If there are no added teams, this format will go down in flames. No way it will get implemented. ...and at this point, is it a great idea to add more teams? (What do you all think?)
If they fix the CBA by decreasing the floor from 66% of the ceiling to around 40-45% of the ceiling, and add in some luxury tax if you are close to the cap that gets fed back into revenue sharing, then it works. They'd also have to make sure the two teams they put in don't need revenue sharing (Hamilton and Quebec would be their best bets), and they'd probably have to expand the playoffs to a 20 team format.
Unless the plan is to get ppl acclimated to this setup so fans are more comfortable with it down the road a view years before the league expands....but probably not.
However, if they did this I would rather see top 2 teams in each division get the top four seeds, with the four highest teams left to fight for 5-8.
Maybe Westjet and AC will have some direct flights to Florida now. Or do they do it in the winter still? I remember reading they were doing direct flights but last time I checked they didn't have any. Maybe it's a snowbird thing.
I've been pushing for 5 divisions of 6 teams each in the business of hockey version of this thread. 6 games each against your 5 divisional rivals, and 2 games each against the rest of the league gives 78 games. Scrap conferences altogether. Playoffs would be top 3 from each division, plus 1 wild-card team.
The problem with an east and west conference is that there are more teams in the east, and you end up with Detroit being in the west. I'm proposing 3 divisions in the east and 2 over the rest of the continent. Here's the layout, assuming Coyotes go to Quebec...
West Division
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
San Jose
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Central Division
Winnipeg
Minnesota
Chicago
Colorado
St Louis
Dallas
Great Lakes Division
Quebec
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
Buffalo
Detroit
East Division
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
New Jersey
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
Boston
Southeast Division
Columbus
Washington
Nashville
Carolina
Tampa
Miami
The western teams will log a lot of miles regardless, but no division has more than 2 timezones. This layout is also flexible WRT the Coyotes. If the Coyotes...
somehow get saved in Phoenix
or relocated to Houston
or relocated to KC
no problem. Put them in Central and move Chicago to Great Lakes.
There's a similar debate going on in the Wild board regarding the 4-division league (most boards I suspect).
Some believe that Winnipeg would go to the Central/Midwest. Though I would LOVE to see the Wild in the same division with WPG-STL-CHI, and it's true that this arrangement is timezone friendly, I have to believe that separating the Jets from western Canada would be a call for bloody murder. Thoughts?
If the NHL expands and adds two teams (I believe it will be Quebec and Seattle), I would like to see the following 8 4-team divisions. Teams will play their division rival 8 times, and the remaining 28 teams twice: home and home. Total of 80 games
WEST:
1. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle
2. L.A., San Jose, Anaheim, Phoenix
3. Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville
4. Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit
EAST:
1. Florida, Tampa, Carolina, Washington
2. Columbus, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Buffalo
3. NYR, NYI, New Jersey, Boston
4. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec
Top two teams in each division meet in first round. Second round is seeded 1-8. All playoff series are 2 -3 -2 to reduce travel.
This way, any team could meet any other team in the cup final except divisional rivals.
If the NHL expands and adds two teams (I believe it will be Quebec and Seattle), I would like to see the following 8 4-team divisions. Teams will play their division rival 8 times, and the remaining 28 teams twice: home and home. Total of 80 games
WEST:
1. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle
2. L.A., San Jose, Anaheim, Phoenix
3. Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville
4. Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit
EAST:
1. Florida, Tampa, Carolina, Washington
2. Columbus, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Buffalo
3. NYR, NYI, New Jersey, Boston
4. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec
Top two teams in each division meet in first round. Second round is seeded 1-8. All playoff series are 2 -3 -2 to reduce travel.
This way, any team could meet any other team in the cup final except divisional rivals.
Wow I really like this. Send this to Gary Bettman like now.
I may be something of a sentimentalist, but I think that the NHL should restore the Clarence Campbell and Prince of Wales Conferences, as well as the Adams, Norris, Patrick, and Smythe Divisions, at least as much as possible given the current geography of the NHL. The following assumes that the NHL eventually expands to 32 teams. I put the first team in Quebec City, and the second in Houston. But Kansas City works just as well as Houston, and if it were Seattle, I’d just move Colorado to the Norris Division.
I’d go to an 84 game schedule
4 games against Same Conference, Same Division Clubs
3 games against Same Conference, Different Division Clubs
2 games against Different Conference Clubs
Until the NHL expands, you could go with the same formula, only add an extra 4 (for an 82 game schedule) or 6 (for an 84 game schedule) games against “historic” rivals to a club in a 7 club division, and 3 or 5 to a club in an club division.
Clarence Campbell Conference
Norris Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Houston Aeros
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets
Smythe Division
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Prince of Wales Conference
Adams Division
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
Quebec Nordiques
Toronto Maple Leafs
Patrick Division
Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals
I like Vosie's setup above the best, although I'd rather Seattle get a team than Houston or KC. No way should Boston be seperated from Montreal, and I'd rather Quebec (if they get a team) and Buffalo be in that division too. Wpg, Minny, St Louis, Chicago and Detroit should be together as well. Bettman's proposal of divisional play in the first round is something I've been chirping about for a while. No doubt it'll bring back some old rivalries and make divisional games mean something again. I'm really excited for it to happen.
I like Vosie's setup above the best, although I'd rather Seattle get a team than Houston or KC. No way should Boston be seperated from Montreal, and I'd rather Quebec (if they get a team) and Buffalo be in that division too. Wpg, Minny, St Louis, Chicago and Detroit should be together as well. Bettman's proposal of divisional play in the first round is something I've been chirping about for a while. No doubt it'll bring back some old rivalries and make divisional games mean something again. I'm really excited for it to happen.
The divisional games are nothing special. Playing a division team more than four times gets boring and then forcing a divisional 1st round is terrible. Those old rivalries can happen in any of the first 3 rounds. It is fun trying to guess who will play who in the first round. I can accept going back to 4 divisions but the div winners should not be ranked 1-2. The weaker div winner has to be ranked in order of how many points it finished with. I like Vosie's schedule format. Any extra games should go to playing the conference rivals a 4th time.
If the NHL expands and adds two teams (I believe it will be Quebec and Seattle), I would like to see the following 8 4-team divisions. Teams will play their division rival 8 times, and the remaining 28 teams twice: home and home. Total of 80 games
WEST:
1. Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle
2. L.A., San Jose, Anaheim, Phoenix
3. Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville
4. Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit
EAST:
1. Florida, Tampa, Carolina, Washington
2. Columbus, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Buffalo
3. NYR, NYI, New Jersey, Boston
4. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec
Top two teams in each division meet in first round. Second round is seeded 1-8. All playoff series are 2 -3 -2 to reduce travel.
This way, any team could meet any other team in the cup final except divisional rivals.
Not bad. Having 8 games against div teams is too much. A weak division is a problem here as a 3rd place team from another div could easily have more points than a #2 team from another div in the same conference. The 2-3-2 format is good. Another option is 2-3-1-1.
My gut feeling is that Winnipeg will be with the Wild, Blackhawks and Blues (and whoever else) in a new division next year. I don't think we will be in the same division with the other Western Canadian teams again. I'm fine with this.
