154 replies to this topic

[Old School Hockey]

I: Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington

II: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto

III: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg

IV: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver

I like it. Any thoughts?

http://aol.sportingn...tle-hockey-team

[Munchausen]

Tampa is a bit of a rough fit for the second division. Is this another ploy to reduce travel costs. Can't think of another reason personally. It's kind of hazy considering that they don't divide evenly into four. Seeing as they are considering a wild card format for the post season, it isn't fair to the larger divisions since it would be harder mathematically to maintain their standing. 

Not saying that realignment isn't a good idea but until we raise the number of teams to 32 or reduce them to 28, no four division formula will be fair.

[Vader]

This is essentially the same thing that got shot down about a year ago.  So why would it get approved now?

[Old School Hockey]

This is essentially the same thing that got shot down about a year ago.  So why would it get approved now?

Because the NHL and the NHLPA are getting along now.

[Avsfreak18]

Lol... right....

[**LS**]

I still don't see the need for Divisions any more. Divide the league into two Conferences and call it a day.

[Old School Hockey]

My understanding is this is something the NHL & NHLPA worked on this! So it's likely to be next year!

[erniebear]

I still don't see the need for Divisions any more. Divide the league into two Conferences and call it a day.

 

Exactly.

[Avsfreak18]

id rather see just 2 conferences than 4 divisions as well

[Tashimojo]

I still think it's incredibly dumb to be splitting 30 teams into 4 conferences.

 

Mediocre Eastern side teams would lose. Eight of 16 teams, depending on how exactly the wild-card system shakes out, could make the playoffs. Compare that to eight of 14 in the West.

That is fucking stupid.

[Imber]

Stupid. Uneven conference is ridiculous. Florida and Tampa living in the NE is dumb. Just switch Winnipeg and Nashville in the current format and call it a day (or any of those other small moves that made sense).

[erniebear]

I think it's just stupid to discuss this now. I hate to bring up the lockout, but that's a big reason NOT to start this bs right now. If the NHL & NHLPA agree to a realignment of some sort, it should wait at least 2 full seasons to attempt to recover (aka not have as many hockey people pissed off at them) before switching to the new set-up. Whatever it might be.

 

That's just my humble opinion, as well as the 4 conference split is a dumb idea.

[Xcal97]

This is essentially the same thing that got shot down about a year ago.  So why would it get approved now?

Because there's not a labor dispute around the corner.

 

Apparently (as some people would have you believe) the NHLPA was too stupid to simulate their own schedule. So how do we resolve this? By realigning with virtually the same plan that got rejected by the PA.

 

This was not about scheduling or input. This was about CBA obstruction and politicking.

[damned]

The National Hockey League sent out a memo to its 30 teams on
Tuesday, and obtained by TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com,
regarding a new plan for realignment, including two conferences, four
divisions and a playoff format with wild card teams.

Instead of going to four conferences as was the original plan in
December 2011, the new plan calls for two conferences (East and West)
containing two divisions each.

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=416887

[DADDY AVALANCHE]

Do they really have to give us the Blues and Hawks??

 

LOL SMH.

[thecoffeecake]

The most reasonable solution was the 4 conference proposal from last season the PA got bitchy about for zero reason. They should expand to Seattle and Quebec City to even out all four conferences. That's still a solution with this proposal. They're both viable cities building new state of th art facilities, with old buildings they could be put in for a season or 2.

[ProHockeyTalk]

Having 16 teams in the East is seen as an issue, but moving one of them to the West would also face resistance.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpre...alk&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />

NBC

[damned]

The fact is that the league is 30 teams, based on that I think the proposed format is about as good as they can get it. I hope they approve it.

 

Love the fact that the chances of divisional rivalries increase significantly. 

[RussJericho23]

I'm not a fan of it.

Personally, I don't think there's really anything wrong with it the way it is, currently. I'd rather have 15 teams in each conference, rather than 14 in one and 16 in the other.

I'd certainly not move Detroit to the East (despite their time zone), purely because that would leave Chicago as the only Original Six team in the West and fewer games between the Hawks and the Wings. However, I'd be quite happy to move Columbus to the East, with no problems, with Winnipeg taking their rightful place in the West.

 

Where, can I ask, is the sense of having three (!) Canadian teams in the same division as Tampa Bay & Florida? I thought the NHL were trying to make the divisions better, not worse.

[AUTiger7222]

I still don't see the need for Divisions any more. Divide the league into two Conferences and call it a day.

 

I agree. Divisions in the NHL and NBA are completely pointless IMO where the top 8 teams make the playoffs. Just have the East and West conferences and let's play the games!