NHL announces major change to start of the playoffs

Gary Bettman and the NHL have always been looking for ways to speed up the season, and now they've found a solution almost everyone will enjoy - starting playoffs earlier.

According to reports from NHL insider Irfaan Gaffar, the league will be moving up the scheduled start date of the playoffs. The regular season will end on Thursday, April 18, and the playoffs were scheduled to start Monday, April 22. Now, game one of the playoffs will be moved up to a much better slot - Saturday night, April 20th.


This is an extremely welcome change to see as the NHL begins to hammer out the logistics of the upcoming playoffs. Having game 1 of round 1, always the most anticipated game of the season, on a Saturday night instead of a Monday is a no-brainer move from the league and Gary Bettman.


We're now officially in the stretch run with just over three weeks until the start of the playoffs. Most teams have just 10-11 games before the playoffs, but as of right now, the Edmonton Oilers have the least amount of games played in the league with 69. They'll have an extra game on everyone else from now until the playoffs to work out the kinks in the lineup, and prepare for game 1.