NHL Realignment 2012-13 – Part III

[KingsFan7824]

[*]Detroit wants East to play more games within their own timezone
[*]Columbus wants East to play more games within their own timezone
[*]Winnipeg wants West to play more games within their own timezone
[*]Minnesota wants out of the Northwest and play more games within their own timezone
[*]Dallas wants out of the Pacific and play more games within their own timezone
[*]Edmonton wants to be in a division of Mountain and Pacific teams because they want to play more games within their own timezone.
[*]Every team in the East plays at least 71 of 82 games in their own timezone and many don't want to change it.

NE: Bos, Mtl, Ott, Tor, Buf
ATL: NYR, NYI, NJ, Phi, Pit
SE: Was, Clb, Car, TB, Fla

CEN: Det, Chi, Nas, StL, Min, Wpg, Dal
WEST: Van, Edm, Cal, Col(Block 1) SJ, LA, Ana, Phx(Block 2)

Regular season schedule and playoffs in the east stay the same.

Central plays 18 games against the east, 2 games against each west team, and 8 against each division opponent.

West plays 18 games against the east, 2 games against each central team, and 8 games against each team in their block, 6 games against the 4 teams in the other block. That leaves two games, and 1st place from the previous season in Block 1 plays 1st place from the previous season in Block 2 an additional 2 games, 2nd place plays 2nd place, etc, etc.

Division winners get the top 2 spots in the playoffs, then the next 6 best records. Or divisional. Or some flex-conference playoff format to cut down on time zone difference. Whatever would be best.

 

[dronald]

If the Coyotes do move can't they just repeat the same old garbage next year that they did with the Jets this year?

IE: Leave whatever new city gets the Coyotes in the same division the Phoenix Coyotes were in until the year after?

 

[saskriders]

.Not backlash, but certainly a bit of infused logic:

• Detroit wants East to play more games within their own timezone
• Columbus wants East to play more games within their own timezone
• Winnipeg wants West to play more games within their own timezone
• Minnesota wants out of the Northwest and play more games within their own timezone
• Dallas wants out of the Pacific and play more games within their own timezone
• Edmonton wants to be in a division of Mountain and Pacific teams because they want to play more games within their own timezone.
• Every team in the East plays at least 71 of 82 games in their own timezone and many don't want to change it.

But instead, the thought is that a North/South alignment will make more money, because Edmonton would rather play Chicago than Phoenix? Edmonton already sells out every game. They can't make more money unless they jack up the ticket prices.

The teams in the North don't have a money problem. The teams in the South have a revenue problem, and placing teams in the North together just adds to the haves and segregates the have-nots (the South). And it certainly won't improve the revenue of the Southern teams: If Dallas at Anaheim was so good Dallas wouldn't be screaming about joining Central Time Zone teams.

*Detroit has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Columbus has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Winnipeg would be in the west in my suggestion
*In my suggestion Minnesota would have more games in the timezone
*Dallas is one of the most sw, and should be in that division under a north south conference alignment everyone has to play in lots of timezones
*Edmonton would play in mountain and pacific timezones, and fans would be able to follow central more than pacific
*The east would still have less timezone travel because it is geography, however they should still have to pay their dues


Edmonton does sellout every game, however attendance isn't always 100% concession revenue still makes a lot, and games with less interest cost advertisers less for commercials, thus the league and teams profit less.

The NHL is a business, and southern teams do not have large fan bases, nor do they have the history the other teams do. If they can't operate without the help of the other teams they should relocate.

 

[Seanconn*]

They won't let Minnesota be the only American team in their division.

so just move Vacnouver to the pacific instead.

Colorado, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Minnesota.


and if the NHL really wanted to, they could make the schedule so that Vancouver plays the Flames and Oilers 5 times per season, even 6.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

*Detroit has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Columbus has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Winnipeg would be in the west in my suggestion

What a condescending response.

The best part is those two teams want to move east based on something called "geography".

 

[saskriders]

What a condescending response.

