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98-535: Before 1912, challenges could take place at any time, given the appropriate rink conditions, and it was common for teams to defend the Cup numerous times during the year. In 1912, the Cup's trustees declared that the Cup was only to be defended at the end of the champion team's regular season. Also during this era, all of the leagues that played for the trophy had no annual formal playoff system to decide their own respective championships; whoever finished in first place after

196-647: A national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season . The game serves as the final of the College Football Playoff , a bracket tournament between the top four teams in the country as determined by a selection committee, which was established as a successor to the Bowl Championship Series and its similar BCS National Championship Game . Unlike

294-661: A 23–2 rout, the largest margin of victory for any challenge game or Stanley Cup Finals game to date as of 2024. Ottawa eventually won the 1905 FAHL title by finishing in first place with a 7–1 record. Then in March, the Rat Portage Thistles issued another challenge to the Ottawas. Although the Thistles crushed Ottawa in the first game, 9–3, Ottawa was without Frank McGee who did not play. However, McGee returned to lead

392-606: A 3–1 win over Ottawa. Later in the year, the Cup trustees accepted a challenge from the squad from Osgoode Hall , the champions of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). However, the series was eventually cancelled because of the lack of ice. On March 8, 1895, the Montreal Victorias won the 1895 AHAC title and thus the Stanley Cup, after finishing the season with a 6–2 record. However,

490-459: A 7–1 season record while the Victorias finished one game back at 6–2. The Shamrocks then played a challenge game against Queen's University on March 14, defeating them 6–2. The MHA 's Winnipeg Victorias issued another challenge for the Cup. This time, a best-of-three series was played against the defending champion Montreal Shamrocks. Winnipeg won the first game, 4–3, but Montreal prevailed in

588-607: A 7–3 victory. The Edmontons won game two, 7–6, but Montreal took the two-game total goals series, 13–10. Prior to the start of the new season, the Montreal HC and the Montreal Victorias, the last remaining amateur teams, left the ECAHA, and the league dropped "Amateur" from its name to become an all-pro league. The 1909 ECHA season ended with the defending Cup champion Montreal Wanderers finishing in second place with

686-470: A 9–3 record, behind the first place Ottawa HC who finished at 10–2. Thus Ottawa HC won the league championship and were awarded the Cup. Ottawa received a challenge only from the Winnipeg Shamrocks, but it was too late in the season to set a date. Playoff The playoffs , play-offs , postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by

784-462: A February–December format to an August–June format). The Australian A-League , which also features a team in New Zealand , has determined its champions via a playoff system, officially known as the "Finals Series" (reflecting standard Australian English usage), since its inception in the 2005–06 season . From the league's inception through the 2008–09 season , the top four teams advanced to

882-496: A challenge game was scheduled earlier for the next day between the previous year's champion Montreal HC and the squad from Queen's University , which was then part of the Ontario Hockey Association. Thus, it was decided that if the Montreal HC won the challenge match, the Victorias would become the Stanley Cup champions. The Montreal HC would eventually win the game, 5–1, and their crosstown rivals were crowned

980-461: A month-long journey by dog sled and walking (Dawson to Whitehorse), ship (Skagway to Vancouver), and train (Whitehorse to Skagway, and Vancouver to Ottawa). Largely because of the long trip, they were no match for the Silver Seven. Ottawa defeated Dawson City in the first game by a score of 9–2. Numerous Stanley Cup records were then set in the second game, including Frank McGee 's 14 goals, and

1078-554: A one-off match against the fourth- or fifth-place team from the championship playoff (depending on available European slots) for the final Europa League place. In Brazil, the Copa do Brasil , the second most prestigious country-wide competition, is contested in pure "knockout" format since its inception in 1989. While the top two tiers in the Brazilian League – Série A and Série B – are contested in double round robin format,

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1176-493: A playoff at the end of the 1894 season, which is considered the first "Stanley Cup challenge" although four clubs were involved in the process and three teams played games. Montreal HC lost the Cup by losing its league in 1895, decided early in March. The challenge system, as opposed to the Challenge Era, probably truly began sometime thereafter. This table lists all the champions of the Stanley Cup per hockey season during

1274-521: A playoff system to determine the champion of the season. When the Football League was first expanded to two divisions in 1892, test matches were employed to decide relegation and promotion between them, but the practice was scrapped in favour of automatic relegation and promotion in 1898. The use of play-offs to decide promotion issues returned to the League in 1986 with the desire to reduce

