When Did the 2021 NHL Season Start?
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The 2021 NHL season started on January 13th, 2021.
January 13th, 2021
The 2021 NHL season is finally here! After a long offseason, the puck will drop on January 13th, 2021. All teams will play a 56-game regular season schedule, with games primarily taking place within each team’s divisions.
This will be the first time since the 1967-68 season that every team will not play each other at least once during the regular season. Instead, teams will play mostly divisional opponents, with a handful of games against non-divisional opponents.
The 2021 NHL season is sure to be an exciting one, so be sure to catch all the action!
56 games in the regular season
The 56-game regular season schedule began on Wednesday, Jan. 13, with the New York Rangers hosting the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden and the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Anaheim Ducks at Staples Center.
4 divisional playoff rounds
The 2021 NHL season was tentatively scheduled to begin on October 12, 2020, with the Stanley Cup Finals taking place in early July 2021. However, the season was delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On December 20, 2020, it was announced that the 2021 season would instead start on January 13, 2021.
The playoffs will consist of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first two rounds will be divisional matchups, with the first seed in each division playing the fourth seed and the second seed playing the third seed.
The winners of each divisional playoff round will then advance to the conference finals, where they will face off against each other. The conference finals winners will then advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final
The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final are the last rounds of the playoffs. The Conference Finals are best-of-seven series. The team that wins four games in the Conference Finals advances to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Stanley Cup Final is also a best-of-seven series. The team that wins four games in the Stanley Cup Final is crowned the Stanley Cup champion.
The 2021 NHL season began on January 13, 2021, with the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final being contested from May 15 to June 2, 2021.
