As a result of the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg to become the Jets at the start of the 2011-12 season, the National Hockey League will need to realign the league in the future. According to several reports, Commissioner Gary Bettman plans to radically alter the hockey landscape.
Currently, the Jets are in the Southeast Division with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. But simply moving a few teams around to accommodate the Jets in a new division is unlikely should the NHL's Board of Governor's approach Bettman's plan. The two-conference, three-division setup would be scrapped in favor of a two-conference, two-division scheme. Those divisions would still follow an East-West divide with Pacific, Midwest, East and South groupings.
In each conference, there would be an eight-team and a seven-team division. In order to make this proposal work, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings would likely shift over to the new Eastern Conference. SB Nation Detroit offers several realignment scenarios that move the Red Wings to the Eastern Conference, though all still involve three divisions in each conference. The more pressing concern, however, involves the specter of future realignment: if other teams, possibly Columbus or Phoenix, need to relocate to remain feasible franchises, will the NHL have to reshape itself again?
Winging It In Motown, our Red Wings blog, also looks at four ways the Wings could move to the Eastern Conference and concludes that playing in the Eastern Time Zone benefits them in the playoffs, but that their rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks could disappear.
But for now, the citizens of Winnipeg stand to benefit with visits by star players such as the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin, the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and the Lightning's Steven Stamkos.
For more hockey coverage, stick with our NHL hub.
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It’s not like the NHL hasn’t had ludicrous scenarios before, ie. Los Angeles in the same division as Washington, or Vancouver with Buffalo.
I’m predicting the new divisions will fall into time zones: http://www.nucksmisconduct.com/2011/6/26/2245134/new-divides-to-conquer
Flying that Nerd Flag high!
by Thursday on Jun 26, 2011 7:04 PM EDT reply actions
Correct me if I’m wrong, but moving Detroit and Columbus to the East, with Winnipeg going to the West, would make for a 16/14 conference split between East/West, would it not? So wouldn’t the East have two divisions of eight teams, and the West have two divisions of seven teams?
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by Bruce Peter on Jun 28, 2011 1:59 AM EDT reply actions
Quick thought,
Why not, for the time being, keep the six division format until we know the future of the Coyotes? The prospects of them remaining in Phoenix are less than certain and for all we know they could be moving/moved this time next year, much like the Jets. When/if the Coyotes move, there will need to be some serious inter-division movement to accomodate that potential move up north, unless that move is to Regina or Moose Jaw which I’m guessing isn’t in the cards.
That said, why not do some minor changes to set the divisions like this:
West
Northwest
VAN, CAL, EDM, WIN, COL
Southwest
SJ, LA, ANA, PHO, DAL
Central
DET, CHI, STL, CMB, MIN
East
Northeast
TOR, MTL, OTT, BUF, BOS
Atlantic
NYR, NYI, NJD, PHI, PIT
Southeast
WAS, CAR, NAS, FLA, TB
This set up isn’t ideal. Teams like Colorado and Dallas get shafted a bit with travel but you can’t please everybody. And until the future of the Coyotes is sorted, I would hold off on a complete tear down of the current set up in favor of some minor tweaking. If the team in Phoenix moves north (say to Quebec City or Hamilton or wherever) then at that point set up the divisions as you’d wish for the long haul, so to speak. Same thing if someone swoops in and figures out how to make hockey survive in Arizona.
I just think the NHL should hold off on an entire division revamp until all their team’s futures are figured out, especially when the most likely move is a team moving from west to east potentially.
That rug really tied the room together...
by Streams Of Whiskey on Jun 28, 2011 10:59 AM EDT reply actions
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