1372-499: A position affecting promotion, relegation, or European qualification. 1896 AHAC season The 1896 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season was the tenth season of play of the league. Each team played eight games, and Montreal Victorias were first with a 7–1 record. During the season, on February 14 the Victorias hosted a Stanley Cup challenge match with the Winnipeg Victorias club. Winnipeg won 2–0 to win

1470-611: A rematch for the Cup. However, it was delayed until December 30 due to unsuitable ice conditions in Montreal. In what was said to be the most anticipated hockey game of the time, the Montreal Victorias defeated the Winnipeg Victorias, 6–5, to reclaim the Cup. Another 7–1 record earned the Montreal Victorias the 1897 AHAC title , and the team subsequently received a challenge from the Ottawa Capitals , champions of

1568-625: A series of relegation playoffs. The series starts with a knockout playoff that also consists entirely of two-legged matches. The winner of the playoff remains in the First League for the following season. The losing teams then enter the following series of two-legged promotion/relegation matches: With the creation of the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol in 2014 to replace the Primera División de Republica Dominicana , it introduced

1666-461: A single playoff final between division winners. In 1950 the NFL absorbed three teams from the rival All-America Football Conference , and the former "divisions" were now called "conferences", echoing the college use of that term. In 1967, the NFL expanded and created four divisions under the two conferences, which led to the institution of a larger playoff tournament. After the 1970 AFL–NFL merger brought

1764-557: A single year, and as many as five different championships. The first Stanley Cup playoff game occurred on March 17, 1894. At the end of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season , four teams tied for the AHAC championship with records of 5–3–0. This created problems for the AHAC governors and the Cup's trustees since there was no tiebreaking system in place. After long negotiation and the withdrawal of Quebec from

1862-485: A sleigh and persuaded him to return. Once back at the rink, the referee gave Winnipeg 15 minutes to return to the ice themselves. They refused and thus Findlay disqualified the team and declared Montreal the winners. Two weeks after the Montreal Victorias defeated Winnipeg in their two-game total goals series, they lost the 1899 CAHL title , and thus the Cup, to the Montreal Shamrocks . The Shamrocks compiled

1960-520: A total of 10 matches each. The 6 participating teams start with the points accumulated during the regular competition divided by two. The first 3 teams after the play-offs get a European ticket. The fourth ranked team (or fifth, when the cup holder is already qualified for European football) plays a knock-out match against the winner of play-off 2. From 2009 to 2010 through 2015–16, teams ranked 7–14 played in two groups; from 2016 to 2017 forward, this playoff will continue to be contested in two groups, but with

2058-432: A total of 12 teams (details below). All points gained from the regular competition are lost. The two group winners play a final match to determine the winner of play-off 2. The winning team plays a final match against the fourth-ranked team (or fifth) for the last European ticket. The play-off system has been criticized because more points per match can be earned in the play-off stage than in the regular competition. This way

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2156-400: A vote of league owners was all that was required to win a title, but the owners had a gentlemen's agreement to pledge votes based on a score (wins divided by the sum of wins and losses, with a few tiebreakers). When two teams tied at the top of the standings in 1932, an impromptu playoff game was scheduled to settle the tie. The NFL divided its teams into divisions in 1933 and began holding

2254-462: Is a match played at the end of a season between a team that has done badly in a higher league and one that has done well in a lower league of the same football league system . The format of a test match series varies; for instance it can be a head-to-head between one of the worse finishers of the higher league and one of the better finishers of the lower league, or it can be a mini league where all participants play each other or teams only play those from

2352-559: Is an American college football tournament played each year to determine the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Prior to 2006, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship . The FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion. The four-team playoff system used by

2450-556: Is standard in Australian sport. The Belgian First Division A (previously known as the "First Division" and "Pro League") has a fairly complex playoff system, currently consisting of two levels and at one time three. Since the 2009–10 season, playoffs have been held to determine the champion and tickets for the Champions League and Europa League. The six highest ranked teams play home-and-away matches against each other;

2548-404: Is the winner of that season's Bulgarian Cup, in which case it will not enter the playoff and the team that it would have played receives a bye into the playoff final). The winner of this playoff then contests a one-off match against the third-place (or fourth-place) team from the championship playoff, with the winner claiming the final Europa League place. The bottom two teams from each group begin

