Kelly Cup Playoff Format
For the 2012-13 season, eight teams still qualify in the Eastern Conference: the three division winners plus the next five teams in the conference. With the addition of the expansion franchise in San Francisco, the Board of Governors changed the Western Conference seeding such that eight teams qualify: two division winners and the next six teams in the conference. This eliminated the Western Conference first-round bye.
Similar to the NHL, the division winners are seeded as the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference and the top two seeds in the Western Conference; the conference winner faces the eighth seed, second faces seventh, third faces sixth and fourth faces fifth in the conference quarterfinal round. The winner of the 1st/8th series plays the winner of the 4th/5th series while 2nd/7th winner plays against the 3rd/6th winner in the conference semifinal series.
The Board of Governors also elected to change the playoff format such that all rounds of the playoffs are now best of seven series. For 2012-13, the Conference Finals and Kelly Cup Finals will use a two-referee system.
Read more about this topic: ECHL
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