NHL Playoff Format History: How the Stanley Cup Bracket Changed
A clear timeline of how the Stanley Cup Playoffs evolved—from small early fields and total-goals series to four best-of-seven rounds and the modern wild-card bracket.
Focused NHL schedule guides and coverage tagged Hockey History.
Built around the schedule, checked against primary league and broadcaster information, and written for quick decisions.
A clear timeline of how the Stanley Cup Playoffs evolved—from small early fields and total-goals series to four best-of-seven rounds and the modern wild-card bracket.
Wayne Gretzky leads NHL history with 2,857 regular-season points. Compare the top 10 career scorers and the separate goals and assists leaderboards as of August 2, 2026.
Follow the main EA Sports NHL series from NHL Hockey in 1991 through NHL 26, including all 35 annual entries, the PC cutoff and each major console generation.