2646-402: The 2006 World Cup , for example: Later World Cup qualifying inter-confederation play-offs were held for 2010 , 2014 , 2018 and 2022 . CONCACAF Nations League and UEFA Nations League hold their respective finals to determine the overall winner at the end of the league, CONCACAF Nations League Finals and UEFA Nations League Finals . In Argentine football, playoffs in the style of

2744-535: The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) since 1986; officials wanted a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous BCS championship system. The new College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy is sponsored by Dr Pepper , which paid an estimated $ 35 million for the sponsorship rights through 2020. The 26.5-inch high, 35-pound trophy was unveiled on July 14, 2014. The NCAA Division I Football Championship

2842-677: The American Football League into the NFL, the NFL began to use three divisions and a single wild-card team in each conference for its playoffs, in order to produce eight contenders out of six divisions; this was later expanded in 1978 and 1990 so that more wild-card teams could participate. In 2002 the NFL added its 32nd team, the Houston Texans , and significantly reshuffled its divisional alignment. The league went from 6 division winners and 6 wild-card spots to 8 division winners and only 4 wild-card qualifiers; by 2020 ,

2940-544: The Bowl Subdivision is not sanctioned by the NCAA. The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973. Prior to 1973, four regional bowl games were played in order to provide postseason action for what was then called the "NCAA College Division" and a poll determined

3038-492: The Central Canada Hockey Association (CCHA). It was originally scheduled as the first best-of-three challenge, but the series ended after the first game because the Victorias clearly was the superior team with a 15–2 victory. The Montreal Victorias again won the AHAC championship after finishing the 1898 AHAC season undefeated with an 8–0 record. As a result, no one challenged the Victorias for

List of Stanley Cup challenge games - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-555: The National Football League upon its founding in 1920, but the league (mostly driven by an Ohio League that did not have true finals, though they frequently scheduled de facto championship matchups) did not adopt the New York league's playoff format, opting for a championship based on regular-season record for its first twelve seasons; as a result, four of the first six "championships" were disputed. Technically,

3234-584: The Premier League . Evidence of playoffs in professional football dates to at least 1919, when the " New York Pro Championship " was held in Western New York (it is possible one was held in 1917, but that is not known for sure). The Buffalo and Rochester metropolitan areas each played a final, the winners of which would advance to the "New York Pro Championship" on Thanksgiving weekend. The top New York teams were eventually absorbed into

3332-690: The Quebec Bulldogs . However, the Cup trustees decided otherwise, and although the Silver Seven were not affiliated with any league for the rest of the season, they could still receive challenges. About a month later, Ottawa swept a best-of-three Cup series against the OHA's Toronto Marlboros with scores of 6–3 and 11–2. In early March, the Montreal Wanderers of the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) challenged

3430-601: The Silver Seven. In January 1904, a best-of-three Cup challenge series was held between the defending champion Ottawa Hockey Club (aka Silver Seven ) and the MHA 's Winnipeg Rowing Club . Ottawa crushed Winnipeg, 9–1, in the first game but the Rowing Club rebounded with a 6–2 victory in the second. The Silver Seven then won the deciding third game, 2–0. This series marked the first time that goal lines were drawn across

3528-492: The Super Bowl and NCAA final four ). When announcing it was soliciting bids for the 2016 and 2017 title games, playoff organizers said that the bids must propose host stadiums with a capacity of at least 65,000 spectators, and cities cannot host both a semi-final game and the title game in the same year. The winner of the game is awarded a new championship trophy instead of the "Crystal Football" , which has been given by

3626-585: The BCS championship, the participating teams in the College Football Playoff National Championship are determined by two semi-final bowls—hosted by two of the consortium's six member bowls yearly—and the top two teams as determined by the selection committee do not automatically advance to the game in lieu of other bowls. The game is played at a neutral site, determined through bids by prospective host cities (similarly to

3724-707: The College Division in two, with schools that wished to continue awarding athletic scholarships placed in Division II and those that did not want to award them placed in Division III. The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in them. The Division III final, known as the Stagg Bowl , has been played annually in Salem , Virginia at Salem Football Stadium since 1993. It

