Thread: NHL Realignment

According to a report on "Hockey Night in Canada," realignment for next season will group Detroit and Columbus with Eastern teams and Winnipeg with Western teams.

The four still-unnamed conferences:
Group A: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto.

Group B: Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington.

Group C: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg.

Group D: Ducks, Kings, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Phoenix, and San Jose. Each team will play every other team in the league home-and-home.

Originally Posted by PPharoah

Each team will play every other team in the league home-and-home.

That is all I want. =D

argh! Don't like Detroit going to the east because I live in the east and so the Western Conf is just a 3 hour drive away right now. Damn that sucks. for me. Take Detroit out of Chicago's division? Detroit should just stay in the Norris and if anything Columbus should go into the Adams, and not the Patrick. I liked what was proposed last year, but this realignment process has been such a mess.

The only way I can see a 16/14 split working is the players getting a guarantee of expansion in future. Why should Columbus be rewarded with an eastern conference slot? Florida teams sure get the screw with the travel.

North/South Conferences... it's the only way to go.

Glad to see Wings going to the East. Shouldda done that a long time ago.

There's still the problem of teams in some conferences having a mathematically better chance of making the playoffs, which the NHLPA hates. One suggestion I've seen and that I love is the idea of going back to the old "top sixteen make the playoffs" format. Disregard which conference they are in. The Isles won one of their Cups after beating the Kings in the first round. You could have some intriguing match-ups early on and the possibility of bitter rivals squaring off in the Finals. Who would be against an Ottawa/Toronto or Boston/Montreal Final? While it wouldn't do a whole lot for most hockey fans, how would you like to see a Kings/Ducks Final?

It makes too much sense for the NHL to adopt the format, however.

Another 5 min breakdown from TSN last night on "Insider Trading", but the link is hidden on their page.

Bob says 3 from each Conf would get automatic placing into the first round, then with 4 spots up for grabs for the remaining 18 teams. First 2 rounds would be in-conference.

Relocation/Expansion in the West would be ripe with 2 conference spots difference from the 'East'.

Mark my words...Columbus will be much better next year when they join the non-defense conference.