Thursday night, a new NHL season kicks off in Canada and the United States. The regular season and the playoffs will be played under the new format, and the matches of the first stage will be played only within the divisions. The main features of the tournament – in the material of RBC
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Regular season formula
Previous regular NHL championships started in early October and ended in early April. Each team has played 82 games. The playoffs ended in June.
The dates for the final season have been postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus. The tournament didn’t end until the end of September. As a result, the new championship will not be played on the usual dates either. It will start on January 14, last until May 9, and run in short mode – teams will play 56 games each.
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The NHL has restricted travel due to the coronavirus. Clubs are divided into four divisions, the rosters of which were changed before the start of the season for the most convenient movement.
The teams will play all regular season games only with division rivals. For example, Washington will play eight times against Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, Islanders, Rangers, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, which make up the East Division.
The Western Division is made up of Anaheim, Phoenix, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, St. Louis and Vegas. Central will host Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville and Tampa Bay.
Canadian teams are collected separately for the first time in history. Since there are seven of them, as in the other divisions, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto and Winnipeg will face each other nine to ten times.
Who will make the playoffs
In recent years, the NHL has been divided not only into four divisions, but also into two conferences – East and West. The top eight teams from each conference advanced to the playoffs and played inside the eight until the final. The winners of the conferences ended up in a decisive series for the Stanley Cup.
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There will be no division of teams at the conference in the new season. The top four clubs from each division will qualify for the playoffs. The first two rounds of the Stanley Cup will take place within the divisions. The first team will play with the fourth, the second – with the third.
The four playoff semi-finalists will be ranked based on their regular season points. The first team will face the fourth, the third – with the second.
Will the championship be the most unpredictable?
The tough salary cap and the draft give NHL clubs an equal chance to get results. Therefore, it is problematic to predict the success of a certain team or even to single out a group of favorites on the eve of an NHL season.
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The clubs approach the new championship in roughly the same conditions, which even more level their level and makes the championship unpredictable. This is because most teams started training less than two weeks before the start of the season – January 3. Exceptions were made for just seven clubs that were not among the 24 Stanley Cup entrants and who finished the previous season in March. They could start classes on December 31st. The NHL has also canceled exhibition games.
Coronavirus outbreaks cannot be ruled out during the season, which can affect both regular season results and playoff results. For example, January 8 NHL reported on the identification of eight cases of viral infection in “Dallas”. The team will start the season no earlier than January 19.
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