Thank you for checking out my NHL page. Follow me on Twitter. For NHL and all other sports articles check out Pete Sports. Image credit Bennett/Getty Images.

NHL Divisions:

• Eastern
  • Atlantic
  • Metropolitan
• Western
  • Central
  • Pacific

Playoff Format:

• 16 teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
• The format is a set bracket largely division-based with wild cards.
• The top three teams in each division make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs.
• The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division.
• One division in each conference may send five teams to the postseason while the other sends just three.
• In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in each conference matches against the wild-card team with the lesser record; the wild card team with the better record plays the other division winner.
• The teams finishing second and third in each division meet in the First Round within the bracket headed by their respective division winners.
• First-round winners within each bracket play one another in the Second Round to determine the four participants in the Conference Finals.
• Home-ice advantage through the first two rounds goes to the team that placed higher in the regular-season standings.
• In the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record – regardless of the teams’ final standing in their respective divisions.