What do you think alignments will look like by 2020
Just wondering what others speculate the divisions will look like come 2020. Please be realistic. Personally, I believe the league will expand to 32 teams creating four conferences of eight teams. I also think a few teams will move. This is what I would like to see.
2) New Jersey, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Boston, Carolina, Washington, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh
3) Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Minnesota, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis
4) Vancouver, Seattle, LA, San Jose, Anaheim, Colorado, Edmonton, Calgary
I believe Phoenix will move to Quebec, moving Winnipeg to the west. NYI will move to Kansas City. Florida will move to Hamilton or Southern Ontario, and Seattle and Saskatoon will be expansion teams.
Or they could take out 2 teams and make the conference 7-7-7-7
From your list...Take out Hamilton, Seattle, Saskatoon and Kansas city...
Edit: You'd obviously need to re-adjust the conferences, but the league is not in a position to add two more teams, the league would be better off with 28 teams until **** gets sorted out.
I don't think you will see the league regress. I believe it will expand. Winnipeg was one of the richest teams this year. The NHL now knows that small market Canadian teams with 15k seating will make strong franchises. Saskatoon has an ownership already in place, a new arena, and have already been in touch with the NHL. i believe Winnipeg paved the way for them.
Or they could take out 2 teams and make the conference 7-7-7-7
From your list...Take out Hamilton, Seattle, Saskatoon and Kansas city...
Edit: You'd obviously need to re-adjust the conferences, but the league is not in a position to add two more teams, the league would be better off with 28 teams until **** gets sorted out.
They are not going to delete two teams man. They would relocate them. Once the issues with pheonix are resolved, people have said that the league may add 2 teams once everything else has settled. And they will be in a position to add two more teams since the league is making tons of revenue and there are cities in canada capable of supporting a team. I think by 2020 it'd be realistic to assume the league expands to 32 teams and stays there for the foreseeable future.
They are not going to delete two teams man. They would relocate them. Once the issues with pheonix are resolved, people have said that the league may add 2 teams once everything else has settled. And they will be in a position to add two more teams since the league is making tons of revenue and there are cities in canada capable of supporting a team. I think by 2020 it'd be realistic to assume the league expands to 32 teams and stays there for the foreseeable future.
True, I never really payed any attention to the 2020 time period. I was just thinking about what would be best for the league right now. Bettman is a terrible commissioner. He completely ignores the fact that Canada is a 50x better market then the U.S. He's constantly focused on trying to expand in America, but not looking at what's best for the league.
Just wondering what others speculate the divisions will look like come 2020. Please be realistic. Personally, I believe the league will expand to 32 teams creating four conferences of eight teams. I also think a few teams will move. This is what I would like to see.
2) New Jersey, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Boston, Carolina, Washington, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh
3) Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Minnesota, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis
4) Vancouver, Seattle, LA, San Jose, Anaheim, Colorado, Edmonton, Calgary
I believe Phoenix will move to Quebec, moving Winnipeg to the west. NYI will move to Kansas City. Florida will move to Hamilton or Southern Ontario, and Seattle and Saskatoon will be expansion teams.
So how the the heck are Phoenix, NYI and Florida moving but Columbust isn't?? Time to rethink your theory. Sorry
1. Boston
2. Toronto
3 New York Rangers
4. Montreal
ExxonMobil Conference:
1. Detroit
2. Philadelphia
3. Pittsburgh
4. Chicago
Gas will be >$10/litre and many families will not be able to afford watching hockey on TV, let alone going to NHL games. Small market pro hockey is dead. Old Timers Hockey, played during the day, becomes very popular. No Canadian ownership left and USA franchises rapidly succombing to Asian/Middle East ownership. That's the good news. Bad news is you will never be able to retire.
