2022 QMJHL President Cup Playoffs format unveiled
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League unveiled today the format of the 2022 President Cup Playoffs that will kick off on May 5. The first three rounds will be played in a best-of-five series while the Championship series will be a best-of-seven format.
The round of 16 will oppose the eight teams from each conference, based on their position in the final regular season standings (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5). This round will be played from May 5 to 12.
In the second round, the four winning teams of each conference will compete against each other to clinch a berth in the semifinals. Once again, their seeding will be determined by their position in the final standings. The second round will be held from May 15 to 22.
The semifinals will feature the four remaining winning teams. They will be reseeded according to their position in the overall standings, but this time they will not automatically play within their conference. The two best-of-five series will occur between May 25 and June 1.
Finally, the President Cup Final series will be played from June 4 to 15. It will feature both winners from the semifinals.
Playoff Standings
The sixteen teams that are eligible for playoffs will be ranked in relation to one another based on the following principles:
- Teams ranked higher than 16th in the overall standings are eliminated.
- The top two positions in each conference are held, in order of points accumulated during the regular season, by the top teams from each division within that respective conference.
- For each conference, beginning with the 3rd seed to the 8th seed, teams are ranked according to the number of points cumulated during the regular season.
- If only six or seven teams from one of the conferences are eligible for the playoffs, one or two teams that have lower ranks in the other conference, and are not eliminated, will transfer to the said conference while respecting their respective positions in the overall standings.
- In case of a tie in the number of cumulated points, the rankings are determined through the application of section 1.2.2 of this Rule, while making the necessary adjustments.
- These rankings, called “Playoff Standings” are used to determine opponents for each series as well as the team that will have the privilege of playing at home (home ice advantage).