Except for all those previously Easter Conference teams who now have to travel a little bit farther for their divisional games
Detroit can talk about how much it wants to be in the East (they've been asking for it since what... I can remember them asking in the early 90's, but I'm sure it goes back further) but at the end of the day the NHL isn't going to allow them into the East.
If Detroit goes to the East, what team in the West fills in the void left in the national spotlight? NHL will keep Detroit in the West in order to have an option to pitch to NBC and Versus for Western Conference games.
If the rumors are to be believed, east and west conference makes no difference in the regular season. Conference only comes into play come 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.
Each team plays everyone in their own division 6 time, everyone else twice.
If the rumors are to be believed, east and west conference makes no difference in the regular season. Conference only comes into play come 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.
Each team plays everyone in their own division 6 time, everyone else twice.
Bingo. So why not make 3 of the 4 divisions part eastern to make give exposure to 75% of the league rather than the current 50%
On realignment: Leipold confirms what I’ve been reporting, that realignment a year from now will likely be 4 divisions made up of 8 or 7 teams in each division. Leipold said the Wild’s division would include “the Winnipeg Jets, us, the Blues, the Nashville Predators, the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets – maybe not, depending on which way they would go East or West. So that’s the only team that would probably be up in the air. I am all in favor for that. That is a grand slam, home run, hat trick for our team.”
that'll also be one helluvatough division to play in... sheesh.
I'm not even scared anymore. I know our current team wouldn't be top competitors in it, but at least now I can see that GMCF is actually trying to move in the right direction. My faith is restored.
I stand corrected on Winnipeg. I really thought nationalism and traditional rivalries might trump travel/timezone concerns on that one. Glad to be wrong, as this would definitely be a boon to the Wild. Made for tv Heritage Classic up on Lake of the Woods. Draw center ice right down the US-Canadian border.
You couldn't hand pick a better division:
Winnipeg- border battle, glad to retain one Canadian market where hockey is #1
Chicago - old rival, worthwhile drive
St. Louis - old foe, downstream from the X
Dallas - our old team
Nashville - expansion cousin
Columbus(?) - sister team, future Big Ten Hockey foe
In a perfect world, it would probably be nice to have Detroit and Columbus (or Colorado) in and Nashville out, but that's nitpicking. Besides, no Detroit leaves one less storied franchise around to bogart the division title every year.
Well... if the rumors are true about 2 rounds of divisional playoffs to get to the conference finals... then the division title is not decided in the regular season, but in the post season.
Does this mean we only have to be in the top 4 of 7 teams to qualify for the playoffs? That would be the icing on the cake. Especially with our share of small market teams (nas-wpg-cbj).
If Nashville/Dallas/St. Louis aren't getting paired up with the SE teams, exactly which division does the NHL plan on calling the "South"?
Well... if the rumors are true about 2 rounds of divisional playoffs to get to the conference finals... then the division title is not decided in the regular season, but in the post season.
True, but didn't the regular season victor still get to put up a banner back in the day?
If you look at the quote, it says "maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets – maybe not, depending on which way they would go East or West." If the team that they could swap with was Detroit, it would likely be written "either Columbus or Detroit" as the issues facing them are the same. I honestly think the question is whether to put CBJ in one of the East divisions, making them both 8 teams, or putting COL in the Pacific and having CBJ in the Central. I firmly believe that Detroit will be in a division with only EST opponents.
The four divisions were talking about now would be Pacific, Central, Northeast and Atlantic.
These should be the names. I don't like the ring of "South" or "Midwest" when it comes to hockey. Outside of maybe Calgary/Edmonton/Colorado, every market would fit pretty well with the name of their division. Neither of those teams is as egregious as Dallas and the Pacific.
These should be the names. I don't like the ring of "South" or "Midwest" when it comes to hockey. Outside of maybe Calgary/Edmonton/Colorado, every market would fit pretty well with the name of their division. Neither of those teams is as egregious as Dallas and the Pacific.
If it's gonna be four divisions... Norris, Smythe, Adams, and Patrick.
If you look at the quote, it says "maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets – maybe not, depending on which way they would go East or West." If the team that they could swap with was Detroit, it would likely be written "either Columbus or Detroit" as the issues facing them are the same. I honestly think the question is whether to put CBJ in one of the East divisions, making them both 8 teams, or putting COL in the Pacific and having CBJ in the Central. I firmly believe that Detroit will be in a division with only EST opponents.
I disagree, I think CL feels it's most likely Columbus, which is why he didn't mention the team that would swap at all.
IMO it's MUCH more likely that it would be Detroit than it would be the Avs.
I disagree, I think CL feels it's most likely Columbus, which is why he didn't mention the team that would swap at all.
IMO it's MUCH more likely that it would be Detroit than it would be the Avs.
We can just move Phoenix to Kansas City and make it easy for everyone.
I'm still hung up on how much Detroit wants to play "East" teams. A big part of it was the travel issue that is largely resolved regardless of which division they end up in, but the other piece was media coverage. They want to be playing against those "east coast bias" teams.
The only reason I could see Detroit possibly being put in the Central division is the overcrowding in the Northeast. Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, Toronto, and Buffalo should be locks for it. I would guess that NYR and NYI should be in it as well. Can you put Detroit in at the expense of New Jersey? Or do you make the Atlantic division Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Washington, Philly, NJD, NYI, NYR?
Ultimately, I still think all 16 Eastern Time Zone teams will be in the same two divisions with the possible movement on CBJ into the Central.
The NHL is doing anything and everything in it's power to prevent Phoenix from moving... I don't see that philosophy changing anytime soon. They wouldn't just shrug and say KC here we come on a whim.
(Winnipeg)
or 
