NHL Playoff Question

[UtterBlitz]

Hey guys, I have been watching the Capitals this year but I don't know a lot about hockey. They are in the playoffs right now and I was wondering how it works.

They played the Flyers last night and won 5 to 4 and looking at the schedule it appears that they are going to play them 6 more times. I assume that all of the teams that are playing each other play 7 times and the one who wins the most games continues on? I would assume then that there is a second round of the playoffs?

Can someone please explain the playoffs to me? How many rounds are there? How long does this go on for?

Thanks.

[RamFan_Til_I_Die]

In the NHL 16 of 30 teams make the playoffs (way too many IMO)...there are 4 rounds played and each round has the potential for 7 games to be played, but the team to win 4 games first moves on to the next round.

From wikipedia:

The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, dubbed the Stanley Cup Finals. The winner of that series becomes the NHL and Stanley Cup champion.

The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of four matchups in each conference, based on the seedings (1–8, 2–7, 3–6, and 4–5). In the second round, or Conference Semifinals, the top remaining conference seed plays against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pair off (unlike the NBA, for example, where the 1–8 winner always plays the 4–5 winner, regardless of who wins). In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.

For the first three rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record). In the Stanley Cup Finals, it goes to the team with the better regular season record. 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 "if necessary").

[UtterBlitz]

So each playoff team could play as many as 28 playoff games. That is a lot of games. It is better to win early then. Do they get a break if they win 4 in a row?

16 out of 30 teams make the playoffs....over half. It would be really disappointing to miss the playoffs in the NHL. I think it is interesting that there is no one game elimination in the playoffs. It is sort of like the world series mixed in with the playoffs.

[laram0]

So each playoff team could play as many as 28 playoff games. That is a lot of games. It is better to win early then. Do they get a break if they win 4 in a row?

A team that wins in a 4 game sweep could get a break if their next opponents series goes longer than 4 games. Hope that makes sense to you.

[UtterBlitz]

A team that wins in a 4 game sweep could get a break if their next opponents series goes longer than 4 games. Hope that makes sense to you.

yes it does....scheduling playoff games on the fly must be difficult if the venues are used for other things.

[Chiledog]

Hey UtterBlitz. Did you follow the whole Caps series? They almost pulled off an incredible comeback. What a heartbreaker to lose the 7th game like that. I really thought they could do it, after the amazing way they got into the playoffs to begin with. Oh well, maybe next year (boy, I'm getting tired of saying that about all my favorite sports teams...)

[UtterBlitz]

Hey UtterBlitz. Did you follow the whole Caps series? They almost pulled off an incredible comeback. What a heartbreaker to lose the 7th game like that. I really thought they could do it, after the amazing way they got into the playoffs to begin with. Oh well, maybe next year (boy, I'm getting tired of saying that about all my favorite sports teams...)

I wish I could have watched it. I was in Florida for most of the first round of the playoffs and they don't have hockey on tv down there. I followed it on the internet and called a freind for recaps of the games. It's too bad. I heard I missed a great series. I wish they would have won game 7 so that I could have watched them when I returned.

There is always next year for all sports.

[Ramer]

Flyers all the way!