New Proposed Realignment - Thoughts on how it affects Vancouver?

[Samzilla]

From the trade forum I found the new proposed realignment. Thoughts on the Canucks' potential new conference? Personally, I think it looks great regarding time zones. Not stoked on Anaheim being in our conference, but ya win some, ya lose some. Also, our conference would have only 7 teams instead of the last alignment where we had 8.

Here are the potential new conferences:

Quote:
Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC
The new re-alignment NHL/NHLPA have worked on -- I: CAR/CLB/NJ/NYI/NYR/PHI/PIT/WASH
Quote:
II: BOS/BUF/DET/FLA/MON/OTT/TB/TOR
Quote:
III: CHI/COL/DAL/MIN/NASH/STL/WIN
Quote:
IV: ANA/CAL/EDM/LA/PHOE/SJ/VAN
I am very interested to see how it influences the decision-making of general managers. I am sure that teams will not be afraid to trade with teams out of the other conferences once it is in place and will only trade once in a blue moon within their new conference. However, it could have a big impact this year. I will use an example: Chicago could be interested in ROR. That's not the point of this thread. I doubt he'll go to Chicago. Would Stan Bowman (Chicago's GM) now think twice about dealing assets to Colorado due to newly-formed hesitancy because of the potential of his former assets burning him the next year and years beyond once they're together with the Avs in their conference?

I'd like to hear all your thoughts. I believe it makes for interesting discussion.

Click to read more...

 

[94eleven]

Sucks...got to see Vancouver live 3 times a year...now it will likely be once.

 

[Wheatley]

Yeah that's not fair. There isn't a team in the NHL that the Canucks beat up on more than Colorado.

At least there's still Calgary and Edmonton I suppose.

 

[Bleach Clean]

It's the "proposed" alignment, so not finalized. If it is though, VAN's division goes from a walk to the toughest in the league IMO. Gonna be a warzone in the pacific.

However, it really depends on what happens with the Sharks and the Ducks. If ANA loses Teemu and Perry (among possibly others), that could be a huge blow to them. Then there's the SJ decline we're seeing. What if the bottom falls out there?

LA is the only team that looks to be very good for a long time, and even they struggle during the regular season.

That said, aside from current strength of teams, I look at the management of all teams, and LA's seems to be the best... and I'm not a huge Lombardi fan. So in that sense, I feel confident VAN will have an edge there over our competitors.




Outside of that, it changes the trading landscape by making MIN and COL more viable partners. But it comes down to the playoff format. Is it still West vs East?

 

[CCF23]

It's the "proposed" alignment, so not finalized. If it is though, VAN's division goes from a walk to the toughest in the league IMO. Gonna be a warzone in the pacific.

However, it really depends on what happens with the Sharks and the Ducks. If ANA loses Teemu and Perry (among possibly others), that could be a huge blow to them. Then there's the SJ decline we're seeing. What if the bottom falls out there?

LA is the only team that looks to be very good for a long time, and even they struggle during the regular season.

That said, aside from current strength of teams, I look at the management of all teams, and LA's seems to be the best... and I'm not a huge Lombardi fan. So in that sense, I feel confident VAN will have an edge there over our competitors.




Outside of that, it changes the trading landscape by making MIN and COL more viable partners. But it comes down to the playoff format. Is it still West vs East?

Playoff format, I believe, is said to be within the "division" for the first round (with possibility of a "wild card" matchup because of two 7 team divisions, and two 8 team divisions).

All 3 divisions seem fairly even competition wise except the one with Chicago and St. Louis, which I think those two teams will roll.

 

[Hugh Mann*]

How will this look if/when Phoenix moves to Quebec City in the summer?

 

[BerSTUzzi]

The travel would be significantly less for us and not playing teams like Minny and Nash more than twice a season will be more excited. The major negative I have is not playing Chicago as much as normal.

 

[CCF23]

The travel would be significantly less for us and not playing teams like Minny and Nash more than twice a season will be more excited. The major negative I have is not playing Chicago as much as normal.

...It makes a Canucks/Hawks Cup final possible.

Oh god the world would implode.

 

[Dado]

i want to see every team in our building at least once a season. Any proposal that doesn't start with that just sucks.

 

[Dado]

How will this look if/when Phoenix moves to Quebec City in the summer?

More likely they move to Seattle, IMO, which would be a total win for Vancouver.

 

[Hugh Mann*]

More likely they move to Seattle, IMO, which would be a total win for Vancouver.

How is that more likely?

 

[Cromulence]

I'm not a big fan of the new playoff format where two western teams could play each other in the finals. Its just weird. The only other league like that is MLB. I like the conferences.

 

[Lawzy]

We lose significant rivalries in Detroit and Chicago

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I am in favour along as, Canucks play all the teams in their building at least once and vice versa. I'm a canucks fan out east, only chance i get to see them live is when they are out here.

 

[Street Hawk]

I am in favour along as, Canucks play all the teams in their building at least once and vice versa. I'm a canucks fan out east, only chance i get to see them live is when they are out here.

Seems more logical to me for the league to swap TB/FLA with CBS and Car (formerly the Hartford Whalers), so that it looks more like:

TOR/OTT/MON/BOS/BUF/DET/CBS/CAR
NYR/NYI/PIT/PHI/NJ/WAS/FLA/TB

It does make sense to put teams into their proper time zones. Though Colorado would be the lone MTZ team in the Central.

Don't think any Eastern team should be complaining about the imbalance of 8 teams versus 7. Unless they want to move to the "West" division.

