The Los Angeles Kings became the first team to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season since the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006–07.
The Ottawa Senators also became the first team in NHL history to make the postseason after trailing for the final playoff spot by 14 points.
The playoffs ended with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to win the Stanley Cup.
[7][8] At the league's General Managers Meeting in November, it was decided to immediately end the dry-scrape prior to overtime, as it was felt that the average time of five minutes was too long and it seemed to have no significant difference.
The GMs also voted to allow officials in the Situation Room to buzz the arena to have play immediately stopped for a video review without waiting for a whistle.
The 2015 NHL Winter Classic, the annual regular season outdoor game was held on January 1 at Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
[38] The Toronto Maple Leafs–Ottawa Senators game originally scheduled for October 22 was postponed due to the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
[40] The New York Rangers–Buffalo Sabres game originally scheduled for November 21 was postponed due to the winter weather-related difficulties in the area.
[42][43][44] The league, teams and players then implemented several sanitary procedures, and the last reported mumps case occurred on January 11.
Greater Goal differential The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of games played on April 11, 2015.
HNIC began to air across CBC, City, the Sportsnet networks, and FX Canada (typically an all-U.S. game).
As part of the arrangement, CBC did not pay a rights fee to either Rogers or the NHL, but all the telecasts are brokered and produced by Sportsnet.
CBC is allotted advertising time during the games to promote its own programming, but Rogers receives all ad revenue from the telecasts.
The three channels broadcast regional Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators games respectively.
As such, French-language broadcasts of the Canadiens on RDS are now blacked out for viewers outside of the team's home market of Quebec and eastern Canada.