Best - of playoffs Best - of playoffs are a playoffs format that have two teams facing each other in a series where , in order to advance to the next round or be declared champion , a team has to win a given number of matches . The best - of format is a common occurence in ice hockey , especially at the league level , where the winners of the league ' s playoffs are decided by a more or less long best - of series . Best - of series require an odd number of maximum matches and , in leagues where tie s exist , they also require that tied games be played until a winner is found ; these requirements ensure that one team invariably wins at least one more game than its opponent , and therefore can win the series . Often , a team will be able to win the required number of games before the maximum number of matches is reached . In those cases , the remaining matches are omitted , as they would be meaningless . Throughout history , three variations are commonly found : the best - of - three , the best - of - five and the best - of - seven . Best - of - three . The best - of - three playoffs require a team to win two games to clinch the series . These have been in use in the National Hockey League almost since its beginning . It was actually one of the two ways to win the Stanley Cup , the other being a two - legged playoffs series . Initially , the best - of - three was used in the lower stage of the Stanley Cup tournament , with the finals being a two - legged series ; this held true until the Original Six era . Best - of - five . Best - of - five playoffs require a team to win three games against their opponent to clinch the series . The National Hockey League adopted these when they absorbed four teams from the World Hockey Association in 1979 . They kept this format until 1986 . Best - of - seven . Best - of - seven playoffs require a team to win four games in its series in order to clinch it . It is the current NHL playoffs format . Best - of - nine . An rather rare occurence in hockey , the best - of - nine , that requires a team to win five games , has been used for seven seasons from 1983 - 84 through 1990 - 91 in the Western Hockey League . This format was adopted for the Western Division only , as the Eastern and Western Divisions were not balanced . The Western Division had 6 teams ; the other one had 8 . It resulted in the Western Division having only two playoffs rounds to play to reach the playoffs ( albeit longer ones ) , while the Eastern Division had three rounds and byes awarded to two teams in the first round . In the East , they played one best - of - five , then two best - of - seven series before reaching the WHL Championship Series , a best - of - seven . Only twice did a best - of - nine series extend to the full nine games lenght : the first time in 1984 when the Portland Winterhawks defeated the New Westminster Bruins , and in 1986 when the same Winterhawks defeated the Spokane Chiefs . This format was often used to maximize playoff gate receipts . Many of the amateur leagues only made money during the playoffs . An example was the Lower St Lawrence League of 1953 - 54 . The format was often used by the Ontario Hockey Association up until the 1990s instead of the use of byes . The Unique 1952 - 53 Season . This season was unique because the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association was suspended by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association at the end of February , just as the last of the regular seasons was ending . This meant that the Quebec teams could not compete in the Alexander Cup , Allan Cup or Memorial Cup playoffs . The Quebec leagues had to scramble to fill up some lost time . The Quebec Senior Hockey League ( Major ) decided to make one of its semi - final a best - of - eleven series ! And it actually went the full 11 games , with Chicoutimi beating Ottawa 6 wins to 5 . The Lac St Jean Senior League also adopted the best - of - eleven format for its final series , which only ( ! ) went 9 games . Some of the other series in these leagues and the Provincial Senior League used the shorter best of 9 format . The problem was not restricted to Quebec . The Ontario Hockey Association ' s Junior A league had lost its main interprovincial opponent and changed two of its series to best of 9 to make up for the lost playoff series . Ironically , a Quebec team was found for the 1952 - 53 Eastern Canada Memorial Cup Playoffs . Cerainly a playoff season to remember !