BLOG: Blackhawks to Compete in Revamped Central Division for 2020-21

Hockey
returns on Jan. 13
and, with the shortened season, there will be a new set of division alignments for the NHL.
For the 2020-21 sesaon only, Chicago will play in a Central Division alongside Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville and Tampa Bay. The Blackhawks' entire schedule (to be released at a later date) will consist of eight games against each of the seven teams in the division and no regular season matchups against any of the other 23 NHL teams.
Chicago and longtime Original Six rival Detroit return to the same division for the first time since the end of the 2012-13 season. All-time, the Blackhawks have faced no NHL opponent more than the Red Wings, meeting 739 times in the regular season with a 286-358-84-11 record overall.

The top four teams in each division will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with intradivisional play in the first two rounds (#1 vs. #4; #2 vs. #3). The four teams that advance to the Semifinal Round would be seeded by their regular season points total, with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 4 seed in one series and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds meeting in the other.