How the Playoffs Work in the NHL

Everything you need to know about how the playoffs work in the NHL, from the regular season to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Introduction

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams that have qualified for the playoffs. The Stanley Cup, which is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded to the playoff champion at the end of the playoffs.

The playoffs consist of four rounds: the first three rounds are played within each conference (the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference), while the fourth round is played between the conference champions, and determines the Stanley Cup champion. The top three teams in each division make the playoffs, as well as two “wild card” teams from each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference).

The playoffs begin in April, and can last into June.

How the Stanley Cup Playoffs Work

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league. The NHL is composed of 30 teams: 7 in Canada and 23 in the United States. The Stanley Cup playoffs (sometimes known as the playoffs) are an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NHL regular season.

The Format

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 qualify for the playoffs. seeds one through three are reserved for the divisional winners. The team with the next best record in each conference is given the fourth seed, regardless of divisional alignment. The final two playoff spots in each conference go to the conference’s two wild card teams, which are the non-division winners with the best records.

In each round, lower seeds are matched up against higher seeds, with the first Seed playing against the Wild Card team and so forth. In order to ensure that as many high seeds as possible advance to later rounds, it is possible for teams to “re-seed” after each round so that the highest remaining seed always plays against the lowest remaining seed. For example, if in one conference only higher seeds win in Round 1 while in another conference all lower seeds win, then after Round 1 is complete all remaining teams would be reseeded so that in Round 2 the highest remaining seed plays against the lowest remaining seed regardless of what happened in Round 1.

The seeding

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams that have qualified for the postseason. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded to the playoff champion at the end of the Final.

Sixteen teams qualify for the playoffs: the top three teams in each of the four divisions plus two wild-card teams (the two remaining best teams in the conference). These seedings determine home-ice advantage in each best-of-seven series. The first two rounds of the playoffs are played within each division and follow a 2–2–1–1–1 format (the higher-seeded team plays at home for games one and two, and if necessary, five and seven):

In each series, whichever team has more points seeded higher; if there is a tie, then whichever team won more games in the regular season. Home ice advantage does not necessarily guarantee that a higher seed will win any given series, but it does give them an increased chance of success.

The first round

The first round of the playoffs, or the conference quarterfinals, is a best-of-seven series between the first and eighth seeds in each conference, the second and seventh seeds, the third seed and sixth seeds, and the fourth seed and fifth seeds. The four division winners in each conference are seeded one through four based on their regular season point totals, with the top seed playing the eighth seed, the second seed playing the seventh seed, the third seed playing the sixth seed and the fourth seed playing the fifth seed. Home ice advantage in each series goes to whichever team finished with more points in the regular season standings.

If two teams finished with an equal number of points, various tiebreakers are used to determine which team receives home ice advantage. In general, these tiebreakers favor teams that fared better within their own division over teams from other divisions. If a playoff spot is still up for grabs on the final day of the regular season, a mini-tournament known as a playoff may be held to determine which team gets in.

The first round is a best-of-seven series; meaning that whichever team wins four games advances to the next round, while the losing team is eliminated from Stanley Cup contention.

The Conference Finals

The top three teams in each division automatically qualify for the playoffs, along with the two next-best teams in each conference, based on regular-season record. This is commonly referred to as the “divisional” playoff format. The remaining four spots (the so-called “wild card” teams) are filled by the two next-best teams in each conference, based on regular-season record.

The Conference Finals are the last round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team that wins the Conference Finals in each conference moves on to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Stanley Cup Final

The Stanley Cup Final is the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The annual playoff tournament concludes with the Eastern and Western conference champions playing each other in a best-of-seven series. The Stanley Cup, which is the oldest trophy in North America and predates the NHL itself, is awarded to the playoff champion at the end of the final series.

The Stanley Cup Final is preceded by two rounds of best-of-seven playoff series. The first round matches up the top three teams from each division (based on regular season standings). These six teams are seeded 1-6, with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye. The remaining four teams play each other in a best-of-seven series, with the lower seed hosting Games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary), and the higher seed hosting Games 3 and 4 (if necessary).

The second round features the winners of each first-round series playing each other. Seedings again play a role in who plays who and where each game is played. The higher seed still hosts Games 3 and 4 (if necessary), but now also hosts Game 6 (if necessary), while the lower seed hosts Game 5 (if necessary).

Once the field is narrowed down to just two teams, those teams face off in the Stanley Cup Final. The format stays consistent with previous rounds, meaning that home ice advantage goes to the team with better regular season record. That team then host Games 1, 2, 5 (if necessary), and 7 (if necessary) while their opponent hosts Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) as well as Game 6 (if necessary).

Conclusion

In order to make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, teams must first clinch a spot in the playoffs. This is done by either winning their division or by having one of the best records among all of the teams that did not win their division. Once the playoffs begin, the matchups are determined by seedings. The team with the best record in each conference is matched up against the team with the worst record and so on.

The playoffs are a single elimination tournament meaning that once a team loses, they are out of the playoffs. The final round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series between the two remaining teams in each conference. The two teams that make it to this round are referred to as the Conference Champions. The winner of each Conference Championship series then moves on to play each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Stanley Cup Finals is also a best-of-seven series and whoever wins this series is crowned the Stanley Cup Champions.