2016–17 NHL season

This is the 2016-17 National Hockey League season. This is the league's 100th season of operation (99th of play)  Each team is scheduled to play 82 games.  The regular season is scheduled to rune from October 12, 2016 through April 9, 2017.  The Stanley Cup playoffs will begin on April 12th and run through mid-June.

Pre-season

The pre-season schedule will consist of 106 games played over the course of 15 days. Pre-season games will be held at 13 different non-NHL arenas including  the T-Mobile Arena, the future home of the Las Vegas expansion team will have the Los Angeles Kings hosting games on October 7th and 8th. Kraft Hockeyville winners Lumby, BC and Marquette, Michigan will host games on October 2nd at Kal Tire Place and Lakeview Arena on October 8th respectively. Ten other facilities will host games durng the pre-season including Penn State will host a game at the Pegula Ice Arena and the Tate Rink at the United States Military Academy.

Membership changes

• None for 2016-17; however on June 22, 2016 the league awarded an expansion team to a group based in Las Vegas, Nevada that will begin play with the 2017-18 season.  On November 22nd the team announced it would be named the Vegas Golden Knights.

Arena changes

• The Edmonton Oilers moved into Rogers Place which replaced their home since 1974, Rexall Place.
• The Detroit Red Wings are playing their final season at Joe Louis Arena which has been their home since 1979.  They will be moving into the Little Caesars Arena for the 2017-18 season.

Outdoor Games

• The Winnipeg Jets will host the Edmonton Oilers in the 2016 Heritage Classic at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg on October 23, 2016
• The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Detroit Red Wings at BMO Field in Toronto in the Centennial Classic on January 1, 2017 to celebrate the Maple Leafs organizaton's 100th anniversary.
• The St. Louis Blues will host the Chicago Blackhawks in the Winter Classic at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri
• The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL Stadium Series game on February 25, 2017 at Heinz Field.

All Star Game

• The 62nd All Star Game will be held on January 29, 2017 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California

Teams

Location of NHL teams 2015-16

Eastern Conference

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Joined NHL
Atlantic	Boston Bruins	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Garden	17,565	1924
	Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo, New York	Key Bank Center	18,690	1970
	Detroit Red Wings	Detroit, Michigan	Joe Louis Arena (2016-17); Little Caesars Arena (2017-18)	20,066	1926
	Florida Panthers	Sunrise, Florida	BB&T Center	19,452	1993
	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal, Quebec	Bell Centre	21,273	1917
	Ottawa Senators	Ottawa, Ontario	Canadian Tire Centre	20,500	1992
	Tampa Bay Lightning	Tampa, Florida	Amalie Arena	19,500	1992
	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	18,800	1917
Metropolitan	Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh, North Carolina	PNC Arena	18,639	1979
	Columbus Blue Jackets	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	18,136	2000
	New Jersey Devils	Newark, New Jersey	Prudential Center	17,625	1974
	New York Islanders	Brooklyn, New York	Barclays Center	16,234	1972
	New York Rangers	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	18,200	1926
	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wells Fargo Center	19,500	1967
	Pittsburgh Penguins	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	PPG Paints Arena	18,087	1967
	Washington Capitals	Washington, D.C.	Verizon Center	18,277	1974

Western Conference

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Joined NHL
Central	Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago, Illinois	United Center	19,717	1926
	Colorado Avalanche	Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center	18,007	1979
	Dallas Stars	Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center	18,500	1967
	Minnesota Wild	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	18,568	2000
	Nashville Predators	Nashville, Tennessee	Bridgestone Arena	17,113	1998
	St. Louis Blues	St. Louis, Missouri	Scottrade Center	19,022	1967
	Winnipeg Jets	Winnipeg, Manitoba	MTS Center	18,750	2011
Pacific	Anaheim Ducks	Anaheim, California	Honda Center	17,174	1993
	Arizona Coyotes	Glendale, Arizona	Gila River Arena	18,000	1979
	Calgary Flames	Calgary, Alberta	Scotiabank Saddledome	19,289	1972
	Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Rogers Place	18,641	2016
	Los Angeles Kings	Los Angeles, California	Staples Center	18,118	1967
	San Jose Sharks	San Jose, California	SAP Center at San Jose	17,496	1991
	Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	Rogers Arena	18,630	1970

