How Many Games are in the NHL Season?
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The NHL regular season typically runs from October to early April. So, How Many Games are in the NHL Season?
82
NHL regular season play is divided into a preseason, in which each team plays several exhibition games against other NHL teams and/or against teams from other professional leagues; and a 82-game regular season.
Every Team Plays Every Other Team At Least Twice
The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composer of 30 teams, of which 7 are located in Canada and 23 in the United States. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded to the playoff champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals.
During the regular season, each team plays 82 games: 41 home games and 41 away games. Every team plays every other team at least twice, once at each team’s home arena. Considering that there are 30 teams in the league, this means that each team has to play a minimum of 24 games ( 82 minus 58) against teams in other divisions within their own conference.
30 Teams in the NHL
During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 at home and 41 on the road. There are 30 teams in the NHL, so there are a total of 2,460 games in the regular season. In a given year, about 1,230 of those games are played on weekdays (Monday through Thursday), while the other 1,230 are played on weekends (Friday through Sunday).
41 Home Games and 41 Away Games
In a typical NHL season, each team plays 41 home games and 41 away games.
4 Games Against Each Divisional Opponent
The NHL is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference is then divided into three divisions. There are a total of 31 teams in the NHL, with 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 15 teams in the Western Conference.
Each team plays 82 games in the regular season. Of those 82 games, 40 are played within their own conference and 24 are played against non-conference opponents. The final 18 games are inter-divisional games, meaning each team plays 4 games against each team in their division for a total of 72 games. This leaves 10 games to be played against non-divisional opponents within the conference.
2 Games Against Each Non-Divisional Opponent
Each team plays every other team in the league twice—once at home and once on the road—for a total of 82 games. In a typical NHL season, teams play 40 games within their division—two games against each of the other teams in their division.
1 Game Against Each Team in the Opposite Conference
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. From its inception in 1917 until 1967, it was known as the National Hockey Association (NHA). The NHL took control of the Stanley Cup in 1926 and thus became the championship league of hockey.
The NHL’s regular season runs from October through early April, with each team playing 82 games. Forty games are played within each team’s conference – 20 intra-divisional games, and 10 non-divisional cross-over games. A further 24 non-divisional cross-over games are also played against teams from the other conference, for a total of 64 games. These inter-conference games take place throughout the regular season schedule but are mostly concentrated towards the end, forming the majority of a team’s schedule after the trade deadline.