3822-703: The Cup. A week later, Ottawa HC was challenged by the MNHA 's Brandon Wheat City HC , but prevailed in another two game sweep with scores of 6–3 and 9–3. The Ottawa HC joined the FAHL for the 1904–1905 season . In January 1905, the Ottawas were challenged by the Dawson City Nuggets who travelled 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from the Yukon to Ottawa for a best-of-three Cup challenge series. The Nuggets actually left Dawson City on December 19, 1904 and travelled on

3920-592: The Cup. Prior to the start of the 1898–99 season, the AHAC dissolved. The defending Cup champion Montreal Victorias along with several other former AHAC members formed the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL). Montreal then received another challenge from the MHA 's Winnipeg Victorias. This time, it was decided that they would play a two-game total goals series in February 1899. The second game ended in controversy. With Montreal leading

4018-494: The Cup. The Crystals were allowed to change their name to Shamrocks, which matched their new affiliation with the Shamrock A.A.A. The Victorias were truly the class of the league and only lost once, 3–2 to Ottawa. Their regular season team goal total was nearly double that of Ottawa. There were no playoffs as Montreal won first place exclusively. After the season, Montreal and Shamrocks played an exhibition series of games in

List of Stanley Cup challenge games - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-630: The Cup. However, the Wanderers prevailed, 6–4, with two late goals by Ernie Johnson and Bruce Stuart. In December 1908, Montreal played its first Cup challenge of the season, this time against the Edmonton Hockey Club of the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA). Edmonton entered the series with an all-time high of six "ringers". In game one, Harry Smith scored five goals as he led the Wanderers to

4214-642: The English leagues occur in the Primera B Metropolitana , part of the third tier, and leagues below it ( Primera C Metropolitana and Primera D Metropolitana ). All Primera Metropolitana tourneys cover the area in and around Buenos Aires , the capital city. The Torneo Reducidos (reduced tournaments), however, involve 8 teams below the top two, as opposed to 4. Before the top-flight Argentine Primera División abandoned its traditional Apertura and Clausura format in 2015 in favor of an expanded single season, there

4312-501: The FAHL champions, issued a challenge for the Cup, but they suffered the same fate as Queen's University. The Ottawas defeated them with scores of 6–5 and 8–2 to defend the Cup. Ottawa management was so impressed with Smiths Falls goalie Percy LeSueur that they signed him to join the Ottawas a few days after the series ended. The 1906 ECAHA season ended a few days later after the Smiths Falls - Ottawa series, with both Ottawa and

4410-563: The MHL challenged Montreal for the Cup in March, but the Wanderers came away with 11–5 and 9–3 wins to clinch the two-game total goals series, 20–8. Montreal's greatest challenge happened two days later when they played a single-elimination game against the Toronto Professional HC . Toronto was the champion of the newly established Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), and was the first all-professional team to compete for

4508-697: The Montreal HC as the Cup champion, a two-game total goals series was held between the two teams. The first game was held in Montreal ending in a 1–1 tie. The second game was played in Ottawa, with the Ottawas dominating the Victorias, 8–0. The Ottawas thus won the Cup by winning the CAHL. As the new CAHL and Cup champions, the Ottawas accepted a challenge from the Rat Portage Thistles of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association (MNWHA). Entering

4606-471: The Montreal HC won the 1902 CAHL title in March, they promptly sent a challenge to the Winnipeg Victorias. In game one of the best-of-three series, Winnipeg shutout Montreal, 1–0. However, Montreal shutout Winnipeg in game two, 5–0, and then held on to a 2–1 victory in game three. With the victory, the Montreal club won the Cup for the first time since 1894. The win earned the players the nickname of "Little Men of Iron" for their effort in holding off Winnipeg in

4704-515: The Montreal Shamrocks for the Cup. This time, Winnipeg prevailed, sweeping the best-of-three series with scores of 4–3 and 2–1. Game two was the first overtime game in Cup history with Dan Bain scoring at the four-minute mark of the extra period. In January 1902, the OHA's Toronto Wellingtons challenged the Winnipeg Victorias for the Cup in a best-of-three series, but Winnipeg swept Toronto in two games with identical 5–3 scores. After

4802-483: The Montreal Wanderers tied for first place with identical 9–1 records. It was decided to hold a two-game total goals series to determine the league champion, and thus who would keep the Cup. The first game was played in Montreal where the Wanderers promptly crushed the Ottawas, 9–1. Needing at least an eight-goal victory in the rematch in Ottawa, the newly signed LeSueur was named Ottawa's starting goalie, and

