Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterJoji
Crossover like that will never happen. NHL hates heavy travel during the playoffs. Can you imagine a Vancouver/Florida 1st round matchup? It'd be a nightmare.
|
Yes, however that compares the two furthest cities from each other. Vancouver to Miami is 4509 km; however keep in mind that Vancouver to Nashville is 3268 km. Or Vancouver to St. Louis is 2859 km. (Two conference matchups under the current system.) Is a 5 hour flight that much worse than a 3.5 hour flight?
Then look at other matchups. For Calgary to New York it is only 700 km further than Calgary to Dallas. So assuming a crossover happens every other year; the odds of it adding a significant amout of travel time is pretty low. However the potential for end of season excitiement is quite high. I'd love to see a team pull their goalie in a tie game; because they need both points for the win to make the playoffs.