Apparently, the Southeast is about to trade Winnipeg for.... Wait for it....
I can't help but to laugh hysterically at this after the proposal that would have stuck us in hockey's version of the Death Pool with NYR, Philly, NJD, Pitt, NYI, and Wash
Playoffs should be a weeee bit easier to get into going forward
Lateral move, at best, in terms of effects on the standings for the Canes. Atlanta/Winnipeg, we've always been 50/50 on winning those games. Columbus, we always seem to lose against, but maybe playing them more often will remedy that.
Lateral move, at best, in terms of effects on the standings for the Canes. Atlanta/Winnipeg, we've always been 50/50 on winning those games. Columbus, we always seem to lose against, but maybe playing them more often will remedy that.
I wouldn't necessarily say lateral... Winnipeg is probably going to start trending upwards, as it appears their new ownership has it together.
Columbus is just in disarray. I can't imagine them contending for anything for a very long time.
Columbus may be in disarray now, but they have the pieces to put it all together. All it takes is a good coach and a good GM to realize what they have and they'll be right there.
They've got a lot of young talent, especially on their defensive side. Once that talent develops/gets their head on straight (ala Johnson), they could make some noise. Johnson, Savard, Erixon, etc.
I wouldn't necessarily say lateral... Winnipeg is probably going to start trending upwards, as it appears their new ownership has it together.
Columbus is just in disarray. I can't imagine them contending for anything for a very long time.
I'm not so sure. John Davidson is one of the best and most respected hockey minds in the league, and the choice to pick up Jokerit's GM to replace Howson has been lauded. The Jackets certainly seem like they have the right people in place to make their franchise competitive.
I'm not so sure. John Davidson is one of the best and most respected hockey minds in the league, and the choice to pick up Jokerit's GM to replace Howson has been lauded. The Jackets certainly seem like they have the right people in place to make their franchise competitive.
Exactly. John Davidson, Craig Patrick, and now Jarmo? I'm not taking anything for granted with Columbus long term. That's a crew that is going to be dedicated to building a winner. Jarmo (along with our Marshall Johnston) was responsible for building Ottawa up from an expansion team into a contender, Jarmo and JD built up the Blues, Patrick obviously the 90s Penguins. The Jackets may be a few seasons off but they have the front office staff in place to become legit.
Will be interesting to see which of the hockey minds emerges as the best in the division long term. For a while it was obviously JR considering his competition was McPhee, Waddell, Lawton/Feaster, Dudley/Keenan/Martin
now? JR, Jarmo, Tallon, Yzerman, McPhee. Only one of those I don't take overly seriously is McPhee and he's still not a terrible GM like most of that first list was.
Good riddance to the Thrash...er.....Jets. I hate that it's taken this long! I don' care how they re-align or who they bring in. I'm just glad Atlanta is gone!
columbus is very slightly closer but if the division is still going to be called southeast it makes more sense for it to be nashville. Philadelphia and Newark NJ are both even closer to us than columbus so if it's just going off distance it should be one of those teams.
columbus is very slightly closer but if the division is still going to be called southeast it makes more sense for it to be nashville. Philadelphia and Newark NJ are both even closer to us than columbus so if it's just going off distance it should be one of those teams.
I believe they were talking about this for a while. Nashville is more "Biscuits and Gravy" than CBJ and a real SEC would be cool, but Clumbus is closer and does make sense.
This won't be the route taken (columbus simply replacing WPG) - plenty of tweets in the last 24 hours from the major NHL TSN/ESPN guys saying that the four conference approach will remain with slight variances. (I'd link but on phone)
How bout to classic players like they had before? At least that was unique.
3 of the 4 were classic owners/builders (Leafs, Wings, and Bruins I believe). Lester Patrick was the only player. I'm sure any attempt to name divisions after players or builders at this stage (like Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, or Jacobs) would result in pissing off a lot of people. For example, it would make me physically ill if they renamed the Southeast the Messier division.
How bout to classic players like they had before? At least that was unique.
Unique was one word. Bush league is a better description. The NHL had exclusively used geographic division names - the only reason the "named" divisions came about was because the League's setup prohibited divisions based on geography.
) would result in pissing off a lot of people. For example, it would make me physically ill if they renamed the Southeast the Messier division.
