2008-09 NHL season

The 2008-09 NHL season was the 91st season of the National Hockey League. It was the first season since before to the 2004-05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the other conference (one division at home and one on the road.) It began on October 4, with the regular season ending on April 12. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 12, with the Pittsburgh Penguins taking the championship. The Montreal Canadiens hosted the 57th NHL All-Star Game at the Bell Centre on January 25, 2009, part of the Canadiens' 100th season celebration.
Regular season.
Final standings.
"GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points."
Conference standings.
Tiebreaking procedures.
In the event of a tie in points in the standings at the end of the season, ties are broken using the following tiebreaking procedures.
The higher ranked team is the one with:
Statistical leaders.
Scoring leaders.
"GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes"
Leading goaltenders.
"GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average"
Playoffs.
Playoff seeds.
After the regular season, the standard of 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The San Jose Sharks won the Presidents' Trophy for having the best record in the league, at 117 points. Division champions maintain their relative ranking during the entire playoffs while the remaining teams get reseeded below them after each round.
Eastern Conference.
"*Montreal finished with exactly the same record as the Florida Panthers (including number of wins), but garnered more points (the Canadiens with six, the Panthers with three) in the four game season series between them, to earn the 8th spot."
Playoff bracket.
In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference is matched against the lowest remaining seed. The higher-seeded team is awarded home ice advantage. In the Stanley Cup Finals, home ice is determined based on regular season points. Each best-of-seven series follows a 2-2-1-1-1 format: the higher-seeded team will play at home for games 1 and 2 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team will be at home for game 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary).
NHL awards.
NHL All Star Team.
First All-Star Team
Second All-Star Team