The best part is those two teams want to move east based on something called "geography".

Yes they are closer to the east than the west, but it makes the most sense for them to be in the west than in the east based on all the other teams, most of the people on the continent live in the east, therefor unless you have 2 extra teams in the east they will have to stay in the west

 

[MoreOrr]

*Detroit has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Columbus has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Winnipeg would be in the west in my suggestion
*In my suggestion Minnesota would have more games in the timezone
*Dallas is one of the most sw, and should be in that division under a north south conference alignment everyone has to play in lots of timezones
*Edmonton would play in mountain and pacific timezones, and fans would be able to follow central more than pacific
*The east would still have less timezone travel because it is geography, however they should still have to pay their dues.

There are 4 Time Zones in the NHL, one just happens to be called the "East", but that doesn't make everything else be the "West". Those in the "East" are always so arrogant about that point. If only the Eastern Time Zone were called the Atlantic Time Zone (instead of just for east coast Canada), then this East - West garbage wouldn't be so easy fool people with.

The eastern half of the continent in which the NHL exists includes the ETZ and the CTZ; the western half includes the MTZ and the PTZ. But those east-centered people just force 50% of the NHL teams into a fictious West, where 47% of the "West" is actually still the east.

All those arguments that the League can't have two more balanced Conferences, with east and west in both, never get it through their heads that the 73% east, so how can't there be "east" in both Conferences, and therefore why shouldn't there be west in both Conferences.

The NHL is a business, and southern teams do not have large fan bases, nor do they have the history the other teams do. If they can't operate without the help of the other teams they should relocate.

And that's why there also needs to be north and south in both Conferences.

Yes they are closer to the east than the west, but it makes the most sense for them to be in the west than in the east based on all the other teams, most of the people on the continent live in the east, therefor unless you have 2 extra teams in the east they will have to stay in the west

Most of the people live there, and most of the teams are there, so logically if you want to have two Conferences then there must be eastern teams in both. And therefore why force only some eastern teams to have to be mixed with the 27% of western teams that exist? Those few western teams should be mixed into both Conferences.

 

[AlexanderTheGood]

1) Move Nashville to the Southeast.

Southeast Division:

Carolina
Florida
Nashville
Tampa Bay
Washington

2) Move Vancouver to the Pacific.

Pacific Division:

Anaheim
Los Angeles
Phoenix
San Jose
Vancouver

3) Move Dallas to the Central Division.

Central Division:

Chicago
Columbus
Dallas
Detroit
St. Louis

4) Move Winnipeg to the Northwest Division.

Northwest Division:

Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Minnesota
Winnipeg

Given that this received no response, I'm assuming by now that it is the path of least resistance?

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Given that this received no response, I'm assuming by now that it is the path of least resistance?

No, just that most people didn't feel the need to talk about it.

 

[Grudy0]

*Detroit has to live in the west, it's called geography
*Columbus has to live in the west, it's called geography

And both are more east than Nashville. What's that about geography?

*Dallas is one of the most sw, and should be in that division under a north south conference alignment everyone has to play in lots of timezones
*Edmonton would play in mountain and pacific timezones, and fans would be able to follow central more than pacific
*The east would still have less timezone travel because it is geography, however they should still have to pay their dues

You're still missing this.

The reason all of these teams want alignment to be basically within timezones is because of television start times. Detroit and Columbus have to play 16 games two or more hours away. Dallas has to play 11 games two time zones away. And it specifically wreaks havoc on their local television start times.

Edmonton does sellout every game, however attendance isn't always 100% concession revenue still makes a lot, and games with less interest cost advertisers less for commercials, thus the league and teams profit less.

Concession revenue might be lowered, yet concession revenue is nothing compared to ticket revenue. However, I am seeing that many teams are getting large local television dollars to broadcast games. The more games scheduled within optimal broadcasting hours (read: prime time) the better. Yet your proposal would actually take away games from "optimal" broadcasting times. Ask yourself why people in the position of power appear to want an alignment based upon timezone.

