The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven series played in October in the Major League Baseball postseason that determines the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The winner of the series advances to play the winner of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) in the World Series, Major League Baseball's championship series.
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason and/or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by 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.
Serie B, currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is currently contested by 19 teams, however usually consists of 22 teams, and is organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the Serie A and Serie B. Common nicknames for the league are campionato cadetto and cadetteria, as cadetto is the Italian for junior or cadet.
The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland. It is the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system and of the two-tier National League. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was officially called National League A. The NL has the most attended hockey club in Europe, SC Bern, and is also the most attended league within the same continent, averaging 6,882 spectators for the 2016–17 season.
The SM-liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagues of the Champions Hockey League and currently allocated five spots - the maximum number - based on success in previous editions. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but the league and association have an agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship".
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from April to October. In other team sports, like association football or basketball, it is generally from August or September to May although in some countries - such as Northern Europe or East Asia - the season starts in the spring and finishes in autumn, mainly due to weather conditions encountered during the winter.
The Slovak Tipsport Liga is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. Since the 2018-19 season, the league also includes two teams from Hungary.In 2009, it was ranked by the IIHF as the fifth strongest league in Europe and in 2012, it was ranked by The Hockey News as the sixth strongest league in the world behind the NHL, KHL, Swedish Hockey League, SM-liiga and Czech Extraliga. However, it has dropped significantly since then, with the German DEL and Austrian EBEL both ranked ahead.
The Baseball-Bundesliga is the elite competition for the sport of baseball in Germany. In it, the men's German championship is determined annually. Like most European sports leagues, the Bundesliga uses a system of promotion and relegation. The highest division of the Bundesliga currently consists of sixteen teams in two divisions, with each team playing four games against each other team. The league is regulated by the German Baseball and Softball Association (DBV).
The season structure of the National Hockey League (NHL) is divided into the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the regular season, which generally runs from early October through early April, teams play 82 games which determine their standings. The three highest-placed teams in each division and two wild card teams per conference enter the playoff elimination tournament to determine the Stanley Cup champion.
GET-ligaen is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. It comprises 10 clubs and works on the premise of promotion and relegation, in which the two teams who placed last must play the top two teams from First Division for the rights to play in the next GET-ligaen season.
The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Eight teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season points totals. The final round is commonly known as the Stanley Cup Final, which sees the two conference champions play for the Stanley Cup.
The 2006–07 Serie C1 was the twenty-ninth edition of Serie C1, the third highest league in the Italian football league system. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 3, 2006, to May 13, 2007, and the playoff phase. Once the regular season was over teams placed 2nd to 5th entered a playoff to determine the second team in each division to be promoted to Serie B. At the same time, teams placed 14th to 17th entered a playout for the right to remain in Serie C1 the following season.
J20 SuperElit is a junior ice hockey league composed of 20 teams in Sweden. It is the highest-level junior ice hockey league in Sweden. The teams are divided in two groups, or divisions, Norra (North) and Södra (South), and are usually associated with a professional team in either the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) or HockeyAllsvenskan in order to develop talented youth for the professional teams. The winning team of the J20 SuperElit playoffs is awarded the Anton Cup.
The 2005–06 Serie C1 was the twenty-eighth edition of Serie C1, the third highest league in the Italian football league system. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from August 28, 2005 to May 7, 2006, and the playoff phase. Once the regular season was over teams placed 2nd to 5th entered a playoff to determine the second team in each division to be promoted to Serie B. At the same time, teams placed 14th to 17th entered a playout for the right to remain in Serie C1 the following season.
The 2009–10 Czech Extraliga season was the 17th season of the Czech Extraliga since its creation after the breakup of Czechoslovakia and the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League in 1993. In the regular season, Plzeň 1929 finished atop the league, Roman Červenka led the league in points and assists, and Petr Ton led the league in goals.
The 2010–11 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season was the thirty-third football league season of Italian Lega Pro Seconda Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the third since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro.
The 2010–11 Serie D was the sixty-third edition of the top level Italian non-professional football championship. It represented the fourth tier in the Italian football league system. It originally consisted of 166 teams, with two divisions allocated 20 teams each while the other seven allocated 18 teams. After the first matchday, another team was added, increasing the number of teams to 167 and Girone I to 19 teams.
The 2010–11 LEB Plata season is the 11th season of the LEB Plata, second league of the Liga Española de Baloncesto and third division in Spain. It is also named Adecco Plata for sponsorship reasons.
The 2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the 8th season of the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-highest level of ice hockey in Sweden. The regular season began on 12 September 2012 and ended on 2 March 2013, with the following playoffs and Kvalserien tournaments running until 5 April 2013. Leksands IF, following a season marked by financial instability and scandal, secured first place in the regular season standings, and continued to the qualification round for the 2013–14 SHL/Elitserien season, along with second-place Södertälje SK, third place VIK Västerås HK, and playoff winner Örebro HK. Meanwhile, 13th- and 14th-ranked Tingsryds AIF and Karlskrona HK were forced to defend their places in HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2013–14 season.
The 2017–18 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the 25th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The season started in September 2017, and the last game of final series was played in 18 June 2018.
