High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League (NHL), began in April, 1999, following the 1998–99 NHL season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the Stanley Cup. This is the last time all 4 WHA teams made the playoffs.