Realignment plan

[gaijin]

Also, do the teams get reseeded after round 2? So winner from Conferences A-D play where top points plays least points in round 3?

That decision is supposedly going to be made by the Board of Governors during this year's playoffs. Seems like the choice is between re-seeding the 4 conference champs, or dividing the 4 champs into "western" and "eastern" conferences to determine which two teams will play for the Cup. Crazy, I know.

Naturally, the League will choose the more retarded option, so get ready to see Detroit vs. Vancouver for the Cup.

[TheoSqua]

Also, do the teams get reseeded after round 2? So winner from Conferences A-D play where top points plays least points in round 3?

That decision is supposedly going to be made by the Board of Governors during this year's playoffs. Seems like the choice is between re-seeding the 4 conference champs, or dividing the 4 champs into "western" and "eastern" conferences to determine which two teams will play for the Cup. Crazy, I know.

Naturally, the League will choose the more retarded option, so get ready to see Detroit vs. Vancouver for the Cup.

I actually like that idea.

[philco_3]

They should still keep the Eastern and Western Conferences, and then just have 2 divisions. In the West I could see naming them Central and Pacific and with the screwed up Florida teams, they could have gone with Atlantic and Northeast Divisions.

[theohall]

I have to share this....

A friend's proposal for re-alignment which looked like it would make sense geographically (the red line is Atlanta moving to Winnipeg - he made this map last season)



What really happened:


Nice flacid penis, eh?

And the two 7 team conferences would have been the "Western" conferences, instead of the "Eastern" conferences.

[WaukeeBlues]

Why couldn't they just make 4 divisions under a 2 conference banner like they used to? Would have been perfect.

Which is exactly why it won't be allowed to happen.

[DaDitka]

Also, do the teams get reseeded after round 2? So winner from Conferences A-D play where top points plays least points in round 3?

That decision is supposedly going to be made by the Board of Governors during this year's playoffs. Seems like the choice is between re-seeding the 4 conference champs, or dividing the 4 champs into "western" and "eastern" conferences to determine which two teams will play for the Cup. Crazy, I know.

Naturally, the League will choose the more retarded option, so get ready to see Detroit vs. Vancouver for the Cup.

I actually like that idea.

Same here. I know it basically blows out everything we've ever seen in most sports, but why wouldn't someone want the championship to be the between the two best teams?

[evil roy]

I'm agreeing with Waukee Blues here inasmuch as this whole realignment is obviously slanted pro-east. If all four conferences are "equal", then why do the two conferences that have the most travel (by far) also get the most teams? It would seem to me that the only logical way to divvy this league up would be thus:

Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Washington, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey

Detroit, NYR, NYI, Boston, Buffalo, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal

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

Phoenix, L.A., San Jose, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Anaheim

All I did was draw a line straight down the middle of the globe so that on one side there were 14 teams, and on the other there were 16. Then I drew another line through the eastern half so that there were 8 teams above the line and 8 below. Same thing in the West but with 7 on the left and 7 on the right. This way every one is geographically as close to as many other teams in its own conference as possible while the two with the advantage of ridiculously short travel routes have to take the extra teams. Done and done.

[STLADOGG]

I think all they cared about were the time zones (besides Detroit and BJ's, because well (Frank) em)

The two Florida teams are in the eastern time zone just like the rest of their conference..it could be a lot worse.

[KPFBlue]

Take a look at the New York conference. Not only do they have forced rivalries between NYR, PIT, PHI, and WAS, but they also matched them up with NJ, NYI, and CAR in a conference that allows 4 into the playoffs. They've essentially guaranteed that the Rangers, Penguins, Flyers, and Caps will be battling it out in the "playoffs" for the next decade... which of course = $$$

[DaDitka]

Of course the #1 concern was travel (minimizing cost), as well as timezones for local TV, but the league still had to consider the bigger TV viability, and that New York, New England, Jersey.... has enormous pull. They had to leave that group together.

I mean the NHL has more trouble getting quality television coverage the the NBA, NASCAR, NCAA, and have just recently moved past Poker.

Whether it's realignment or the winter classic, I really don't think people take this into consideration ENOUGH.

It sucks, it doesn't not always lead to what we think is the 'best' decision, but they are often necessary for the sustainability of the league as a whole moving forward.

[WaukeeBlues]

I don't know what annoys me more: this realignment or all the commentators saying what such a great thing it is

Really? What realignment are you looking at!? The ONLY redeeming comment I heard in regards to the 8 team/ 7 team structure was from JR on NBC Sports the other night in that is allows for two more expansion teams. Although I don't even necessarily agree with the fact that the NHL NEEDS to expand, the current structure more easily allows for it nonetheless. Beyond that, haven't heard an ounce of logic as to why the East is structured the way it is beyond forced rivalries, money and favored franchises.

