Stanley Cup playoffs: Difference between revisions

In 1998-99 the league was re-organized into two conferences of three divisions apiece, resulting in the playoff format still in use today. The qualifiers remained sixteen, but the seeding changed. The three first-place teams in each division qualified and were seeded first through third for the playoffs. Of the other teams in each conference, the top five finishers qualified for the fourth through eighth seedings. All teams played in the first round: 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5 by those criteria. After each round, surviving teams were reseeded to play a conference semi-final, then a conference final. The conference winners played each other for the Stanley Cup in the Finals. Home ice advantage was determined by higher seed in the first 3 rounds and by regular-season points of the two teams in the Stanley Cup Finals.<ref name="mccarthy-249"/>.

 

The NHL planned to realign into four conferences for the 2012-13 season, with each conference sending 4 teams to the playoffs, seeding them 1 through 4, with the conference semifinal match-ups being 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3. The winners of those two series would meet in the following round for the conference championship. The league has not announced how the four conference winners will be paired for the league semifinals. These plans have been put off until 2013-14 pending negotiations with the [[National Hockey League Players' Association|NHL Players' Association]].