Stanley Cup Playoffs facts for kids

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a super exciting tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL). It's where the best hockey teams battle it out to win the famous Stanley Cup. To win this amazing trophy, a team needs to win 16 playoff games. That means winning 4 games in each of the 4 rounds!

The playoffs have four main rounds. Each round is a "best-of-seven" series. This means teams play up to seven games against each other. The first team to win four games in that series moves on to the next round. The first three rounds help decide which team from each conference will make it to the very last round. That final round is called the Stanley Cup Finals. The team that wins the Finals becomes the NHL champion and lifts the Stanley Cup!

How the Playoffs Work

The NHL is split into two big groups called conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Teams play against others in their conference for most of the playoffs.

The Rounds of Play

The first round is known as the Conference Quarterfinals. In this round, eight teams from each conference play against each other. The winners then move on to the second round.

The third round is called the Conference Finals. By this point, only two teams are left in each conference. They play each other to see who will be the champion of their conference. The two conference champions then get to play in the Stanley Cup Finals!

Home-Ice Advantage

In the first three rounds, the team that did better during the regular season gets "home-ice advantage." This means they get to play more games on their home rink. For the Stanley Cup Finals, the team with the best overall record from the regular season gets this advantage.

The team with home-ice advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (if needed). Their opponent hosts games 3, 4, and 6 (if needed).

Overtime Rules

Playoff games are different from regular season games when they go into overtime. In the regular season, overtime is shorter and has fewer players on the ice. But in the playoffs, overtime is played with the full five skaters and a goalie on each side.

These overtime periods are "sudden death." This means the first team to score a goal instantly wins the game! It can make for some very long and exciting games.

Playoff History

The way the Stanley Cup Playoffs work has changed over time. Before the 1993–94 season, the system was quite different. The league used to be divided into four smaller groups called divisions. The top four teams from each division would make it to the playoffs.

Back then, the first-place team in a division would play the fourth-place team. The second-place team would play the third-place team. The winners would then play each other to become the division champion. After that, the division champions from each conference would play to see who would go to the Stanley Cup Final. This older style is still used today in the American Hockey League, which is a league below the NHL.

Images for kids

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  No. 88 - Nate Schmidt of the Washington Capitals skates near the Stanley Cup playoffs logo during their May 10, 2017 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins