Thread: NHL in for radical realignment?

I'd rather see a realignment that mixes the east and west teams so travel is not an unfair advantage. Yes rivalries in the east would be distrupted but....

Originally Posted by jom

How is this going to affect the playoffs? Please don't tell me they are going to have divisional playoffs again....argh...I hated that.

jom

according to PuckDaddy...

NHL realignment plan: Improving or meddling with playoffs? - Puck Daddy - NHL*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

Teams would play a balanced schedule in the regular season, with the top four teams in each division making the playoffs. The first round would be divisional play. Then teams would reseed for conference play.

also, the plan seems to be to re-align by time zones...

So to accommodate all of this — and to not have to disappoint one team while accommodating another — massive realignment has been proposed by the NHL that would reduce the League to four divisions: Two with eight teams, two with seven teams. (Can't wait for the inevitable expansion to balance it out!)
The realignment would be time-zone and geographically-based. So if you have a 14-team Eastern Conference (minus Winnipeg) and you add Detroit … well, that would leave Eastern Time Zone Columbus very well screwed. From the Globe & Mail, a solution:


The Blue Jackets are pushing the proposal for a 16-team conference and a 14-team conference in hopes of moving east. They are in the Eastern time zone and do not like playing many of their road games in different time zones because their games have to be shown at late hours on television.

As we've written before, moving the Blue Jackets to the Eastern Conference (or whatever it'll be) is essential for their survival. More games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, fewer games that start at 10:30 p.m. … that's how you build a fan base. Well, that and winning a few damn games now and then.

Going back to the balanced schedule, something the NHL hasn't seen since 1982 would be interesting. Do love the idea of the divisional playoffs, it would build rivalries instead of having ones that only happen once in a while.

Wales and Campbell making a comeback ? Smythe Division FTW !!!!!