4900-545: The Ottawas jumped to a 9–1 lead to tie the series. But with under 5 minutes to go, Montreal's Lester Patrick scored twice to clinch the series for the Wanderers, winning the total-goals series, 12–10 and taking over the Stanley Cup. In December 1906, the New Glasgow Cubs , an amateur team from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia , issued a challenge to the Montreal Wanderers. In a two-game total goals series, Montreal easily defeated New Glasgow in both matches, 10–3 and 7–2. This

4998-479: The Ottawas to 4–2 and 5–4 victories in the second and third games to win the series. On the same day that the third game of the Thistles - Ottawa series was played, the 1905 CAHL season ended with the Montreal Victorias winning the title. The Cup trustees accepted their challenge, however, the Montreal-Ottawa series was eventually cancelled because the trustees and the Victorias could not agree on either

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5096-473: The Preliminary Final and Grand Final were one-off matches. When the league expanded to 10 teams beginning in 2009–10 , the finals expanded to six teams. The format of the six-team playoff established at that time was: Starting with the 2012–13 season , the finals format has been changed to a pure knockout tournament consisting entirely of one-off matches: The concept of a finals series/playoff

5194-513: The Royal Belgian Football Association (KBVB) also introduced Christmas football in order to complete the extra matches in time. This posed some problems because a few matches had to be cancelled due to snowy pitches. The delays will probably cause the tight schedule to fail and postpone the end of the season. Some structural changes were instituted in 2015–16 : From 1974 through 2015, the 15th team out of 16 in

5292-699: The Second Division, to determine which team was promoted to the highest level together with the division champions. From the 2005–06 season on, only one team was relegated directly from the First Division, with the 17th team taking part in the playoff. As a result, this playoff was still called the Belgian Second Division final round , although one team from the Pro League took part each year. Starting in 2015–16, this playoff

5390-457: The Senators for the Cup. In the first game, played in Montreal, the teams played to a 5–5 tie at the end of regulation and the Wanderers refused to play overtime with the current referee. The Cup trustees ordered the series to restart with both games played in Ottawa. However, Montreal refused unless the first game was replayed at home. The Wanderers were disqualified and the Silver Seven retained

5488-584: The Thistles came away with 4–2 and 8–6 victories for a combined score of 12–8 to win a two-game total goals series. A "ringer", Ross was a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings and was borrowed by Kenora just for the challenge games. In March, Kenora would play and win the Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL) playoffs against Brandon to successfully defend the Cup. In a best-of-three, Kenora won 2–0. In March,

5586-463: The Thistles, 7–2. Kenora won game two, 6–5, but the one-goal victory was not enough. Although the Montreal Wanderers won the 1908 ECAHA title by finishing the season with an 8–2 record, they played in three Cup challenges that season. In January, they defeated the 1907 FAHL champion Ottawa Victorias , 22–4, in a two-game total goals series. Ernie Russell scored 10 goals as he led the Wanderers to 9–3 and 13–1 victories. The Winnipeg Maple Leafs of

5684-521: The U.S. and Canada, the vast distances and consequent burdens on cross-country travel have led to regional divisions of teams. Generally, during the regular season, teams play more games in their division than outside it, but the league's best teams might not play against each other in the regular season. Therefore, in the postseason a playoff series is organized. Any group-winning team is eligible to participate, and as playoffs became more popular they were expanded to include second- or even lower-placed teams –

5782-781: The United States: The Montreal Victorias travelled to New York City for an exhibition against the New York Athletic Club. The Athletic Club records the date as March 4, (although the date conflicts with an AHAC game), won by the Vics 6–1. The first successful challenge to the Cup came in February 1896 by the Winnipeg Victorias , the champions of the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA). On February 14, Winnipeg beat defending champion Montreal Victorias, 2–0, becoming

5880-415: The Wanderers won the 1907 ECAHA title by finishing the season undefeated with a 10–0 record. Montreal then requested a rematch with Kenora for the Cup. However, there were disagreements between both teams. The Wanderers did not want the Thistles to use their "ringers", Harry Westwick and Alf Smith from the Ottawa Senators. Kenora responded by refusing to play, citing the fact that Montreal used "ringers" in