VAN/CAL/EDM/PHX/SJ/LA/ANA
CHI/STL/WIN/MIN/DAL/NAS/COL

All makes sense. NHL hasn't come out and said what will happen in the playoffs after round 2.

Does the Pacific winner play the Central winner? Or do they mix it up and re-seed the 4 winners to a 1 to 4 format to change things up? Wait and see on that.

But, really, if the NHL wants to expand to 32 teams and have another team in Markham and Quebec, there needs to be 2 NHL teams relocate to the West and Phoenix has to stay in Arizona.

Seattle is a possibility, but outside of them, where else in the West?

KC - worry about them since the Blues overall since struggle to break even financially.
Houston - haven't heard a peep out of them being a NHL city, since they got the Toyota Center.
Milwaukee - Bradley Center is about 20 years old, so no longer state of the art.
Portland - Don't think there would be both Seattle and Portland
Las Vegas - I think you are better off with a solid fan base rather than having hotels/casinos buy tickets and give them away.
OKC - see how the Thunder do in the NBA. Long shot IMO.

Basic math for this setup would be:

West:
23 non division teams home/away = 46 games
36 games left with 6 division rivals = 6 games against each one.

East
22 non division teams home/away = 44 games
38 games left with 7 division rivals = 3 teams at 6 times each. 4 teams at 5 times each.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

How is that more likely?

I don't know why Dado thinks it's more likely but I would say, going off that info if they were to move a team out of Phx thy would have to put one back in our division, since that would make us have 6 teams. Then the rest have 8 teams so we would need two teams if they wanted to even it up. Unless they were to redo aliment after shifting Phx so put teams over to the east then move them back out west for QC or TO2.

 

[Aphid Attraction]

We lose significant rivalries in Detroit and Chicago

But under the last proposal, It was possible to have us meet Chicago in the SCF.

 

[Jyrki]

noooo, there goes our free points in Colorado :c

 

[Jyrki21]

The travel would be significantly less for us and not playing teams like Minny and Nash more than twice a season will be more excited. The major negative I have is not playing Chicago as much as normal.

It's not like the character of the teams right at this moment are going to stay that way forever. Teams change all the time.

 

[LiquidSnake]

having every team in our barn would be great. That's 29 different teams of 41 home games leaving around 12 from within our division.

Which is great considering PHX, NSH, Minny, STL only come once.

 

[Free Edler]

How is that more likely?

They stay in the west and the NHL saves QC for that sweet sweet expansion money. It makes more logistical sense for the NHL as well.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Doesn't anyone else think this new format highly suggests two new franchises are coming ?

The new CBA, the new alignment. I bet hockey teams look much more sexy for investors.

Seattle and Quebec would be great.

 

[racerjoe]

Seems more logical to me for the league to swap TB/FLA with CBS and Car (formerly the Hartford Whalers), so that it looks more like:

TOR/OTT/MON/BOS/BUF/DET/CBS/CAR
NYR/NYI/PIT/PHI/NJ/WAS/FLA/TB

It does make sense to put teams into their proper time zones. Though Colorado would be the lone MTZ team in the Central.

Don't think any Eastern team should be complaining about the imbalance of 8 teams versus 7. Unless they want to move to the "West" division.

VAN/CAL/EDM/PHX/SJ/LA/ANA
CHI/STL/WIN/MIN/DAL/NAS/COL

All makes sense. NHL hasn't come out and said what will happen in the playoffs after round 2.

Does the Pacific winner play the Central winner? Or do they mix it up and re-seed the 4 winners to a 1 to 4 format to change things up? Wait and see on that.

But, really, if the NHL wants to expand to 32 teams and have another team in Markham and Quebec, there needs to be 2 NHL teams relocate to the West and Phoenix has to stay in Arizona.

Seattle is a possibility, but outside of them, where else in the West?

KC - worry about them since the Blues overall since struggle to break even financially.
Houston - haven't heard a peep out of them being a NHL city, since they got the Toyota Center.
Milwaukee - Bradley Center is about 20 years old, so no longer state of the art.
Portland - Don't think there would be both Seattle and Portland
Las Vegas - I think you are better off with a solid fan base rather than having hotels/casinos buy tickets and give them away.OKC - see how the Thunder do in the NBA. Long shot IMO.

Basic math for this setup would be:

West:
23 non division teams home/away = 46 games
36 games left with 6 division rivals = 6 games against each one.

East
22 non division teams home/away = 44 games
38 games left with 7 division rivals = 3 teams at 6 times each. 4 teams at 5 times each.

I know there has been major talk about both the NHL and the NBA wanting to put a franchise in the area. This is supposedly why the NHL awards are in vegas actually.

 

[dave babych returns]

Can I just say, it makes 10x more sense to have the eight team "conferences" out east where the majority of the league's teams are concentrated.

Having 16 "western" teams really just serves to throw another team or two into the mess Detroit and Columbus have been in for years now.

(Speaking of Columbus, how funny is it that Rick Nash will be in town several times a year if this alignment stands..)

I also feel that tighter competition for a playoff spot in the Eastern conference(s) is fair considering the travel, time zone differences etc wil be nil for those teams over most of their seasons.

As for how this affects the Canucks, I like it. Smaller conference, all regional rivals or Pacific time zone teams (Phoenix is the only exception but even they are less than three hours flying from Vancouver). Good deal.

I still hate the playoff format though, if they plan on the same thing.

 

[dave babych returns]

This is supposedly why the NHL awards are in vegas actually.

Really? Seems to me it would be more because LV is a desireable (and neutral from an NHL perspective) location both for individual tourists and for conventions and other large scale events...