[theohall]

I don't know what annoys me more: this realignment or all the commentators saying what such a great thing it is

Really? What realignment are you looking at!? The ONLY redeeming comment I heard in regards to the 8 team/ 7 team structure was from JR on NBC Sports the other night in that is allows for two more expansion teams. Although I don't even necessarily agree with the fact that the NHL NEEDS to expand, the current structure more easily allows for it nonetheless. Beyond that, haven't heard an ounce of logic as to why the East is structured the way it is beyond forced rivalries, money and favored franchises.

There is one possibility for the East having two 7 teams conferences and the West having two 8 team conferences - the Phoenix ownership situation. The prevailing theory is the Coyotes will likely end up in Quebec and they will be moved to one of the "Eastern" conferences when they eventually move. Heard this on NHL Radio when the proposal which became a reality was still a proposal.

[xbleed83bluex]

Carolina should have been in the same conference with the Florida teams. Period. Carolina is the only southern team relatively close to Florida, and you don't put it in the same conference?? That's silly.

[theohall]

They were joking that the Florida/Boston/Canadian conference should be named after an airline. Just sell the naming rights to one of them.

[cprice12]

I really don't care about the alignment of the teams in the east that much. Why should I?
But part of the reason for the goofy alignment on the east coast is for rivalries, which is a main reason why Detroit stayed in the Central, or whatever it will be called. Detroit's has a huge rivalry with Chicago.

As far as our division goes, aside from it having 8 teams instead of 7, which it should have...I'm quite happy with it.
Detroit stays and the Stars have been added. Both huge pluses for us.
The first two rounds of the playoffs stay in the division, which is also a huge plus.
To me, that outweighs any goofy alignment in the east, which doesn't effect us that much at all.

If we become a regular playoff team, then we'll be playing either Detroit or Chicago in the playoffs often, assuming they get in as well. THAT, my friends, would be awesome.

This setup is much better than the one we currently have.

[WaukeeBlues]

I don't know what annoys me more: this realignment or all the commentators saying what such a great thing it is

Really? What realignment are you looking at!? The ONLY redeeming comment I heard in regards to the 8 team/ 7 team structure was from JR on NBC Sports the other night in that is allows for two more expansion teams. Although I don't even necessarily agree with the fact that the NHL NEEDS to expand, the current structure more easily allows for it nonetheless. Beyond that, haven't heard an ounce of logic as to why the East is structured the way it is beyond forced rivalries, money and favored franchises.

There is one possibility for the East having two 7 teams conferences and the West having two 8 team conferences - the Phoenix ownership situation. The prevailing theory is the Coyotes will likely end up in Quebec and they will be moved to one of the "Eastern" conferences when they eventually move. Heard this on NHL Radio when the proposal which became a reality was still a proposal.

Well, as I said earlier in the thread, that doesn't really "fix" the problem, it just moves it. You still have two conferences with one more team than the other two.

[goon attack]

Not enough conference games. Conference foes should be playing each other 8 times per season. In the 8 team conferences, that would represent 56 games. Divide up the other games randomly, I say.

Brawl (Franking) city.

[glen a richter]

The reason MLB had 14/16 was to limit the amount of stupid interleague bullshit, which will now be every franking day because of moving Houston to the AL which is complete and total bullshit. Anyway, this isn't a problem in the NHL obviously since east and west play each other plenty of times. If they're going to go with 16/14 they may as well make east only play east and west only play west until the Cup.

[theohall]

The reason MLB had 14/16 was to limit the amount of stupid interleague bullshit, which will now be every franking day because of moving Houston to the AL which is complete and total bullshit. Anyway, this isn't a problem in the NHL obviously since east and west play each other plenty of times. If they're going to go with 16/14 they may as well make east only play east and west only play west until the Cup.

Teams like Colorado, Tampa Bay .and Florida would never approve a plan that did not include every team playing every team. They draw large crowds based on transplant fans and need those crowds.

[glen a richter]

The reason MLB had 14/16 was to limit the amount of stupid interleague bullshit, which will now be every franking day because of moving Houston to the AL which is complete and total bullshit. Anyway, this isn't a problem in the NHL obviously since east and west play each other plenty of times. If they're going to go with 16/14 they may as well make east only play east and west only play west until the Cup.

Teams like Colorado, Tampa Bay .and Florida would never approve a plan that did not include every team playing every team. They draw large crowds based on transplant fans and need those crowds.

Well of course they could just make sure everyone gets to play Washington and Pittsburgh because we all know those are the only two teams that matter.