5978-408: The best-of-three challenge series, the Thistles were younger and quicker than Ottawa; only one player on the Thistles was over the age of 20. However, poor soft ice conditions in Ottawa played a major factor as the Ottawas swept the series with scores of 6–2 and 4–2. For their win, the Ottawa players each received a silver nugget from team director Bob Shillington. This is the origin of the nickname of

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6076-502: The campus of the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama . Between 2014 and 2017, it was played at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas . Since 1994, the games have been broadcast on ESPN . The NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973 . Before 1973, most of the schools now in Division III competed either in the NCAA College Division or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). NCAA Divisions II and III were created by splitting

6174-439: The challenge era. A season did not have official dates as rinks were natural ice, so season roughly corresponds to winter. The leagues typically started close to the beginning of the calendar year and ended in early March. This table lists all the champions of the Stanley Cup per year during the challenge era. Annual Stanley Cup Finals series did not begin until 1915 , before which time there often were two different champions in

6272-463: The champion of the National League (formerly known as Conference Premier) are also automatically promoted. In EFL playoffs, the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places compete in two-legged semi-finals with the higher-placed club enjoying home advantage in the second leg. In the National League however, the six clubs finishing below the champions compete in playoffs - the lower four competing in an elimination match to decide who plays in

6370-495: The champions. Montreal HC were never recognized as Stanley Cup Champions in 1895, even though they won first challenge series from another hockey league. Billy Barlow , the star player of Montreal was not able to play and Clarence McKerrow took his place. McKerrow had not played any games for Montreal, and could be considered a ringer , but there was no protest from Queen's. The Queen's team, although described as looking fast in their tiger jerseys, were no match for Montreal and

6468-409: The championship situation, it was decided that a three-team tournament would take place in Montreal, with the Ottawa Hockey Club getting a bye to the finals (being the sole "road" team). In the first Stanley Cup playoff game ever, the Montreal Hockey Club defeated the Montreal Victorias , 3–2. Five days later in the first Stanley Cup Finals game, the Montreal HC successfully defended their title with

6566-400: The closing moments of game three. Another Montreal HC vs. Winnipeg Victorias best-of-three challenge series was held in early 1903. In the first game, defending champion Montreal defeated Winnipeg, 8–1. The second game was the first Stanley Cup challenge match to be replayed. Both teams skated to a 2–2 tie before the game had to be suspended at 27:00 of overtime because of a midnight curfew. It

6664-429: The divisional round, the lowest-seeded winner of a wild-card game then plays the lone bye team; the two wild-card winners also advance to play each other. The winners of these two games go to the conference championships, and the winners of those conference finals then face each other in the Super Bowl . The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game , used to determine

6762-430: The earlier series. Eventually, the Wanderers withdrew their protest after the Thistles agreed to play the two-game total goals series in Winnipeg; Winnipeg Auditorium was much larger and thus guaranteed more ticket sales for the clubs to share. In the end, Montreal overcame Westwick and Smith as they compiled a combined score of 12–8 to win the series. Most of the Wanderers' margin-of-victory came in game one as they defeated

6860-412: The final champion. The National Championship final was held at Sacramento, California from 1973 to 1975. It was in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1976 and 1977. The game was played in Longview, Texas in 1978. For 1979 and 1980, Albuquerque, New Mexico hosted the game. McAllen, Texas hosted the finals from 1981 to 1985. From 1986 to 2013, the Division II final was played at Braly Municipal Stadium near

6958-402: The final standings was involved in a playoff pool with three teams from the Belgian Second Division after each season, to determine which of these teams played in the First Division/Pro League the oncoming season. The lowest ranked team of the First Division/Pro League was relegated and replaced by the Second Division champion. Originally, these playoffs were introduced in 1974 and were part of

7056-413: The finals series, employed using a modified Page playoff system . The top two teams at the end of league play were matched in one semifinal, with the winner advancing directly to the grand final and the loser going into the Preliminary Final. The next two teams played a semifinal for a place in the Preliminary Final, whose winner took the other place in the grand final. Both semifinals were two-legged, while

