Elimination tournament in the National Hockey League
See also: Stanley Cup Finals, List of Stanley Cup champions, Stanley Cup winning players, and Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup playoffs
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs
Sport
Ice hockey
Founded
As an event held on a challenge basis: 1893
As a prearranged inter-league competition: 1915
As solely the National Hockey League postseason: 1927
No. of teams
16
Most recent champion(s)
Vegas Golden Knights (1)
Most titles
Montreal Canadiens (24)
TV partner(s)
Canada
Sportsnet/CBC
TVA Sports
United States
ABC/ESPN/ESPN2
TNT/TBS
International:
See list
Streaming partner(s)
Canada:
Sportsnet+
United States:
ESPN+
Max
Official website
Stanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs (French: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is the annual elimination tournament to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, and by default the league champion of the National Hockey League (NHL). The four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the NHL's regular season. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season points totals. The final round is commonly known as the Stanley Cup Finals, which matches the two conference champions.
The NHL is the only one of the big four major leagues in Canada and the United States to refer to its playoffs by the name of its championship trophy, a tradition which has arisen because the Stanley Cup is North America's oldest professional sports trophy, dating back more than two decades before the establishment of the NHL. Originally inscribed the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, then–Governor General of Canada, initially as a "challenge trophy" for Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. From 1893 when the first Cup was awarded to 1914, the champions held onto the Cup until they either lost their league title to another club, or a champion from another league issued a formal challenge and defeated the reigning Cup champion in a final game to claim their win. Professional teams then first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. Starting in 1915, the Cup was officially contested between the champion of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the champion of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). After a series of league mergers and folds, including the 1917 establishment of the NHL as a successor to the NHA, the Stanley Cup became the championship trophy of the NHL prior to the 1926–27 season.
The NHL has always used a playoff tournament to determine its champion. The league's playoff system has changed over the years, from the NHL's inception in 1917, to when the NHL took over the Cup in 1926, to the current setup today.
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Global Information
2024 Stanley Cup playoffs