The NHL is a business, and southern teams do not have large fan bases, nor do they have the history the other teams do. If they can't operate without the help of the other teams they should relocate.

Yet you suggested that Edmonton needs to be paired with Chicago instead of Phoenix, because it would make the most money. Now you are suggesting that teams with larger fan bases need special treatment over teams with smaller fan bases.

That type of opinion why the League would never align to Northern and Southern conferences. It takes approval from two-thirds of the League's Governors to make changes, and with most of the teams out for themselves, there's no way a "Southern Conference" would ever fly.

In other words, tell me the fifteen teams that would make a "Southern Conference" and I'll show you fifteen members that vote "no" to the proposal. Welcome back to reality!

 

[knorthern knight]

Yes they are closer to the east than the west, but it makes the most sense for them to be in the west than in the east based on all the other teams, most of the people on the continent live in the east, therefor unless you have 2 extra teams in the east they will have to stay in the west

You mean like so?

• WEST
  • Anaheim
  • Calgary
  • Edmonton
  • Los Angeles
  • Phoenix
  • San Jose
  • Vancouver
• CENTRAL
  • Chicago
  • Colorado
  • Dallas
  • Minnesota
  • Nashville
  • St Louis
  • Winnipeg
• NORTHEAST
  • Boston
  • Buffalo
  • Columbus
  • Detroit
  • Montreal
  • Ottawa
  • Pittsburgh
  • Toronto
• ATLANTIC
  • Carolina
  • Florida
  • NY Islanders
  • NY Rangers
  • New Jersey
  • Philadelphia
  • Tampa Bay
  • Washington

Worst-case scenario is Coyotes moving to Quebec, which would belong in the NORTHEAST. That would force...

• move one of Detroit/Columbus to CENTRAL
• move Colorado to WEST (to keep CENTRAL at 2 time zones).

The other things about the 4-division proposal are...

1. with a division-heavy schedule, Detroit/Columbus would only be playing one time zone out in their division even if they do end up in CENTRAL
2. with first 2 rounds of playoffs in their own division, Detroit wouldn't be galivanting cross-country so much during the playoffs

 

[KevFu]

I expect to get a lot of backlash for this, but I think it would be better for the divisions to be divided more by North South than timezone. It would equal out travel more, keep more rivalries, and the league would make more money (do you expect people in Edmonton would be more likely to see Chicago, or Phoenix) keep northern teams playing against northern teams for the most money

NW: Van, Cgy, Edm, Wpg, Min, Chi, Col, Det
NE: Mtl, Ott, Tor, Buf, Bos, Pit, Phl, Wsh
SW: LA, Ana, SJ, Phx, Dal, Col, Stl
SE: Flo, TB, NYR, NYI, NJ, Car, Nsh

How is this "keeping rivalries" when you're splitting NJ/NYR/NYI from PHI/PIT; and STL from CHI.
It's placating geography instead of teams with historical rivalries (and I really don't "care" that you put WAS, who's been in the southeast for 11 years in the Northeast).

Of course they're fighting hard. I'm one to believe "the 10" really don't want to change anything. And it will be darn near impossible to have changes unless something appeases "the 10".Not backlash, but certainly a bit of infused logic:

The teams in the North don't have a money problem. The teams in the South have a revenue problem, and placing teams in the North together just adds to the haves and segregates the have-nots (the South). And it certainly won't improve the revenue of the Southern teams: If Dallas at Anaheim was so good Dallas wouldn't be screaming about joining Central Time Zone teams.

That's why I think the goal needs to be "making the most amount of positive change, while not disrupting multiple historical groups."
The CBC alignment is an idea that creates the least resistance in theory. I tweaked it, but…
Moving CBJ and CAR to the Northeast and FLA, TB and WASH to the Atlantic in a four-division setup can accomplish the most good with the least disruption.
The NE still plays each other six times, they just add CAR and CBJ to the family.
The ATL still plays each other six times, they just welcome back WAS, along with TB and FLA.
CAR and CBJ in the Northeast isn't ideal (CBJ doesn't become division rivals with PIT; CAR is out of place in the Northeast).