7154-419: The game 3–2 with about 12 minutes left in the game, Montreal's Bob Macdougall violently slashed Winnipeg's Tony Gingras . As Gingras was carried off the ice, referee Bill Findlay only called Macdougall for a two-minute minor. Angry that he should have been accessed a larger penalty, Winnipeg went into their dressing room in protest. Insulted, Findlay abruptly went home, but returned after officials followed him on

7252-470: The game dates or the playoff series format. For the 1905–06 season, the Ottawa HC (aka Silver Seven ) joined the new Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA). In February, Ottawa played a best-of-three challenge series against OHA champion Queen's University , but the Senators proved to be the better team as they swept the series with 16–7 and 12–7 victories. About a week later, Smiths Falls,

7350-424: The game proved uninteresting. The first successful challenge to the Cup came in February 1896 by the Winnipeg Victorias , the champions of the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA). On February 14, Winnipeg beat defending champion Montreal, 2–0, becoming the first team outside the AHAC to win the Cup. The Montreal Victorias won the 1896 AHAC title by finishing the season with a 7–1 record, and subsequently demanded

7448-456: The home-and-away season. Each team in the championship playoff plays the others home and away one additional time. At the end of this stage: Each group within the qualifying playoff also plays home and away within its group; after this stage, teams enter another level of playoffs depending on their positions in the group. The top two teams in each group enter a knockout playoff consisting entirely of two-legged matches (unless one of these teams

7546-419: The ice from post to post. On January 30, 1904, a CAHL league game between the Ottawas and the Montreal Victorias started late and the game ended at the midnight curfew, with Ottawa leading 4–1. The CAHL ordered the game to be replayed, and the ensuing debate caused the Ottawas to withdraw from the CAHL. The CAHL hoped that without Ottawa, the Cup would remain with the CAHL and be given to its new league champion,

7644-547: The lower tiers Série C and Série D include knockout rounds in their final stages. Bulgaria instituted an elaborate playoff system in its top flight, the First League , in the 2016–17 season. After the league's 14 teams play a full home-and-away season, the league splits into two playoffs—a 6-team "championship playoff" and an 8-team "qualifying playoff", with the latter split into two 4-team groups. Each playoff begins with teams carrying over all goals and statistics from

7742-630: The next two games, 3–2 and 5–4. In March, the Shamrocks finished the 1900 CAHL season in first place, and thus the league championship, with a 7–1 record and then received another challenge for the Cup. However, the Halifax Crescents of the Halifax City Hockey League (Maritime champions) did not pose much of a threat as Montreal crushed them, 10–2 and 11–0. In January 1901, the Winnipeg Victorias again challenged

7840-767: The number of mid-table clubs with nothing to play for at the end of the season. The Football Conference, now known as the National League , introduced play-offs in 2002 after the Football League agreed to a two-club exchange with the Conference. The top two teams in the EFL Championship and in EFL League One are automatically promoted to the division above and thus do not compete in the play-offs. The top three teams in EFL League Two and

7938-421: The number of wild-card qualifiers returned to six. The winners of each division automatically earn a playoff spot and a home game in their first rounds, the three top non-division winners from each conference also make the playoffs as wild-card teams. The division winner with the best record in the regular season gets a first-round bye, and each of the other division winners plays one of the three wild-card teams. In

8036-574: The other league. The winner of the test match series play in the higher league the following season, and the loser in the lower league. In international football , playoffs were a feature of the 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cup final tournaments. They are still a feature of the qualification tournaments for the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship . In the qualification playoffs for

8134-411: The play-off semi-finals are two leg ties with the final being a single match played at the home ground of the highest placed of the two teams. At levels seven and eight, all of the ties are single matches played at the home ground of the team with the highest league position. In 2003, Gillingham proposed replacing the current play-off system with one involving six clubs from each division and replacing

8232-510: The proposal, it was blocked by The FA and soon abandoned. The championship of every division in English football is determined solely by the standings in the league. However, a championship play-off would be held if the top two teams were tied for points, goal difference, goals scored in both their overall league record, and identical head-to-head record (including head-to-head away goals scored); to date, this has never happened. A play-off would also be scheduled if two teams are tied as above for

8330-467: The regular season won the league title. Thus, a few league championship games or series were held just to break first place ties and determine who would keep the Cup. These league title games have historically been listed along with the regular inter-league Cup challenges. Lord Stanley of Preston introduced the Stanley Cup in 1892 and it was first awarded at the end of winter 1893 to the league champion Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal HC). The same club won

