NHL Standings

The NHL Standings are how the National Hockey League is organized by divisions, conferences, leagues, and the wild card, which is a list of the last teams trying to get into the playoffs. The teams will play all season with the other teams through an 82-game schedule. They will each keep trying to get the much needed 2 points per game and attempt to go into the playoffs at the end of the season. And then another post season will start with the teams trying to get into the final playoff round, The Stanley Cup playoffs.

NHL Structure and Schedule

The NHL playoffs have their own standings too, as to where the teams are in the hunt for the finals. Basically, the league and standings are broken down into two major conferences: The Eastern and Western conferences which covers all of North America and according to the teams and where they are located will determine where they will be according to the NHL organizers.

Divisions and Teams

In the Eastern Conference the teams are: For the Metropolitan Division it’s Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Philadelphia, Carolina and New Jersey. For the Atlantic it’s Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Florida, Detroit and Buffalo. In the Western Conference it starts with the Central division and the teams are: Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, Nashville, Winnipeg, Dallas and Colorado. In the Pacific Division the teams are: Anaheim, San Jose, Edmonton, Calgary, Arizona, Vancouver.

Most of the teams will play each other and cycle through most of the teams so they will play each other during the season. Games in the standings are listed as home games and away games.

Standings Metrics and Playoffs

Over the season the standings will change for all the teams depending on how many games they have won. The metrics for measuring where they are in the standings are: Wins, losses, ties and the points they make that will work their way to the top depending on how many games they have won or lost. In the games, teams will play for two points, but depending on if they are tied at the end of regular time, they will both get a point. Then they will play for the extra point if they win in overtime or if they win in the shoot-out.

Just because a team is at the top of the NHL standings, does not mean they will win the playoffs. Lots of teams over the years that have led the standings will go out in the first round of playoff games. Then there are teams who just make it as a Wild Card team and they go to the final round of the playoffs.

Factors Influencing Standings

So you never know, you have to see how the teams are playing at critical times, watch the standings, what new players they have acquired during the draft or trade deadline. Also, injuries can affect how a team will do in the standings as well. If a team has lots of injuries or their best players are injured, this can have a major impact on how they are doing in the standings. Some teams play better at home games, and some teams are really good when playing away.

Come to TeamNHL to get all the latest standings on the NHL teams and find out which teams are the highest in the standings or the lowest. You can check here to see where all your favorite teams are and see if they have a chance to get into the playoffs. Then it will be time to go for the Stanley Cup.