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
North American Supporters' Trophy North American Supporters' Trophy The Supporters Cup was a proposed annual award intended to be given to the North American Soccer League team with the best regular season, as determined by the NASL points system on aggregate between the Spring and Fall championship seasons in year. Akin to the Supporters' Shield in Major League Soccer, the minor premiership of Australasian sports (called a "premiership" by the A-League), and the Presidents' Trophy of the NHL, the Supporters' Cup would have been awarded each year in order to recognize overall consistent performance through the calendar year. Prior year winners, dating back to