8428-421: The regular-season table. The First Division B qualifiers will be the top three teams from that league's regular-season table, excluding the division champion, which instead earns promotion to First Division A. As in the previous format, the teams will be divided into two groups, each playing home-and-away within the group, and the two group winners will play a one-off final, with the winner of that match advancing to

8526-627: The season is split into two periods (as in many leagues in Latin America). In leagues with a single table done only once a year, as in most of Europe, playoff systems are not used to determine champions, although in some countries such systems are used to determine teams to be promoted to higher leagues (e.g., England) or qualifiers for European club competitions (such as Greece and the Netherlands), usually between teams that didn't perform well enough to earn an automatic spot. A test match

8624-488: The semifinals (the top two receive a bye into the semifinals). The away goals rule does not apply for the semi-finals. The Football League play-off finals were originally played in two legs, at both teams' home grounds, but were later changed to one-off affairs, which are played at Wembley Stadium in London. Teams are also promoted using a play-off tournament from levels six to eight of the football pyramid . At level six,

8722-401: The team who wins the most matches isn't automatically the national champion. The biggest upside in favor of the play-off system is the higher number of matches (40 instead of 34 compared to the previous season) and more top matches. The extra matches also generate higher revenues for the teams. Nonetheless, the higher number of matches takes an extra toll on teams and players. Besides play-offs,

8820-467: The term " wild card " refers to these teams. In England and Scotland, playoffs are used in association football to decide promotion for lower-finishing teams, rather than to decide a champion in the way they are used in North America. In the EFL Championship (the second tier of English football), teams finishing 3rd to 6th after the regular season compete to decide the third promotion spot to

8918-527: The third and fourth places in Primera B Nacional, counted by its aggregate table. In Primera B Nacional, the same procedure continues in use for relegation to either Primera B Metropolitana or Torneo Argentino A for non-Buenos Aires clubs. From 2015 onward, relegation from the Primera División will be based solely on league position at the end of the season (which, effective in 2016–17, changed from

9016-417: The top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament , and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats . Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament. In team sports in

9114-513: The two-legged ties with one-off matches. If adopted, the two higher-placed clubs in the play-offs would have enjoyed first-round byes and home advantage in the semi-finals. It was a controversial proposal — some people did not believe a club finishing only in eighth position in the League could (or should) compete in the Premiership while others found the system too American for their liking. Although League chairmen initially voted in favour of

9212-504: Was no playoff between the Apertura and Clausura winners. As a result, the league crowned two champions each year. After each Clausura, the two teams with the lowest points-per-game total for the previous six tournaments (three years, counting only Primera División games) were relegated to Primera B Nacional to be replaced by that league's champion and runner-up teams; the two teams immediately above contested promotion/relegation series with

9310-721: Was previously played in Phenix City , Alabama at Garrett-Harrison Stadium (1973–1982, 1985–1989), at the College Football Hall of Fame , when the Hall was located in Kings Island , Ohio at Galbreath Field (1983–1984), and Bradenton , Florida at Hawkins Stadium (1990–1992). As a rule, international association football has only had championship playoffs when a league is divided into several equal divisions, conferences or groups ( Premier League ) or when

9408-476: Was scrapped and replaced with direct relegation for the bottom Pro League/First Division A team only. Further changes will be introduced to the Europa League playoffs from 2016 to 2017 forward. The playoff will involve a total of 12 teams—nine from First Division A, and three from First Division B (the renamed Second Division). The First Division A qualifiers will be those finishing between 7th and 15th on

9506-500: Was the first series in which professional players played for the Stanley Cup, as the Wanderers and other teams in the ECAHA were starting to mix amateurs with pros in their squads. The Kenora Thistles (formerly the Rat Portage Thistles before the city changed its name to Kenora in 1904) challenged the Montreal Wanderers for the Cup in January 1907. Aided by future Hockey Hall of Famers Tom Hooper , Tommy Phillips , and Art Ross ,

9604-481: Was then decided to discard the result and replay the game two days later. In the rescheduled contest, the Victorias won, 4–2, to even the series. However, Montreal won the decisive third game, 4–1, to retain the Cup. In March, the 1903 CAHL season ended with the Montreal Victorias and the Ottawa Hockey Club tied for first place with identical 6–2 records. To determine the CAHL champion, and thus succeed

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