NHL Realignment is Coming

[SabreEleven]

Dramatic realignment coming to NHL next season

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2011-06-25/dramatic-realignment-coming-to-nhl-next-season-nhl-realignment-conference

ST. PAUL, MINN. -- For one season, the Winnipeg Jets will play in the Southeast Division. But their return to the NHL means serious realignment is coming to the league next season.

“There will be. I can guarantee you. It will be more dramatic,” an NHL executive told Sporting News on Saturday. “It will be realignment of the whole league. It will be a different format. I think it’ll please a lot of people.”

I'd like to see them bring back the Adams Division and other division names...Rumor are this is setting up for expansion which the NHL doesn't need, IMO.

[Ebenezer]

If the NHL expands then it is nothing but a money grab. The talented is too diluted already. If anything they need to contract by six teams and go back to four divisions.

[YardRat]

I don't mind the realignment but expansion would be just stupid.

[Philagape]

The league needs to contract, not expand

[don137]

I hope they don't put 14 teams in the western conference and 16 teams in eastern conference especially if Detroit moves over. That makes it that much tougher for eastern conference teams to make the playoffs. Detroit always has a tough team and the western conference seems like they have many teams that are not strong financially like Phoenix, Edmonton, etc. This would put the good teams in the western conference at an advantage to win the president's trophy and home ice for playoffs.

[SkateZilla]

Their Proposed Plan of having one conference heavier than the other is crap:

They will never get it perfect because there are more teams in the eastern half of the US, unless they split 10 team 3 conferences, which wouldnt make sense or work.
instead of a perfect down the middle us line, keep them in groups so division play is less travel.

how About:

Eastern Conference:
NorthEast Division:
Montreal
Ottawa
Boston
NYRangers
NYIslanders

SouthEast Division:
Washington
Carolina
Florida
Tampa Bay
New jersey


Central Division:
Toronto
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Columbus




West Eastern Conference:
Central Division:
Nashville
St. Louis
Detroit
Minnesota
Chicago

NorthWeast Division:
Vancouver
Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Winnipeg

SouthWest Division:
Dallas
San Jose
Anahiem
Los Angeles
Phoenix

[Ebenezer]

Central Division:
Toronto
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Columbus

Why would you want to break 40 years of tradition with Boston and 30+ with Montreal to have to put up with Philly and Pitts fans?

[SkateZilla]

they are gonna **** it up way worse than I did.

[Ebenezer]

they are gonna **** it up way worse than I did.
I don't care if we ever play Philly or Pitts again.

[YardRat]

Rangers/Islanders could switch w/Buffalo/Toronto and not be too much difference in travel.

[Philagape]

All they have to do is have:

Nashville replace Atlanta (perfect for the redneck division)
Minnesota replace Nashville (sets up natural rivalries with Chicago, Detroit)
Winnipeg replace Minnesota (division with three other Canadian teams)

[Ebenezer]

All they have to do is have:

Nashville replace Atlanta (perfect for the redneck division)
Minnesota replace Nashville (sets up natural rivalries with Chicago, Detroit)
Winnipeg replace Minnesota (division with three other Canadian teams)
also have to account for the possible movement of Phoenix to some other city - such as Quebec. Then they wouldn't have to move Nashville and make those other moves moot - although they would have to completely realign the east.

[Dozerdog]

From what I hear, it will be 2 eastern and 2 western divisions- of 8 and 7 teams.

There a re a number of franchises still in flux- Phoenix, Florida, possibly the Islanders- with Quebec, Kansas City front runners to get them.

This newer realignment allows for these franchises to settle down before messing with it again. Plus, it serves the NHL's playoff format the best. It also helps in getting a more balanced schedule

[OpIv37]

also have to account for the possible movement of Phoenix to some other city - such as Quebec. Then they wouldn't have to move Nashville and make those other moves moot - although they would have to completely realign the east.

So, Atlanta to Winnipeg and possibly Phoenix to Quebec.

Long story short, the NHL left Canadian cities for larger markets in the South, somehow failing to realize that Canadians love hockey and Southerners only like college football and sports that involve engines. So, this realignment cluster**** is all about undoing a mistake by the NHL, despite the fact that 95%+ of us knew it wouldn't work from the beginning.

I wonder how much money the NHL pissed away on financial and marketing consultants when discussing Southern expansion. They could have asked any one of us, and for no charge, we would have avoided this whole mess by saying "Taking hockey from Quebec and Winnipeg and putting it in Atlanta and Phoenix? That's ****ing stupid."

[OpIv37]

And yes, I know that Winnipeg became Phoenix and Quebec became Colorado and Atlanta came later, but the end result was the same and it was clearly the NHL's strategy to move south.

[chernobylwraiths]

And yes, I know that Winnipeg became Phoenix and Quebec became Colorado and Atlanta came later, but the end result was the same and it was clearly the NHL's strategy to move south.

It involved money a lot more and I think arena deals a little too. I don't think Quebec and Winnipeg were doing great at their arenas, but I know at the time they left, the Canadian dollar was only about 7/10 of an American dollar and players didn't want to play for less.

[Mski]

It involved money a lot more and I think arena deals a little too. I don't think Quebec and Winnipeg were doing great at their arenas, but I know at the time they left, the Canadian dollar was only about 7/10 of an American dollar and players didn't want to play for less. that was the biggest problem, they werent in cities like montreal or toronto, and at the time the canadian dollar was very weak, meaning teams had to charge 30% more for tickets and consessions just to break even with american teams