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
Lasse Oksanen trophy Peltonen (HIFK) 2011-12: Tomas Zaborsky (Ässät) 2012-13: Antti Raanta (Ässät) 2013-14: Michael Keränen (Ilves) 2014-15: Kim Hirschovits (Blues) 2015-16: Kristian Kuusela (Tappara) 2016-17: Mika Pyörälä (Kärpät) 2017-18: Julius Junttila (Kärpät) Lasse Oksanen trophy The Lasse Oksanen trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Liiga to the best player of the season during regular season play. Trophy winners: 1993-94: Esa Keskinen (TPS) 1994-95: Saku Koivu (TPS) 1995-96: Juha Riihijärvi (Lukko) 1996-97: Jani Hurme (TPS) 1997-98: Raimo Helminen (Ilves) 1998-99: Jan Caloun (HIFK) 1999-00: Kai Nurminen (TPS) 2000-01: Tony Virta (TPS) 2001-02: Janne Ojanen (Tappara) 2002-03: Antti Miettinen (HPK)