Season structure of the NHL Season structure of the NHL The season structure of the National Hockey League (NHL) is divided into the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the regular season, which generally runs from early October through early April, teams play 82 games which determine their standings. The three highest-placed teams in each division and two wild card teams per conference enter the playoff elimination tournament to determine the Stanley Cup champion. Since the 1995–96 season, each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 each of home and road. In all, 1,271 games are scheduled (480 of them
Bob Paine Trophy Bob Paine Trophy The Bob Payne Trophy was awarded to the play-off champion of the now-defunct Atlantic Coast Hockey League. The Payne Trophy was awarded to teams since the ACHL's inaugural season of 1981–82 until the ACHL's final season of 1986–87. The trophy is named after Bob Payne, an executive with several teams in the Southern Hockey League and Eastern Hockey League. The trophy was loaned to the winning team for one year and was returned at the start of the following year's playoffs. The Payne Trophy has been awarded six different times to four different franchises. The Carolina Thunderbirds