The NHL returned to its 82 games per team after the pandemic years. Bettors now have again plenty of opportunities to stake on the line of their choice with a total of 1,271 games only in the regular season. Safe to say that the season starting soon will offer hockey fans the same level of excitement and plenty of surprises as in the past.
Format
The NHL is formed of two conferences Eastern and Western. Each conference is divided into two divisions: Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions form the Eastern conference while the Pacific and Central divisions belong to the Western Conference. Each division includes eight teams with the exception of the Central division which lists only seven teams.
Regular Season Schedule
The schedule is structured so that every NHL team plays in every arena at least once per season. Each team will play three or four games against each team in its own division, three games against each other team in its own conference and two games against all the teams in the other conference.
There are some exceptions in scheduling the regular season games to allow each team to play in every single arena as mentioned above. For example the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche played each other four times in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016, but only twice in 2014-15 and 2016-17 in favour of five games against all their divisional opponents.
The are not too many breaks during the regular season, with the exception of three days for Christmas between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and the break for the NHL All-Star Game mid season.
The league also schedules a three day Christmas break when no regular season games are played on either Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Games are not played on December 26 unless it falls on a Saturday, of which no games would be played on December 23. The NHL also has a holiday roster freeze between December 18 and 27, in which in most cases, players cannot be traded, waived, or sent to the minor leagues
Two points are awarded for a win (including in overtime and shootout), one point for a loss in overtime or shootout, and no points for a loss in regulation time. If, however, a team pulls their goaltender for an extra attacker during overtime and gives up an empty net goal, the point normally awarded for losing in overtime is forfeited. This rule forces the coaches to prefer one certain point over the risk of allowing an empty net goal and getting zero points so they would prefer not pulling the goalie.
Playoffs Rules
There are a total of 16 teams that qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Playoffs are organized as an elimination tournament consisting of three rounds of best-of-seven to determine which team from each conference will advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The playoff spots are awarded to the top three teams in each division and the next two teams in each conference earn wild-card spots.
The First Round has the top ranked team in the conference against the lower ranked wild-card and the other division winner against the higher ranked wild-card. The second and third place teams in each division play each other. The top ranked team in a division, along with its wild card opponent and the second and third ranked teams of the same division comprise a group or bracket during the First Round, and the two winners will meet in the Second Round. The Western Conference (Pacific vs. Central divisional bracket winners) and Eastern Conference (Atlantic vs. Metropolitan divisional bracket winners) Finals will determine who faces off in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Any ties in the standings are broken using the following protocols:
- The greater number of regulation wins only (since the 2019-20 season, marked by the RW statistic).
- The greater number of regulation and overtime wins, excluding shootouts (used since the 2010-11 season, marked by the ROW statistic).
- The greater number of total wins, including shootouts.
- The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs.
- If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, the points earned and available in the first game played in the city of the club that had the greater number of home games in games between the two are not 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, are used to determine the standing. The “odd” games are identical to those mentioned in the previous paragraph, that is, the first game in the city of the club that has had more home games in games between each club in the tie. Note that, because of this procedure, if two teams in the multi team tie (also applicable in a two team tie) have only played once against each other, the points earned in that game are not included.
- The greater differential between goals for and goals against during the entire regular season.
- The greater amount of goals scored (used since 2019-20 season, marked by the GF statistic).
- If two clubs are still tied on non-shootout wins, points earned between the tied clubs and regular season goal differential, a one-game playoff is played under Stanley Cup playoff rules.
For the first two rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record). Thereafter, it goes to whoever has the better regular season record (no matter the seeding). The team with home-ice advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, while the opponent hosts Games 3, 4 and 6 (Games 5–7 are played only if necessary).
Generally the Stanley Cup finals are played in June as the best out of seven matchup.
Conclusion
Now that you understand how points are awarded, what places in each division ensures a spot in playoffs and what are some of the advantages for the higher-seeded team, you can start making your choices for the lines to bet. Or if you still find it hard to chose a line based on various odds, stake on your favorite team and double up on the joy of watching your team winning or share in the pain that accompanies a loss. As in any other betting events, the more you know about a sport and teams playing it, the more you increase your odds of placing successful bets. If you are trying to improve your odds even more, check our article that explains in more debt the hockey betting lines.