Who Makes The Nhl Playoffs?

The NHL playoffs are one of the most exciting times of the year for hockey fans. But who makes the playoffs? Here’s a look at the teams that have qualified so far.

How the NHL Playoffs Work

There are 16 teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs: the top three teams in each of the four divisions (Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, Pacific) and two wildcard teams in each conference (the East and the West). The playoffs are a best-of-seven series. The team that wins four games advances to the next round.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL)

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The two teams remaining at the end of the conference finals compete for the Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America.

NHL playoff seedings are determined by each team’s regular season record. The playoffs follow a preset bracket format; during each round, the higher-seeded team is awarded home-ice advantage, meaning they play more games at their home arena than their opponent.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs began on April 11, 2019, and will end on June 12 or 13, 2019, with the Stanley Cup Finals.

The playoffs are contested by 16 teams: the top 8 teams in each conference

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are a major professional ice hockey tournament held after the conclusion of the NHL’s regular season. The playoffs are contested by 16 teams: the top 8 teams in each conference. The playoffs begin in late April or early May, and end in late May or early June, with the Stanley Cup Finals held in June.

The Stanley Cup, awarded to the championship team, is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America. It was first awarded in 1893 to Montreal HC, and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Canadian Governor General who donated it as an award to Canada’s top-ranking amateur hockey club. The Stanley Cup has been awarded 92 times to 71 different teams since 1893, making it one of the most coveted trophies in all of professional sports.

As of 2019, the NHL is the only major professional sports league in North America that does not have a playoff system in place to determine its champion; all other leagues use some form of playoff system, with varying degrees of complexity. The NHL’s playoff system is often criticized for being too complicated and for giving an unfair advantage to teams that finish higher up in the standings.

What Happens If Two Teams Tied?

In the National Hockey League (NHL), the Stanley Cup playoffs are an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the regular season to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America. If two teams are tied for a playoff spot, there are a few different ways to break the tie.

If two teams are tied in points, the following tiebreakers are used:

If two teams are tied in points, the following tiebreakers are used:

1. The team with the most wins is awarded the higher playoff seed.

2. If both teams have equal numbers of wins, the tie is broken using the following criterion:
-a. Fewest losses
-b. Most goals for
-c. Head-to-head record

Greater number of wins

If two teams have the same number of points, the Playoff berth will be given to the team with the greater number of wins. If the teams have identical records in both overall wins and regulation plus overtime wins, then the remaining tiebreaker is based on goal differential.

Greater number of points earned in head-to-head competition

If two Clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two Clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those Clubs, and not including any “odd” games, shall be used to determine the standing.

Greater goal differential in head-to-head competition

If two teams are tied in the standings, the first tiebreaker is their head-to-head record. If they split their season series, or if they didn’t play each other at all, the next tiebreaker is goal differential. That is, the number of goals a team scores minus the number of goals it gives up.

Greater number of goals scored in head-to-head competition

If two teams are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, standings points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall be disregarded. The winner of the head-to-head series between the two teams will receive credit for 1 point in the standings.

How the Stanley Cup Playoffs Work

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The series are played in late April and early May, and the Stanley Cup Finals, in which the league’s champion is determined, is played in June.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a best-of-seven tournament

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a best-of-seven tournament held after the conclusion of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) regular season. As of 2014, the playoffs feature 16 teams, eight from each of the league’s two conferences. The conference quarterfinals are followed by the semifinals and then the conference finals, and finally the Stanley Cup Final.

In order to make the playoffs, a team must finish the regular season in either first place overall in their conference, or in one of the top four spots in their conference’s standings. The exceptions to this rule are if there are not enough teams remaining in a conference to fill out all four playoff spots (due to team folding or relocation), or if there is a odd number of teams in a conference. In these cases, the playoff field is determined by whichever method would result in the most balanced playoff matchups.

Once the playoff field is set, the matchups for each series are determined by seeding. The higher seed receives home ice advantage, meaning they will host games one, two, five and seven (if necessary) while their opponent will host games three, four and six (if necessary). The Stanley Cup Playoffs use a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning that regardless of which team has home ice advantage, they will host games two and three as well as games six and seven (if necessary), while their opponent will host games one and four as well as game five (if necessary).

The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin with four best-of-seven series involving the 16 teams that qualified for postseason play. These “play-in” series are structured so that whichever team has earned more points throughout the regular season faces off against whoever has earned fewer points; likewise, whenever possible these match ups pit division rivals against each other. Conference fixtures are avoided during this round whenever possible.

The team that scores the most goals in a series wins the series

In each series, the team that scores the most goals in four games (or in the first three games, if one team wins three games before the other scores in the fourth game) wins the series. If both teams have scored the same number of goals at the end of four games, or if both teams have won three games and are tied at the end of Game 6, then a seventh game (or “Game 7”) is played to determine which team will advance to the next round.

In all rounds except for the Stanley Cup Final, if a seventh game is necessary, it is played at a neutral site. The higher-seeded team will have “home-ice advantage” (meaning that they will get to pick which arena the game will be played in), but because it is a neutral site, neither team will have an advantage in terms of fans or travel.

The Stanley Cup Final works differently: in this round, home-ice advantage goes to the team with more total wins in their regular season. So, if two teams each had 50 wins during the regular season and one had more losses than the other, then that team would have home-ice advantage during the Stanley Cup Final.

If a seven-game series goes to overtime in any playoff round, then sudden death rules apply: whichever team scores a goal first during overtime will win the game and advance to the next round.

What Happens If the Series Is Tied After Seven Games?

If the series is tied after seven games, teams will play a best-of-five series until a winner is determined. This has happened four times in NHL history, most recently in 2014 when the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks played a best-of-five series.

If the series is tied after seven games, a sudden death overtime period is played

If the series is tied after seven games, a sudden death overtime period is played. The team that scores first during the overtime period is declared the winner. If no team scores during the overtime period, the game goes into a shootout.

The first team to score in the overtime period is declared the winner

If the score is still tied after the overtime period, the first team to score in the shootout is declared the winner.