Well, it is a small tweak for the realignment plan that the NHLPA wasn't happy about. Here are the 4 Conferences:
"Eastern Side"
Conference 1
Carolina
Columbus
New Jersey
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington
Conference 2
Boston
Buffalo
Detroit
Florida
Montreal
Ottawa
Tampa Bay
Toronto
"Western Side"
Conference 3
Chicago
Colorado
Dallas
Minnesota
Nashville
St. Louis
Winnipeg
Conference 4
Anaheim
Calgary
Edmonton
Los Angeles
Phoenix
San Jose
Vancouver
The Western side was easy to figure out. The only way that the Eastern Side makes any sense is if the NHL has decided to make those in Conference 2 travel a little bit more than necessary. I want Columbus to have natural rivals in Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Toronto in their Conference. And nothing says hostility more than those natural geographic neighbors of Tampa Bay and Montreal. This plan needs more tweaking.
4 comments:
Yeah, I don't understand why a reasonable tweak would've been to have 15 in the west and 15 in the east, and you'd do that by moving Columbus ONLY, where they could have a regional rivalry with Pittsburgh. And putting Detroit in with the most eastern teams is stupid.
I had a good laugh when I saw the graphic on Hockey Night In Canada. 16 teams in the east, 14 in the west? So what happens when Phoenix and another franchise move to Quebec City and Markham, Ontario?
Detroit and Columbus move back West. Although I would move Phoenix to either Seattle or Portland. Move the Isles into Canada.
I was happy to see the Caps moved to a division that includes the Rangers and Flyers--that makes sense to me. I don't disagree with the move of Columbus to the East, makes sense to pair them against Pittsburg(h).
But the realignment of the southern teams to the northeast is totally stupid! Detroit in the east? Definitely a "money" move, and I mean a loss of revenue by breaking up the Winds/Hawks rivalry.
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