For those hyperventilating about the imbalance in the number of games played in the Pacific, keep in mind that they're likely going to revamp the format of the Calder Cup. Check out the bottom of
http://theahl.com/ahl-announces-alignment-for-2015-16-p197883 - news will out in early July of the actual format.
They could revamp the playoffs to be division-based - four teams from each division qualify. Yes, it helps the North and Pacific to be best 4/7 instead of 4/8, but at least you're comparing apples to apples in the Pacific, and considering there's not 32 teams, that's going to be an issue no matter what you'd do.
You could have four rounds - division semis, division final, conference final, and Calder Cup. In the ECF, home ice could be determined as it normally is, comparing points. In the West, when you have to compare Central to Pacific, you could either compare point percentage, or
give home ice to the team with the better head-to-head record.
Or, hell, you could just flip a coin, or alternate home ice priority season-by-season - this year, Atlantic, Central, and East get home ice, while next year it's North, Pacific, and West.
Yeah, the Pacific is going to have an advantage with having 8 fewer games when compared to the other divisions. I've always wondered how the AHLers do three-in-a-row...and, unfortunately, we don't live in a Platonic world where everything's ideal.
