In the pre-season, which is generally held during the last two weeks of September, each team plays several not-for-the-record exhibition games.
[1] The NHL All-Star Game and its accompanying festivities typically occur during the bye week.
The NHL also has a holiday roster freeze between December 18 and 27, in which in most cases, players cannot be traded, waived, or sent to the minor leagues.
[3] Pulling a goaltender in overtime was occasionally attempted in certain situations prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout near the end of a season if earning a single point in overtime would have been worthless for playoff qualification purposes, but with the introduction of the shootout it has not been attempted as often.
[4][5][6] At the end of the regular season, sixteen teams qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, an elimination tournament consisting of three rounds of best-of-seven series to determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, dubbed the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Western Conference (Pacific vs. Central divisional bracket winners) and Eastern Conference (Atlantic vs. Metropolitan divisional bracket winners) Finals will determine who faces off in the Stanley Cup Finals.
[7] Any ties in the standings are broken using the following protocols: For the first two rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record).