How Many Games Are In a Regular NHL Season?

The NHL season is composed of 82 regular season games, followed by the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

82 Regular Season Games

An NHL season is made up of 82 regular season games, plus any playoff games. The regular season runs from early October to early April, with each team playing 82 total games.

4 Pre-Season Games

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 24 in the United States and 6 in Canada. Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world,[1] and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America,[2] is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA). After a tumultuous period in which several teams were formed and dissolved, an agreement was reached in 1926 that saw franchises granted to CliveCmdthe then-popular Eastern Canadian cities of Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa.[3] The ‘Original Six’ era of play lasted until 1967 when expansion brought six new teams into the league: Los Angeles, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia (now defunct), San Francisco (also now defunct), and St. Louis.

Since its inception, there have been three Commissionersthe most recent being Gary Bettman who was appointed in February 1993. Bettman oversaw massive expansion into non-traditional hockey markets such as Anaheim, Miami CMAFrsfdsalary cap centralization to restore competitive balance,[4][5][6], realignment into six divisions from fourmPxTs*/and implementation of a shootout to decide tied games which had previously resulted in ties.[7] Under Bettman’s stewardship, revenue increased from $400 million US$429 million during his first full season as commissioner C$3.2 billion by 2010–11.[8] On June 22, 2011 at Nassau Coliseum home arena of the New York Islanders Bettman announced that Winnipeg would be returning to NHL action for 2011–12 after 15 years’ absence as an NHL market due to financial problems with former owner Bruce Hamilton that resulted in their sale and relocation to Phoenix as part Arizona Coyotes now Arizona Coyotes following Hamilton’s death.[9][10][11]

16 Playoff Games

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

A regular season game is 60 minutes long, split into three periods of 20 minutes each. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime periods of 5 minutes each are played. During the regular season, each team plays 82 games: 41 home games and 41 away games.

The 16 teams that qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs play best-of-seven series in four rounds. The four divisional champions (the team with the best record in each division) are seeded first and second based on their regular season record. The two conference champions (the teams with the best records in each conference) are seeded first and second regardless of divisional affiliation.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in April and can last until early June.