answers: 16
context: leagues, to when the NHL took over the Cup in 1926, to the current setup today. The Stanley Cup playoffs consists of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Each series is played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning the team with home-ice advantage hosts games one, two, five, and seven, while their opponent hosts games three, four, and six. Games five, six, and seven are only played if needed. Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. In the playoff series format instituted in 2014, the first, second, and third place team in each of the four divisions qualify for the </s> the most points in each division is crowned the division champion, and the league's overall leader is awarded the Presidents' Trophy. The Stanley Cup playoffs, which go from April to the beginning of June, is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Stanley Cup champion. Eight teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs: the top three teams in each division plus the two conference teams with the next highest number of points. The Stanley Cup playoffs </s> season, a new playoff system was introduced where 16 of the league's 21 teams would qualify for postseason play. The four division winners would qualify for the playoffs while twelve wildcard positions rounded out the sixteen teams. At the beginning of each round the teams were seeded based on their regular season point totals, with the preliminary round being a best-of-five series while all other playoff series were best-of-seven. The 1981–1982 season brought forth the return of divisional matchups, with the top four teams from each division qualifying for the playoffs. Division champions would be determined, followed by the Conference
question: how many team go to the nhl playoffs