But CBJ would be getting a ton more time zone games, so it's a positive step.
CAR wouldn't lose very much. 11 years of attendance data shows that their home fans would rather see BOS, TOR, BUF over TB, FLA.

DET would get the concession of the home and home with everyone: 15 ETZ road games instead of 12; 4 PTZ road games instead of 8.

That type of opinion why the League would never align to Northern and Southern conferences. It takes approval from two-thirds of the League's Governors to make changes, and with most of the teams out for themselves, there's no way a "Southern Conference" would ever fly.

In other words, tell me the fifteen teams that would make a "Southern Conference" and I'll show you fifteen members that vote "no" to the proposal.

I completely agree. It would be a horrible thing for hockey. Most Northern Conference fans would immediately begin saying "We should just get rid of the Southern Conference."

 

[saskriders]

How is this "keeping rivalries" when you're splitting NJ/NYR/NYI from PHI/PIT; and STL from CHI.
It's placating geography instead of teams with historical rivalries (and I really don't "care" that you put WAS, who's been in the southeast for 11 years in the Northeast).
"

It's a short term solution, if Quebec Hamilton or Hartford get teams (which would be ideal) than the NJ/NYR/NYI can move to the Pit/Phi division. It is unfortunate that Chi-Stl doesn't stay, but I haven't found away to keep all the rivalries together (don't forget Winnipeg had rivalries with Edmonton and Vancouver (who has a rivalry with Chicago (who has a rivalry with Detroit (who has a rivalry with Colorado an Toronto)))) hence the problem

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

Here's a great graphic on the NHL's realignment history:

 

[RandR]

There are 4 Time Zones in the NHL, one just happens to be called the "East", but that doesn't make everything else be the "West". Those in the "East" are always so arrogant about that point. If only the Eastern Time Zone were called the Atlantic Time Zone (instead of just for east coast Canada), then this East - West garbage wouldn't be so easy fool people with.

The eastern half of the continent in which the NHL exists includes the ETZ and the CTZ; the western half includes the MTZ and the PTZ. But those east-centered people just force 50% of the NHL teams into a fictious West, where 47% of the "West" is actually still the east.

All those arguments that the League can't have two more balanced Conferences, with east and west in both, never get it through their heads that the 73% east, so how can't there be "east" in both Conferences, and therefore why shouldn't there be west in both Conferences.

And that's why there also needs to be north and south in both Conferences.

Most of the people live there, and most of the teams are there, so logically if you want to have two Conferences then there must be eastern teams in both. And therefore why force only some eastern teams to have to be mixed with the 27% of western teams that exist? Those few western teams should be mixed into both Conferences.

The NHL's "Eastern" Conference is not a short form for "Eastern Time Zone" Conference; East and West are relative teams. Heck, the WHL has an Eastern Conference and every single one of its teams is west of Winnipeg. Do you think that causes any confusion amongst fans?

No, because people automatically and correctly assume that the WHL's Eastern-most teams are basically in its Eastern Conference and its Western-most teams are basically in its Western Conference.

Do OHL fans have any kind of confusion about its Eastern and Western conferences even though not a single team is outside the Eastern time zone? No, of course not.

Same for the NHL.

And sorry to be blunt, but I think mixing eastern and western teams in each NHL conference is ridiculous and a non-starter. The league is trying to lessen problems caused by travel and time zone differences across the continent, not create more of them.

 

[Crayton]

What a condescending response.

The best part is those two teams want to move east based on something called "geography".

Whoa, Whoa, we're talking about geography?

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=36720479#post36720479

Alright, I built my own program but it only analyzes distances like SoTzuMe's. It does not have a built in algorithm to find the shortest. I did a "manual" algorithm. Here are the optimum solutions I found. None of these factor in timezones yet, though some work rather well with them.