Standings

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Washington Capitals	82	55	19	8	53	263	182	118
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	50	21	11	46	282	234	111
Columbus Blue Jackets	82	50	24	8	47	249	195	108

Atlantic Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	82	47	26	9	44	226	200	103
Ottawa Senators	82	44	28	10	38	212	214	98
Boston Bruins	82	44	31	7	42	234	212	95

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
New York Rangers	82	48	28	6	45	256	220	102
Toronto Maple Leafs	82	40	27	15	39	251	242	95
New York Islanders	82	41	29	12	39	241	242	94
Tampa Bay Lightning	82	42	30	10	38	234	227	94
Philadelphia Flyers	82	39	33	10	32	219	236	88
Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	31	15	33	215	236	87
Florida Panthers	82	35	36	11	30	210	237	81
Detroit Red Wings	82	33	36	13	24	207	244	79
Buffalo Sabres	82	33	37	12	31	201	237	78
New Jersey Devils	82	28	40	14	25	183	244	70

Western Conference

Central Division Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Chicago Blackhawks	82	50	23	9	46	244	213	109
Minnesota Wild	82	49	25	8	46	266	208	106
St. Louis Blues	82	46	29	7	44	235	218	99

Pacific Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Anaheim Ducks	82	46	23	13	43	223	200	105
Edmonton Oilers	82	47	26	9	43	247	212	103
San Jose Sharks	82	46	29	7	44	221	201	99

Western Conference Wild Card

Team	GP	W	L	OL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
Calgary Flames	82	45	33	4	41	226	221	94
Nashville Predators	82	41	29	12	39	240	224	94
Winnipeg Jets	82	40	35	7	37	249	256	87
Los Angeles Kings	82	39	35	8	37	201	205	86
Dallas Stars	82	34	37	11	33	223	262	79
Arizona Coyotes	82	30	42	10	24	197	260	70
Vancouver Canucks	82	30	43	9	26	182	243	69
Colorado Avalanche	82	22	56	4	21	166	278	48

2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Format

The top three teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.  The next two best records in each conference also qualify as wildcard teams.  The wild card team with the fewer points plays the team with the best record in the conference regardless of division.  The other wild card team plays the other division winner.  The wild card team then stays in that division's playoffs. The division semifinal winners meet in the division finals.  The two division winners in each conference meet in the conference finals. The two conference winners meet in the Stanley Cup final.  All series are best-of-seven.

Atlantic Division Semifinals

• New York Rangers defeated Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 2
• Ottawa Senators defeated Boston Bruins 4 games to 2

Metropolitan Division Semifinals

• Washington Capitals defeated Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 2
• Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Columbus Blue Jackets 4 games to 1

Central Division Semifinals

• Nashville Predators defeated Chicago Blackhawks 4 games to none
• St. Louis Blues defeated Minnesota Wild 4 games to 1

Pacific Division Semifinals

• Anaheim Ducks defeated Calgary Flames 4 games to none
• Edmonton Oilers defeated San Jose Sharks 4 games to 2

Atlantic Division Final

• Ottawa Senators defeated New York Rangers 4 games to 2

Metropolitan Division Final

• Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Washington Capitals 4 games to 3

Central Division Final

• Nashville Predators defeated St. Louis Blues 4 games to 2

Pacific Division Final

• Anaheim Ducks defeated Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 3

Eastern Conference Final

• Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Ottawa Senators 4 games to 3

Western Conference Final

• Nashville Predators defeated Anaheim Ducks 4 games to 2

Stanley Cup Final

• Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Nashville Predators 4 games to 2

• 

  2017 Stanley Cup Champs Pittsburgh Penguins

Stanley Cup Final Misc.

• The Penguins win their fifth Stanley Cup become the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since the 1997 & 1998 Detroit Red Wings.  All five of the Penguins championships were won on the road.
• Sidney Crosby named Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.  This is the second time he had been awarded the trophy.

  

  NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presenting Conn Smythe Trophy to Sidney Crosby

• Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan becomes first American born head coach to win two Stanley Cups and the first head coach since Toe Blake (1956 & 1957) to win Stanley Cups in his first two years coaching a team.
• Matt Murray becomes the first goaltender to end the Stanley Cup final with back-to-back shut outs since Terry Sawchuck in 1952.