2012/2013 realignment

[maplesyrup]

REPORT: JETS HEADED TO CENTRAL DIVISION IN 2012

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=371566

"...the Wild would be playing in the Central Division against the Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars and possibly the Columbus Blue Jackets. He made no mention of the Detroit Red Wings, which is the team most likely to move the Eastern Conference to accomodate the Jets' move."

 

[nutman]

yes det should move to the east,  but then again its already hard enough over here now.

 

[Can8899]

What Division will DET (assuming it is DET who moves) Belong too?  I can't see them in the Southeast but then again they were in the Western conference for so long so actual geographical location isn't taken into consideration by the NHL.

 

[Peter D.]

"...and possibly the Columbus Blue Jackets."

That's six teams in the division, no?  Five divisions of six teams then? 

 

[oldrugbyguy]

The Toronto Star had a thing on the possibilities. I kind of liked the all Canadian conference.

 

[cw]

The Toronto Star had a thing on the possibilities. I kind of liked the all Canadian conference.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/mapleleafs/article/1023550--3-ways-the-nhl-can-realign

 

[armche123]

Here is the current layout..
http://members.shaw.ca/getbak/nhl_div_map.jpg

I think the simplest way to do it, is to just realign based on proximity..

To not make things too complicated..

Northeast & Atlantic Divisions don?t get touched.

Southeast Division loses Winnipeg (atl) but adds Nashville

Central Division loses Nashville but adds Dallas

Pacific Division loses Dallas but adds Colorado

Northwest Division loses Colorado but adds Winnipeg

Travel time increases for the overall division for only the Central, and slightly for the Southeast Division, but reduces travel times greatly for both the Pacific and Northwest Divisions.

What do you think?

 

[Crucialness Key]

The Toronto Star had a thing on the possibilities. I kind of liked the all Canadian conference.

Problem with that is no chance of an all-Canadian final!  I personally prefer alignments that keep that possibility open.

 

[armche123]

The Toronto Star had a thing on the possibilities. I kind of liked the all Canadian conference.

Problem with that is no chance of an all-Canadian final!  I personally prefer alignments that keep that possibility open.

ya i didnt like that either

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I'd imagine that realignment will consist of more than just 2 teams swapping divisions. There's likely going to be a complete overhaul. There was a report that Bettman had proposed a switch from 6 divisions to 4, 2 with eight teams and 2 with seven teams.

 

[bustaheims]

I'd imagine that realignment will consist of more than just 2 teams swapping divisions. There's likely going to be a complete overhaul. There was a report that Bettman had proposed a switch from 6 divisions to 4, 2 with eight teams and 2 with seven teams.

Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it. I think there will be a lot of proposals on the table and, at the end of the day, the BoG will go with the simplest decision and swap Winnipeg for Nashville, and then Colorado for Winnipeg.

 

[hockeyfan1]

I would like to see Detroit back in the East, and Winnipeg back to the West.  The conference's overall standings are fine.  What should be done is revert back to a best-of-five quarterfinal format (and perhaps even the semifinal).  It will make for a quicker end-time and a more intensive hockey series.

 

[Crucialness Key]

What should be done is revert back to a best-of-five quarterfinal format (and perhaps even the semifinal).  It will make for a quicker end-time and a more intensive hockey series.

However that would also make it tougher for Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos etc to set dazzling new postseason scoring records that the league could then trumpet, plus less $$ in ticket sales, so I strongly doubt that will happen.

 

[Leafaholic99]

?The first thing has got to be to determine whether they?re going to go six divisions or four,? Jets governor Mark Chipman, who attended the board of governors meeting in New York this week, told the Winnipeg Sun. ?And there wasn?t consensus on that.?

Beginning next year, if the league?s 30 teams can?t come to an agreement on a major realignment, the Jets could simply swap conferences, going West to replace a team that heads East.

In that case, they could end up in the Northwest Division, where Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Minnesota and Colorado currently reside, or in the Central, currently made up of Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Detroit and Columbus.

?Time zone is important to us, but it?s not as important to us as teams on the West Coast.?

There?s a school of thought around the governors table that teams shouldn?t venture more than one time zone away from home for the vast majority of their games.

Another idea was to group all the Canadian teams together, but that one?s rather far-fetched.

?In order for that to happen you?d have to have Toronto come West,? Chipman said. ?That?s unlikely.?

Teams like Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver might be better division rivals for Winnipeg, as there are natural rivalries between Canadian cities, especially those with CFL teams.

But rivalries are strange animals, not necessarily guided by geography or newspaper standings. They?re born on the ice, often in the spring.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out, a huge re-alignment will take a lot of work to make every team happy, but should be done and now is the best time to do it.

 

[sneakyray]

heres my solution

the peg to the central
detroit to the northeast
beantown in with the NY teams
Pitts goes to the southeast to replace atlanta

PROS
you get TOR-DET-MON in a sweet division
you get sid/ovie in the southeast

CONS
no more DET-CHI
no more MON-BOS

what do you guys think?

 

[dappleganger]

Here is the current layout..
http://members.shaw.ca/getbak/nhl_div_map.jpg

I think the simplest way to do it, is to just realign based on proximity..

To not make things too complicated..

Northeast & Atlantic Divisions don?t get touched.

Southeast Division loses Winnipeg (atl) but adds Nashville

Central Division loses Nashville but adds Dallas

Pacific Division loses Dallas but adds Colorado

Northwest Division loses Colorado but adds Winnipeg

Travel time increases for the overall division for only the Central, and slightly for the Southeast Division, but reduces travel times greatly for both the Pacific and Northwest Divisions.

What do you think?

I believe that is the correct solution. It's the most logical imo. Let's see how it pans out.

 

[seahawk]

Looking at the map, you could also make a case for moving Nashville to the Southeast and Minnesota to the Central. The Wild are a lot closer to the remaining teams in the Central than Dallas. It would also reignite some old rivalries with the Blues and Chicago.

 

[Scot4bz]

I'm really not that concerned about realignment - there are so many ways to slice and dice it.

What I would really like is a change to the playoff format back to the good old days - 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc. It's the teams missing out on playoff berths to teams that have fewer points that bothers me.

 

[Zee]

I'm really not that concerned about realignment - there are so many ways to slice and dice it.

What I would really like is a change to the playoff format back to the good old days - 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc. It's the teams missing out on playoff berths to teams that have fewer points that bothers me.

I'm with you, but in that case you would need to have all the teams play each other an equal amount of games otherwise you'll run foul of teams having a more difficult schedule vs. teams with an easier schedule.

 

[Scot4bz]

I'm really not that concerned about realignment - there are so many ways to slice and dice it.

What I would really like is a change to the playoff format back to the good old days - 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc. It's the teams missing out on playoff berths to teams that have fewer points that bothers me.

I'm with you, but in that case you would need to have all the teams play each other an equal amount of games otherwise you'll run foul of teams having a more difficult schedule vs. teams with an easier schedule.

Makes sense to me (I know there are the travel arguments, blah,blah, blah....but it just irks me)