NHL playoffs 2015: Bracket, teams, schedule and TV coverage

Everything you need to know about the 2015 NHL playoffs, including the format, the teams, the matchups, the bracket and game information.

The 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs are here, and for the second season in a row, we'll experience the NHL's new divisional playoff format. You probably need a refresher on how this all works, because even to this day, plenty of people are still calling the final team in the "eight seed" ... and, that's just not right.

So here's how it works. Unlike it was for most of the last two decades, it's now a bracket format -- no more re-seeding after Round 1.

The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in each of the NHL's four divisions play each other no matter what. The final two spots in each conference are determined by wild card spots, and those wild card teams are assigned to play each of the No. 1 seeds in their conference -- regardless of division.

In the Eastern Conference this season, everything worked out fine and we have a straight divisional playoff -- with four teams from the Metropolitan Division qualifying for the playoffs and four teams from the Atlantic. But the wild card messed things up a bit in the Western Conference, with five Central Division teams qualifying along with three Pacific Division teams.

So the worst of those Central teams, the Winnipeg Jets, cross over into what would otherwise be the "Pacific Division" side of the bracket to play the West's top overall seed, the Anaheim Ducks.

That sets up your 16 team bracket, and from now until the Stanley Cup Final we'll watch as they all fight it out for a chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup.

Still confused? OK, maybe you're a visual learner.

Check out SB Nation's 2015 NHL playoff guide and bracket.

There, you'll find full series breakdowns, links to coverage from our network of team-specific hockey blogs, and a beautiful, helpful bracket that you can follow along with from April until June.

Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2015/4/13/8400889/nhl-stanley-cup-playoffs-2015-format-bracket-guide-teams-matchups