Unlike SoTzuMe, I had some teams play a non-integer number of times against each other, this reflects actual rotating schedules and analyzes 82 games for every team.

[...]

4 Divisions, larger divisions drop 4 games against each other
1,172,016
West (ANA,CAL,COL,EDM,LA,PHO,SJ,VAN)
North (BUF,CHI,DET,MIN,PIT,TOR,WPG)
East (BOS,MTL,NJ,NYI,NYR,OTT,PHI,WAS)
South (CAR,CBJ,DAL,FLO,NAS,STL,TB)

4 Divisions, Home-and-Home, larger divisions drop 4 games against other sub-division
1,219,363
Pacific (ANA,LA,PHO,SJ)/(CAL,COL,EDM,VAN) [Pacific/Northwest]
Central (CHI,DAL,DET,MIN,NAS,STL,WPG)
Southeast (CAR,CBJ,FLO,PHI,PIT,TB,WAS)
Northeast (BOS,NJ,NYI,NYR)/(BUF,MTL,OTT,TOR) [Atlantic/Northeast]

I was surprised to see that these last two alignments were significantly different. The second schedule, my preferred schedule, lines up well with the NHL desire to keep the Stanley Cup as West vs. East. The first of these two is closest to my preferred alignment, with a CBJ-WAS-PIT rotation.

Putting Detroit in a division with Vancouver is ludicrous. I don't care what fashion of geography you use.

 

[MoreOrr]

The NHL's "Eastern" Conference is not a short form for "Eastern Time Zone" Conference; East and West are relative teams. Heck, the WHL has an Eastern Conference and every single one of its teams is west of Winnipeg. Do you think that causes any confusion amongst fans?

No, because people automatically and correctly assume that the WHL's Eastern-most teams are basically in its Eastern Conference and its Western-most teams are basically in its Western Conference.

Do OHL fans have any kind of confusion about its Eastern and Western conferences even though not a single team is outside the Eastern time zone? No, of course not.

Same for the NHL.

And sorry to be blunt, but I think mixing eastern and western teams in each NHL conference is ridiculous and a non-starter. The league is trying to lessen problems caused by travel and time zone differences across the continent, not create more of them.

What other hockey leagues have done only means that they've been using the same logic that the NHL has been using.

No matter how you do it, 32% of eastern teams have to be mixed with western teams. You just want to have that 32% misfortunates all in one Conference.

None of the other major leagues have as unbalanced east-west precent of teams as does the NHL, but only the NBA, like the NHL, has established an east-west split. But the NBA actually has room for CTZ teams in the East, with logically no ETZ teams in the West.
And you or anyone can talk "history" of those other leagues all you want, but the history is still the reality.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

What other hockey leagues have done only means that they've been using the same logic that the NHL has been using.

No matter how you do it, 32% of eastern teams have to be mixed with western teams. You just want to have that 32% misfortunates all in one Conference.

None of the other major leagues have as unbalanced east-west precent of teams as does the NHL, but only the NBA, like the NHL, has established an east-west split. But the NBA actually has room for CTZ teams in the East, with logically no ETZ teams in the West.
And you or anyone can talk "history" of those other leagues all you want, but the history is still the reality.

With 4 divisions 0% of what you refer to as "Eastern teams" will be with what you refer to as "Western Teams".

Which is probably why Bettman is pushing hard for that alignment.

I tend to agree with RandR, nothing we have heard has suggested a MLB type reshuffling, and personally I think its absolutely the worst option out there. It seems a forced work around in a vein attempt to have 6 divisions.

My preferences are either switch a few teams and keep 6 divs, or move to the 4 divs. The "MoreOrr" proposal is pretty unrealistic IMO.

 

[MoreOrr]

With 4 divisions 0% of what you refer to as "Eastern teams" will be with what you refer to as "Western Teams".

Which is probably why Bettman is pushing hard for that alignment.

I tend to agree with RandR, nothing we have heard has suggested a MLB type reshuffling, and personally I think its absolutely the worst option out there. It seems a forced work around in a vein attempt to have 6 divisions.

