Realignment...Gone Mental!

One of the more popular discussions among hockey's big wigs and fans is whether or not the NHL should realign the teams into different conferences and divisions. In the 1992-1993 season there were 24 teams and 4 divisions. The Prince of Whales Conference included the Adams and Patrick divisions. The Clarence Campbell Conference had the Norris and Smythe divisions. Then in the 93-94 season they changed it into different names and decided to go by geographical proximity. Another reason was that newly appointed Commisioner Gary Betman thought that because there would be confusion about the division names for the fans of the expansion teams (Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Florida Panthers) and the relocated team (Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars). The Prince of Whales Conference became the Eastern Conference and the Clarence Campbell Conference became the Western Conference. The Atlantic, Northeast, Central and Pacific were now the names of the divisions.

The last time this was done was when the Nashville Predators came into the league back in the 1998-1999 season making 4 divisions 6. Now there were 28 teams which equaled out so that there were 14 teams per conference. Not until the 2000-2001 season, when the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild came into existence, would every division have 5 teams each. So that has been the way it's been since. When you look at the geographical distribution of teams across North America you would say, "The map is lopsided! Most of the teams are on the eastern side." It's true, 19 of the 30 teams in the NHL would be considered in the east. Most glaringly would have to be Columbus which is 162 miles from Pittsburgh and Detroit which is 206 miles to Toronto and 220 miles to Buffalo.

If the teams were to be realigned geographically it would do no good to call it the Eastern/Western Conference, especially if they were to expand. Say, the NHL decides to add two new teams (say the Winnipeg Jets return and the Saskatoon Bears). So now you have 4 Canadian Teams in the East and 4 in the West. So since there are 32 teams the logical next step would be divvying up the remaining teams into 6 more divisions. If you look at where the Predators are located you would expect us link up with Florida, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. Which would be very interesting as these teams hardly ever make the playoffs and the fact that all these teams #1 goalies are ex-Predators!

Here is my mock up of what the divisions might look like. Don't take this too seriously but don't laugh either! It took me a while to come up with these.

x conference

nashville
florida
tampa bay
atlanta

toronto
montreal
winnipeg
ottowa

washington
carolina
philadelphia
pittsburgh

detroit
chicago
columbus
buffalo

conference y

nyr
nyi
boston
new jersey

saskatoon
calgary
edmonton
vancouver

colorado
dallas
st. louis
minnesota

anaheim
los angeles
san jose
phoenix

Of course, there are number of ways you could mess with it but I think if the NHL expands to 32  8 divisions of four teams would be the initial thought (like the NFL). Another source they could borrow from is the MLB with the AL/NL concept with teams on the west and east coast in both "conferences" which would make travel a lot more expensive to be certain.  Nothing would have to change about the Stanley Cup Playoff system unless they (the NHL) wanted it too. With 16 teams per conference half of the teams make it in todays playoffs which would make for more tension around playoff birth time. A team would still stick to their division schedule except that they play only 3 teams 6 times a season. In conference but other divisional opponents (12 in total) would still be played 4 times a season. So 18 plus 48 is 66, so guess what that leaves us... 16! Every team in the NHL could play each of the other conference teams. It's just a thought but it could happen, right?