Standings
The standings are important because the top three teams in each division plus the two teams with the next best records in the conference automatically qualify for the playoffs. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a best-of-seven series. The team that wins four games wins the series and moves on to the next round.
The Playoffs
The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams that have qualified for the playoffs. Eight teams from each of the two conferences compete in the playoffs. The conference champions proceed to the Stanley Cup Final.
Format
The NHL season is divided into a regular season and a postseason. The regular season is when each team plays 82 games. These games are used to determine which teams will make the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that determines the Stanley Cup champion.
The playoffs are bracketed by two things: conference and seed. There are two conferences in the NHL, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference has 16 teams, 8 in each division. The playoff field is filled with the top 3 teams in each division plus 2 “wild card” teams. These are the teams with the next best records regardless of division. So, in total, there are 16 teams in the playoffs, 8 from each conference.
Once the field is set, the playoffs begin! The first round is a best of 7 series between the 1st and 8th seeds in each conference, the 2nd and 7th seeds, the 3rd seed and 6th seeds, and the 4th seed and 5th seed. The winners of each series move on to the next round where they’re re-seeded according to their regular season record. So, the 1st seed would play whichever team came out of the 4 vs 5 series, etc. This round is also a best of 7.
The winners of each conference then face off in the Stanley Cup Final which is also a best of 7 series. And that’s it! Whoever wins 4 games first wins the Stanley Cup!
Length
The regular season is 82 games long, with each team playing every other team twice at home and twice away. The top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wildcard teams in each conference. The playoffs are a single elimination tournament where the best of seven games moves on until one team is left standing per conference. That team advances to the Stanley Cup Final where they play the winner of the other conference for the championship.
Conclusion
The Stanley Cup playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). The winners of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals earn berths in the Stanley Cup Final, which is a best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner of the Stanley Cup.
