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Originally Posted by calgarygeologist
Am I the only one that dislikes the changes to the NHL schedule as a result of realignment last season? My biggest issues is that there doesn't seem to be as much importance or development of rivalries within the divisions because the teams play each other less. 29 divisional games just doesn't seem adequate. I'd like to 6 games against each divisional team.
One of the things that bothers me the most about scheduling this year is that the Flames play almost no games against teams within their division down the stretch. Of their last 15 games only 3 are against division opponents. Maybe it is just a Pacific division scheduling problem because Vancouver only plays 5 of their last 15 against division teams. The Oilers have 6 games. Although LA has 8 of the last 15 against division opponents. Conversely, the Bruins and Leafs play 9 of their last against division opponents (the Leafs actually play 7 of their last 8 games against divisional teams). Montreal has 8 out of the last 15 against division opponents.
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It's hard to schedule.
When they had heavy division schedules people complained since we had to see Minnesota, Edmonton, Colorado, etc 8 times per season.
I think this is a decent balance. You play every team at least twice, so you get to see more variety.
In the end rivalries are made in the playoffs, and divisions don't matter as much.