How Many Home Games Does an NHL Team Play?
How Many Home Games Does an NHL Team Play?
The NHL schedule is very hectic, and teams play almost every night.
This leaves very little time for practice, and even less time for
recovery between games. So, how many home games does an NHL
team play in a season?
82 regular season games
An NHL team plays 82 regular season games. 41 of those games are played at home, and 41 are played away. The remaining games are played against teams in the other conference, and are considered “away” games even if the team is technically the home team.
41 home games
NHL teams play a total of 82 regular-season games. Of those 82 games, each team plays 41 at home and 41 on the road.
41 away games
Each NHL team plays all other teams in their conference four times during the regular season, two at home and two on the road. With an odd number of teams in each conference (15), this works out to each team playing one less game than their number of conference opponents. In addition, each team also plays every team from the other conference twice during the regular season, once at home and once on the road. This works out to 30 games against non-conference opponents for a total of 74 regular season games.
4 preseason games
4 preseason games, 82 regular season games, and anywhere from 0 to 28 playoff games.
0-2 exhibition games
Exhibition games (also called “pre-season” games) do not count in the standings. They are used to help coaches determine what lineups and strategies work best, and give players a chance to prove themselves before the regular season starts. NHL teams play 0-2 exhibition games before the regular season begins.
