Start here
How the NHL Is Organized
Next
The Regular Season: What the Standings Actually Mean
Then
How the Stanley Cup Playoffs Work
Build your vocab
Key Terms Every New Fan Should Know
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How to Follow Along All Season
How the NHL Is Organized
The NHL's 32 franchises are divided into two conferences — the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference — based roughly on geography. Each conference breaks down further into two divisions.
- Eastern Conference: Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Division
- Western Conference: Central Division and Pacific Division
Each division contains eight teams. Division opponents meet multiple times per season, which is why division races get so heated — fans understand exactly who their team is chasing and who's chasing them. Think of the divisions as the NHL's neighborhood rivalries and the conferences as the broader regional stage.
Conference
One of two top-level groupings of NHL teams — Eastern and Western. Conferences determine one half of the playoff bracket.
Division
A smaller grouping of eight teams within a conference. Division rivals play each other often and compete for automatic playoff berths.
Wild Card
A playoff berth earned by the two highest-point teams in a conference that didn't finish in the top three of their division.
Points percentage
A way to compare teams' standing performance by calculating the share of possible points a team has earned, useful when teams have played different numbers of games.
Best-of-seven series
A playoff matchup where the first team to win four games advances. A series can last anywhere from four to seven games.
President's Trophy
The award given to the NHL team with the best regular-season record across all 32 franchises.
The Regular Season: What the Standings Actually Mean
An NHL regular season runs 82 games per team, from October through April. Unlike most major sports, the NHL uses a points system rather than a simple win-loss record. Here's how it works:
- Win (W): 2 points
- Overtime or Shootout Loss (OTL): 1 point
- Regulation Loss (L): 0 points
That single point awarded for an overtime loss is a big deal — it means a team doesn't walk away empty-handed from a close game, and it keeps standings tighter and more exciting late in the season. The team with the most points in the league earns the President's Trophy, a notable regular-season honor.
Want to know how this compares to another sport's playoff race? Our MLB postseason guide breaks down a similarly layered standings structure in baseball.
Watch Division Standings Weekly
The division standings are the most practical lens for following playoff positioning all season. Three automatic berths per division mean teams know exactly who they need to beat — and that clarity makes the race easier to follow as a newer fan.
How the Stanley Cup Playoffs Work
Every spring, 16 teams punch their tickets to the Stanley Cup Playoffs — eight from each conference. The bracket is built like this:
- The top three teams in each division by points earn automatic berths as division winners.
- The next two highest-point teams in each conference — regardless of division — earn wild card spots.
In the first round, the top division winner faces the lower wild card seed, and the second and third division seeds face each other. All four rounds are best-of-seven series, meaning a team must win four games to advance. The final two survivors — one from each conference — meet in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Stanley Cup itself is one of sports' most iconic trophies. To learn how it compares to the Lombardi, Larry O'Brien, and other championship hardware, see our guide to major US pro sports trophies.
Home Ice Advantage Isn't Guaranteed
The higher seed in any playoff series hosts more games — typically Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. However, upsets happen regularly in the NHL playoffs, and lower seeds have won the Stanley Cup. Don't assume the better regular-season team will automatically advance.
Key Terms Every New Fan Should Know
Hockey has its own vocabulary, and picking it up quickly makes watching the game a lot more rewarding. Here are a few terms you'll hear constantly during broadcasts and in standings coverage:
- Power play: When one team has a numerical advantage because an opponent is serving a penalty in the penalty box.
- Corsi: An advanced stat measuring shot attempts for and against while a player is on the ice — a rough proxy for puck possession. For a deeper look at how stats like this work across sports, see our fan's guide to reading pro sports data.
- Hat trick: Three goals scored by one player in a single game.
- Icing: A stoppage called when a player shoots the puck from behind the center red line all the way past the opponent's goal line without it being touched.
How to Follow Along All Season
Now that you understand the structure, following an NHL season gets genuinely fun. Here's where to focus your attention:
- Division standings: Check these weekly. The playoff picture shifts constantly, and watching teams jostle for those three automatic berths is compelling all season long.
- Wild card races: The wild card spots create drama for five or six teams right through the final weeks of the regular season.
- Playoff bracket seeding: Once the playoffs begin, understand that home-ice advantage — hosting more games in a series — goes to the higher seed. It matters.
If you're enjoying getting oriented in pro sports leagues, you might also find it useful to explore how to follow your first NBA season — the conference and playoff structure there has some meaningful similarities and differences worth knowing.
The NHL rewards patient, curious fans. Once you understand why every game in March feels like a playoff game for a bubble team, you'll be hooked.
The NHL Has Teams in Canada Too
Seven NHL franchises are based in Canada — in cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton — making the league genuinely binational. Canadian markets have some of the most passionate hockey fanbases in the world, and games involving Canadian teams often carry extra emotional stakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
The NHL has 32 teams, split evenly between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Each conference contains two divisions of eight teams apiece.
Sixteen teams qualify — three division winners plus one wild card from each division grouping, per conference. All four rounds are best-of-seven series, ending with the Stanley Cup Final.
If a game is tied after 60 minutes and a team loses in overtime or a shootout, they still earn one standings point. This is often listed as an OTL in the standings.
The President's Trophy is awarded to the team with the best overall record across the entire NHL at the end of the regular season. It's a prestige honor, though winning it doesn't guarantee playoff success.
Each team plays 82 regular season games, running from October through April. The playoffs then run through June, when the Stanley Cup champion is crowned.
Yes. Once teams advance past the second round (the Conference Finals), divisional bracket restrictions are removed, so any two surviving teams can meet in the Final regardless of conference.
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