My preferences are either switch a few teams and keep 6 divs, or move to the 4 divs. The "MoreOrr" proposal is pretty unrealistic IMO.

I understand your point, DocBrown, but realize that the League really is only considering initial Playoffs spots based on Division Standings, and only a 1st Round Divisional Playoff. Then you're going to have the remaining teams in each "Conference" re-ordered by season record, and many matchups of teams that only faced each other 2 times during the Season,... based on Bettman's great plan.

You're actually gaining 1 Round of Divisional Playoffs and 2 extra Rounds of teams facing each other that had hardly faced each all Season, all at the cost of the 4 Division/Conference, no multiple Time Zones in any Division/Conference.

And no, the MoreOrr proposal is almost certainly a 'no-go'. But I'll argue it everytime someone talks about "geography" and "there's a geographical reason why Detroit is in the West", or that "the East is where the population is and that's why the alignment is as it is"... The "east" is much much bigger than the "Eastern" Conference.

 

[KevFu]

Here's a great graphic on the NHL's realignment history:

Pretty awesome. Love the use of historical logos.

Anyhow, looks like this period of alignment is the longest the NHL has had since 1967.

14: 1998-2012
11: 1982-1993

 

[Alan Jackson]

Here's a quick attempt at a realignment/schedule proposal. It's certainly not perfect, but I tried to balance travel/time zone considerations with regional or traditional rivalries, and keeping in mind my belief that every team should play in every city, every season. This was done fairly quickly whilst at work, so if some of the scheduling math doesn't work, I apologize in advance. Here goes:

Division 1:
VAN, CGY, EDM, WPG, LA, SJ, ANA, PHX

Division 2:
CHI, STL, COL, DAL, CBJ, MIN, NSH

Division 3:
TOR, MTL, OTT, BOS, BUF, PITS, PHI, DET

Division 4:
NYR, NYI, NJ, WSH, CAR, TB, FLA

Schedule (Here's where it got a little more complicated than I would have liked)

Division 1:
plays 5 games vs division opponents (35 games)
plays every other team home and away (44 games)
VAN, EDM, CGY, WPG play OTT, TOR, MTL an additional time = 82
LA, SJ, ANA, PHX play eachother once more = 82

Division 2:
Play division opponents 6 times = 36
Play every other team home and away = 46 (total:82)

Division 3:
Play division opponents 4 times = 28
Play every other team x 2 = 44
TOR, MTL, OTT play VAN, CGY, EDM, WPG
TOR, MTL, OTT play each other 3 additional times
BOS, BUF, PITS, PHI, DET play each other twice more
BOS, BUF and DET play an additional game vs each other
PITS, PHI play twice more

Division 4:
Same format as Division 2.

OK, flame away!

 

[RandR]

No matter how you do it, 32% of eastern teams have to be mixed with western teams. You just want to have that 32% misfortunates all in one Conference.

You may be the only person who considers the NHL teams in the Central Time Zone to be "eastern" teams.

What other hockey leagues have done only means that they've been using the same logic that the NHL has been using.

None of the other major leagues have as unbalanced east-west precent of teams as does the NHL, but only the NBA, like the NHL, has established an east-west split. But the NBA actually has room for CTZ teams in the East, with logically no ETZ teams in the West.
And you or anyone can talk "history" of those other leagues all you want, but the history is still the reality.

Assuming you are counting the major leagues as NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, then history is indeed reality:

- 2 leagues, NFL and MLB, evolved largely from the merging or co-existence of 2 leagues; their "conference" alignments reflect that historical fact.

- 2 leagues, NBA and NHL, didn't largely evolve from rival leagues; their conference alignments reflect that historical fact too. Consequently, in the absence of longstanding history they have aligned themselves in a geographic fashion (east-west splits) using the same logic as other leagues that also lacked a historical reason to do otherwise.

 

[MoreOrr]

You may be the only person who considers the NHL teams in the Central Time Zone to be "eastern" teams.

