Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The proposal would have two divisions in each conference, with the top three teams in each division being guaranteed a playoff spot and the two remaining spots being given to the two next best teams, regardless of division.
Proposed divisions are:
WEST
Pacific
Anahiem
Calgary
Edmonton
LA
Phoenix
San Jose
Vancouver
Midwest
Chicago
Colorado
Dallas
Minnesota
Nashville
St. Louis
Winnipeg
EAST
Central
Boston
Buffalo
Detroit
Florida
Montreal
Ottawa
Tampa
Toronto
Atlantic
Carolina
Columbus
New Jersey
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington
The fact that every team would play each other at least twice, once at home and once on the road is a good thing for the NHL. Every city will get to see the premier teams each year.
Having 2 more teams in the Eastern Conference could open up adding 2 more teams to the West to balance the league.
Rivalries come and go. The rivalry between Detroit and Chicago wasn't again relevant until the last 6 years or so, once Chicago actually because a worthy opponent. Just look at Detroit/Colorado? That "rivalry" is a mere shell of what is was in the late 90s.
As a Detroit fan, I like the proposed realignment. Not only does Detroit get placed in the Eastern Conference, where they belong (they are in the EST after all), they also have the opportunity to go up against three other original six teams often throughout the season. When I lived in Metro Detroit, it was extremely frustrating during the playoffs when Detroit traveled out west and most of the games were on at 10 or 10:30 at night. Detroit in the east makes sense.
Rivalries come and go. The rivalry between Detroit and Chicago wasn't again relevant until the last 6 years or so, once Chicago actually because a worthy opponent. Just look at Detroit/Colorado? That "rivalry" is a mere shell of what is was in the late 90s.
The rivalry against Chicago never goes away regardless of how good or bad either team is. Detroit and Chicago have a natural rivalry.
The rivalry against Colorado was only due to bad blood over Claude Lemieux. McCarty took care of Lemieux and the Wings rolled over Roy in his final game and knocked Colorado out of the playoffs and putting that chapter of Wings history to rest.
Here is the new aliment is going to look like from the CBC HNIC website:
The NHL officially notified its teams on Tuesday about its latest re-alignment proposal and there is much more than we initially realized. For one thing, the "four conference" idea is a goner, which means four divisions in two conferences.
Too read the article of how ir breaks down and who is where and how the playoff now work here is the CBC HNIC lnk to the website NHL drops '4 conference' realignment plan | Hockey | CBC Sports
P.S. Love the photo of CBC has of the Vancouver vs. Chicago with the picture of Marian Hossa and Daniel Sedin during the 2010-2011 playoffs
Looks like my favorite rivalry with the Hawks will continue so that is great but besides that I find how the new system works is messed up and to say the last over the 4 conference Idea a good article but Betteman sure knows how to really kill the NHL and no one knows what is legal hit or illegal hit that was legal last season or in the last game even.
Calls the refs make on stupid things are effecting all teams where they are changing the outcome of the games alot more this season and last year was bad for mixed or bad calls also.
I have a theory that to balance the East and West that Seattle is going to be getting a team from the East because it only makes sense to do the it that way and would make it a little more even again so might be good news for Seattle Hockey fans and as a Canucks fan I hope I am right because a nice nearby PNW Rivalry will be great to have
Detroit should be in the Midwest. I do like facing more Original 6 teams, but Detroit belongs in the group with Chicago and St. Louis.
For the sake of debate, why? I've been to a few Detroit/Chicago games and watched several of them on tv and there's nothing particularly riveting about these "rivalries". When I think of rivalry, I think of a rough and tumble brawl on ice. When Detroit plays Chicago, it's just like when Detroit plays Tampa Bay. What sets this "rivalry" apart from any other matchup?
Last edited by Tekkie; 03-01-2013 at 02:23 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.