NHL Conference Realignment

[calgARI]

This thing is getting dumber and dumber. Just switch Winnipeg with Columbus. All these other proposals are making things more complicated and less equitable. Once you go to 32, then you make significant changes.

If anything, no more divisions...just two conferences where the top eight make the playoffs and all 15 teams play a similar schedule.

[FlamesAddiction]

I just can't get behind any idea that has unequal numbers of teams in conferences or that uses wild card or cross over systems. (especially the latter two).

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I just can't get behind any idea that has unequal numbers of teams in conferences or that uses wild card or cross over systems. (especially the latter two).

Why not?

[Vulcan]

If they go with 16 teams in the East and 14 teams in the West, what happens if they add two more teams? At least one of them will be in the East and than 1 or more teams will have to go back in the West. This seems crazy to me.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I just can't get behind any idea that has unequal numbers of teams in conferences or that uses wild card or cross over systems. (especially the latter two).

Originally Posted by Zarley

Why not?

I agree. The TSN link redmile04 shows that Detroit switches conferences which is crazy. Keep the Red Wings in the western conference and that will balance the numbers.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by calgARI

This thing is getting dumber and dumber. Just switch Winnipeg with Columbus. All these other proposals are making things more complicated and less equitable. Once you go to 32, then you make significant changes.

If anything, no more divisions...just two conferences where the top eight make the playoffs and all 15 teams play a similar schedule.

It is getting a lot more confusing and your simple switch does make sense.

Originally Posted by Tsawwassen

Here we go again. First off, Winnipeg and Columbus should switch. Now Dallas should switch divisions with Vancouver, that would make both teams in a better timezone situation and in turn make the Wild happy too. There is nothing wrong with the 6 division set up. Play all in division teams 5 or 6 times, then play all the rest of the in conference teams 3 times, then all 15 out of conference teams twice.


4x5=20 or 4x6=24
10x3=30
15x2=30

and that equals 80 or 84 games.

I don't know about 16 teams agreeing to this 4 division alignment mess. The Avs like playing teams in the Central timezone plus less appearances by Detroit and Chicago coming out west is not good.

[albertGQ]

Detroit should be in the East. They've paid their dues

[calgARI]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Detroit should be in the East. They've paid their dues

Paid their dues doesn't mean much in my mind. Detroit should be where is best for the league and one has to think that's where they are in the west.

[opendoor]

Calgary would've made the playoffs last year with the proposed arrangement. They would've been #5 in the division but were 8th in points (after getting rid of Detroit) so they would've played Vancouver.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

If they go with 16 teams in the East and 14 teams in the West, what happens if they add two more teams? At least one of them will be in the East and than 1 or more teams will have to go back in the West. This seems crazy to me.

Yes, the possibility of teams shuffling back and forth is ridiculous. Another factor affecting Detroit is the timezone issue. I know Detroit wants to be in the eastern conference due to that city being in the eastern timezone. Currently, my american chat friend has said that the state of Indiana is going through another round of its never ending debate of having the entire state be part of the central timezone. Should that pass, the entire state of Michigan will probably change.

[Komskies]

Why are they so fixated on 4 groups of teams as opposed to the current 6? If it's with future expansion in mind, make the changes then. 30 is not evenly divisible by 4! Stop being silly NHL!

As said above, I would much prefer two conferences of 15 teams each with the top 8 from each making the playoffs. Swap Winnipeg with Nashville or Columbus, get rid of divisions, and call it a day.

[PeteLFan]

Awful just leave it the same with some minor tweaks.

Under this arrangement we will never make the playoffs.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Why are they so fixated on 4 groups of teams as opposed to the current 6?

You can't really do divisional playoffs with 6 divisions though. (You could, but it wouldn't work very well)

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by PeteLFan

Awful just leave it the same with some minor tweaks.

Under this arrangement we will never make the playoffs.

Flames don't deserve to be a playoff team then since that's for the best teams.

[doctajones428]

I'm not really a huge fan of the 4 division proposal, I'd rather just push Nashville or Columbus to the East and bring Winnipeg to the West, pretty simple really.

But the 7 8 7 8 set up does leave room for the league to expand to 32 in the future without much hassle and the need to revamp the divisions again

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by calgARI

Paid their dues doesn't mean much in my mind. Detroit should be where is best for the league and one has to think that's where they are in the west.

I think it's best for both Detroit and Columbus to be in the east. If you really look at the geography it makes no sense to have them in a Western Conference.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I think it's best for both Detroit and Columbus to be in the east. If you really look at the geography it makes no sense to have them in a Western Conference.

The part that makes no sense to me is you're going to have to move them back eventually, unless you put Toronto 2 in the Midwest Division (which wouldn't be completely crazy since the Leafs were in the Norris for years).

What I don't get is, knowing there will be a team in Quebec at some point why wouldn't the NHL at the very least keep Columbus in the Western Conference to make it an even playing ground in terms of the battle for playoff positioning? Makes me think that maybe there will another radical realignment coming when the league actually does expand to 32 teams.

Maybe something with four conferences and eight divisions. Something like:

CONFERENCE A

Division I

Calgary
Edmonton
Seattle
Vancouver

Division II

Anaheim
Los Angeles
Phoenix*
San Jose

CONFERENCE B

Division III

Chicago
Colorado*
Minnesota
Winnipeg

Division IV

Columbus
Dallas
Nashville
St. Louis

CONFERENCE C

Division V

Montreal
Ottawa
Quebec
Toronto

Division VI

Boston
Buffalo
Detroit
Pittsburgh

CONFERENCE D

Division VII

New Jersey
NY Islanders
NY Rangers
Philadelphia

Division VIII

Carolina
Florida
Tampa Bay
Washington

Each team would play the team within its division 6 times (18 games), each team within its conference but not in its division 4 times (16 games) and each of the other 24 teams twice (48 games). Top four in each conference make it with top two seeds being division leaders.

* - If Phoenix is moved to another market, Colorado would move into that division and Toronto2 would move into a division with Winnipeg, Chicago and Minnesota.

[calgARI]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I think it's best for both Detroit and Columbus to be in the east. If you really look at the geography it makes no sense to have them in a Western Conference.

Again, that isn't what is best for the league as a whole. Plenty of big market draws in the east but not so much in the west. There are established rivalries with Detroit-Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, sort of Vancouver, used to be Colorado, Dallas and all those teams that don't enjoy a lot of rivals that mobilize the fans would be losing big time with Detroit going east. Who cares if it is best for Detroit? What matters is what is best for the league.

[calgARI]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Calgary would've made the playoffs last year with the proposed arrangement. They would've been #5 in the division but were 8th in points (after getting rid of Detroit) so they would've played Vancouver.

Something that gets loss in all the equity discussion is the fact that Calgary would have made the playoffs I think the last two years if the top 16 teams in the league made it rather than 8 from each conference. I promise that if some big eastern market were in the same situation (missing playoffs with more points than playoff teams in the west), this re-alignment thing would look a whole lot different and happen a lot faster.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by calgARI

Again, that isn't what is best for the league as a whole. Plenty of big market draws in the east but not so much in the west. There are established rivalries with Detroit-Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, sort of Vancouver, used to be Colorado, Dallas and all those teams that don't enjoy a lot of rivals that mobilize the fans would be losing big time with Detroit going east. Who cares if it is best for Detroit? What matters is what is best for the league.

Many of the fans from the old Norris division are not happy with the Red Wings potentially moving to the east nor are they happy with playing other teams in the western conference less.