Well it depends, if you divide only by Time Zone or by geography + Time Zone.

Even if you consider only the center of US population, which some here think is the basis for this whole decision regarding east vs west, then that center, currently about 92.2°W by 37.5°N, puts only Minnesota and Dallas (from the CTZ) in the western half.

So perhaps you and whoever else should check your misconceptions about what's actually east and west on the US-Canada map, most specifically with respect to the Time Zones represented in the NHL (4/2 = 2 west, 2 east).

Assuming you are counting the major leagues as NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, then history is indeed reality:

- 2 leagues, NFL and MLB, evolved largely from the merging or co-existence of 2 leagues; their "conference" alignments reflect that historical fact.

- 2 leagues, NBA and NHL, didn't largely evolve from rival leagues; their conference alignments reflect that historical fact too. Consequently, in the absence of longstanding history they have aligned themselves in a geographic fashion (east-west splits) using the same logic as other leagues that also lacked a historical reason to do otherwise.

Pardon me, but you misinterpreted my point, or perhaps it wasn't clear enough... "history is still the reality"... the "geographic reality" that those leagues haven't choosen to abandon the more balanced east-west mix in there structure for some sort of practicality... and they've got more balanced eastern vs western number of teams to do so, compared to the NHL. It's still a geographic, travel expense, and Time Zone reality.

 

[Stone87]

Uneven Divisions (forget about perfect geography):
Adams:
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs

Patrick:
Florida Panthers
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals

Norris:
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues

Smythe:
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Winnipeg Jets

 

[MoreOrr]

The 3 Conference alignment idea hasn't been mentioned in a long time, in part because most people now have gravitated to simply posting what they're guessing to be the most probable alignment that will come out of the December meetings. However, during much of the alignment analysis that we've been going through, I've often been reminded of how much a 3 Conference structure would really fit the NHL geographical reality.

One element that I've rather hooked myself onto is the idea of flex-Divisions, which I've commented on various times, often in discussions with KevFu. And I'm wondering how that could be applied to a 3-Conference structure and perhaps make that structure work even better. I still think that a flex-Division alignment can be found, within the 2 Conferences, 6 Divisions, that could really make the setup work well, but here I want to apply it to 3-Conferences.

This is what I've come up with:

Continental||Conference||American||Conference||National||Conference
PACIFIC||WEST||CENTRAL||SOUTHEAST||NORTHEAST||ATLANTIC
Edmonton |x 6 x| Calgary || Detroit |x 6 x| Washington || Montreal |x 6 x| Boston
Vancouver||Winnipeg||Columbus||Carolina||Ottawa||Islanders
San Jose||Minnesota||Chicago||Florida||Toronto||Rangers
Los Angeles||Colorado||St Louis||Tampa Bay||Buffalo||New Jersey
Anaheim |x 6 x| Phoenix || Dallas |x 6 x| Nashville || Pittsburgh |x 6 x| Philadelphia

In the Conference, teams play each other a minimum of 4 times.
Teams in the Division generally play each other 6 times, except for the teams in Blue in the Division which only play each other 4 times.
The Flex-schedule allows teams across Divisions to play each other 6 times.

Teams play all other teams in the League 2 times (less 2 teams unless the League would go to 84 games).

The Playoffs would be as described many times with the 3-Conference structure:
The top team in each Division is guaranteed a Playoff spot.
The 3 next best records in each Conference is are in.
That makes 15 teams. The 16th team is the team with the best remaining record in the whole League.

That means that 2 Conferences would have 5 Playoff representatives, and 1 Conference has 6.
The matchups go 1st vs 5th, 1st vs 5th, 1st vs 6th, … 2nd vs 4th, 2nd vs 4th, 2nd vs 5th, … 3rd vs 3rd (the 2 Conf with 5 Playoff teams), and 3rd vs 4th (in the other Conf).

The 3rd Playoff Round would be the Conference elimination Round in which one of the 3 Conferences is eliminated.
The Final with two Conference representatives facing each other.