NHL - Important Facts

The National Hockey League currently has 30 teams divided into two conferences.
Each conference has three divisions and each division has 5 teams. This grouping of the league began with the 2000-2001 season.

Season structure: each team plays 82 regular season games: 41 games at home and 41 away.
Teams play 32 games within their division (8 games against each of their four divisional opponents), 40 games against non-divisional, conference opponents (4 games against each of the 10 other teams) and 10 inter-conference games, 1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference.
The two divisions from the opposite conference which each team plays against will be rotated every year.
Points are awarded for each game as follows: Two points are awarded for a win (regulation, overtime or shootout). One point for losing in overtime or a shootout. Zero points for a loss in regulation.
At the end of the usual season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion.