The 2008 NHL season kicked off on October 4, and now 30 teams are competing for the latest piece of hardware. The regular season will conclude on April 12, giving way to a long and intense fight for the playoffs. Eight teams from each conference, Eastern and Western, qualify for the postseason.
In the Eastern Conference, the champions of the Atlantic, Northeast, and Southeast divisions automatically make the playoffs, and will be joined by the teams with the next five best records. It’s the same in the Western Conference; the top five winners from other divisions will advance along with the champions from the Central, Northwest and Pacific divisions.
Home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs goes to the winners of all three divisions in each conference, seeds 1–3 based on the best record, and the No. 4 seed, the team with the next best record. Number 1 plays number 8, number 2 plays number 7, number 3 plays number 6, and number 4 plays number 5. In the second round, the highest advancing seed faces the lowest remaining seed, and the two middle seeds meet.
In all rounds leading up to the Stanley Cup Finals, between the winner of the Eastern Conference and the winner of the Western Conference, the higher seed in a series always has home field advantage, meaning the team hosts Game 1 and 2, and if necessary, 5 and 7. Lower seeded teams host Game 3 and 4, and if necessary, 6. Each series is the best of seven games; in other words, the first team to four wins wins the series. If a team wins the first four games of a series, of course, the last three are not played.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, the team with the better record will have home field advantage. For example, even if the No. 1 seed advances out of the Western Conference and the No. 2 seed emerges from the Eastern Conference, the No. 2 seed from the East will have home field advantage if they had a better record than the No. 1 seed. West in the regular season.
At the moment, there are two clear favorites to reach the 2009 Stanley Cup final, which will conclude in June. No team has been more dominant than the San Jose Sharks, who boast a 23-3-2 record (23 wins, three losses, two losses in overtime or penalties. Teams receive two points for a win, one for a loss in overtime and none for an outright loss).
The Sharks hold a 13-point lead in the Pacific Division and a six-point lead over the second-best team in the West, the Detroit Red Wings. In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins lead the way with an impressive 20-5-4 record. The Bruins own a seven-point lead in the Northeast Division and a four-point lead over the second-best team in the East, the New York Rangers.
The Red Wings are the defending NHL champions, as Detroit defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins four games to two in last season’s final series. Looking to make a repeat appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, Pittsburgh has a solid 16-9-4 record and would easily qualify for the playoffs if the regular season ended today.
