Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Stanley Cup Playoffs serve as the playoff system for the National Hockey League. The playoffs are held each year after teams have completed their 82-game regular season to determine the champion of the league. The top eight teams in each of the NHL Western Conference and NHL Eastern Conference qualify for the playoffs, which operate in a four-round, single-elimination tournament. After three rounds, all of which are best for-of-seven games, are completed, the remaining teams, one each from the east and west, play one another in the Stanley Cup Finals.http://www.nhl.com/league/ext/rules/2009-2010_Rule_Book.pdf

In 2010, the Stanley Cup Playoffs began after the regular season concluded on April 11, 2010. The participating teams, their seedings in each of the playoff brackets, their opponents and dates and times of the games were announced after the regular season was completed. First-round games began on April 14, 2010, hosted at the team with the higher seeding. First- and second-round games were televised on local markets. The Chicago Blackhawks won the 2010 Stanley Cup, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.http://www.nhl.com/cup/formats.html

In the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings won the Western Conference and faced the Eastern Conference Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals for the second year in a row. While Detroit was victorious in 2008, they fell to Pittsburgh in 2009.http://www.nhl.com/ice/newsindex.htm?location=/portal/series4-1&rid=4&sid=1

NHL Western Conference Bracket 2010

• Teams were re-seeded after the first round

NHL Eastern Conference Bracket 2010

• Teams were re-seeded after the first round

To start the NHL Playoffs, the top eight teams in each of the Eastern and Western Conferences are placed in a single-elimination bracket-style tournament. The top three seeds in each of the conferences earn the top seeds, with the teams with the next-best win-loss records filling the additional five spots in each conference. Should teams tie for positions, the number of wins and goals for and goals against will be used to determine tiebreakers. The top team, first seed, is matched against the lowest-seeded, eighth, team, while the second-seeded team plays the seventh and so on.http://www.nhl.com/league/ext/rules/2009-2010_Rule_Book.pdf

The top four teams in each conference will have home-ice advantage, hosting the first two games, as well as games five and seven if necessary in each round. Teams must win four of the seven possible games to continue on to the next round. After the first round, teams are reduced to eight, then four and finally two, with each taking their respective conference championships. Those two teams meet in the Stanley Cup Finals to determine the overall champion for that season.http://www.nhl.com/league/ext/rules/2009-2010_Rule_Book.pdf