I came up with this alignment a few months ago...
Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
Two Conferences of 16 teams. Two Divisions of 8 teams in each Conference. Two Groups of 4 teams in each Division...
WESTERN CONFERENCE
PACIFIC DIVISION
PAC NORTH GROUP- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Seattle
- Vancouver
PAC SOUTH GROUP- Anaheim
- Los Angeles
- San Jose
- Vegas
CENTRAL DIVISION
CEN NORTH GROUP- Chicago
- Minnesota
- St Louis
- Winnipeg
CEN SOUTH GROUP- Arizona
- Colorado
- Dallas
- Nashville
EASTERN CONFERENCE
GREAT LAKES DIVISION
GLA NORTH GROUP- Buffalo
- Montreal
- Ottawa
- Toronto
GLA SOUTH GROUP- Columbus
- Detroit
- Philadelphia
- Pittsburgh
ATLANTIC DIVISION
ATL NORTH GROUP- Boston
- New Jersey
- NY Islanders
- NY Rangers
ATL SOUTH GROUP- Carolina
- Florida
- Tampa Bay
- Washington
For scheduling, you play: - 1 Home / 1 Away vs all teams outside your own Division (2 x 24 = 48)
- 2 Home / 2 Away vs the other Group in your own Division (4 x 4 = 16)
- 3 Home / 3 Away vs your own Group (6 x 3 = 18)
48 + 16 + 18 = 82 game season
Playoffs: - 24 of 32 teams make the playoffs
- Winner of each Group gets a bye to the second round
- 2nd & 3rd place teams in each Group play a Best-of-5 first round series
- Winner of first round series plays the Group winner in the second round
- Group series winners within each Division play in the third round
- Division series winners within each Conference play in the fourth round
- Conference series winners play in the Stanley Cup Final
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Figuring out the best way to split up the eastern teams is harder than the western. There's no perfect answer that will make everyone happy.
An expanded playoff has been talked about for a long time now. Expanding to 32 teams, and having 24 teams qualify for the playoffs seems like a good way to do it (and it's about the same percentage of teams making the playoffs as it was when 16 of 21 teams made it). Personally, I don't like series that are less than a best-of-5, but a best-of-3 could also work for the first round (a one-game play-in seems like a waste).
They could do an accelerated schedule in the first round (2 - travel - 2 - travel - 1 -- done in 7 days / a best-of-three could be done in 4 days) and start the second round once the match-ups are set, even if all the first round series aren't done. The extra rest is just a perk of winning your Group.
If they limit the number of breaks in the other rounds too, the season won't need to end any later than it already does.