Perhaps this alignment should indicate Quebec City is not the first destination for the Coyotes should they have to relocate, but rather somewhere out west.
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News Article: NHL's realignment plan
- Thread starter Malkinstheman
- Start date
Perhaps this alignment should indicate Quebec City is not the first destination for the Coyotes should they have to relocate, but rather somewhere out west.
No-one knows that. But my guess is that a team will be in Seattle making it 15-16 and then with a move of one of the teams into the West - Quebec would make it 16-16.
Richard
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2012
- 2,902
- 2,023
That plan is so mind-numbingly stupid that I can't even believe a professional sports league is even considering it.
You want four divisions, fine, 8-8-7-7 and then expand two teams. 8-8-8-8. Have divisional playoffs, 1 v. 4, 2 v.3. Then have divisional championships.
Then either have conference finals or completely reseed based upon points.
Then Cup finals.
It isn't rocket science. And of course the NHL ****s it up completely. Don't even get me started on the probable names. THEWESTERNMIDWESTERNMISSISSIPPICONFERENCE.
Gary Bettman needs to go. NOW. The entire NHL front office needs to go. NOW.
The product sucks again. Plans to "grow the game" have failed. We are living off of the Canadian money boost (wait for the crash.....).
It's called pander to your core audience. So frustrating being a long-time NHL fan. Especially since the early 90's.
You want four divisions, fine, 8-8-7-7 and then expand two teams. 8-8-8-8. Have divisional playoffs, 1 v. 4, 2 v.3. Then have divisional championships.
Then either have conference finals or completely reseed based upon points.
Then Cup finals.
It isn't rocket science. And of course the NHL ****s it up completely. Don't even get me started on the probable names. THEWESTERNMIDWESTERNMISSISSIPPICONFERENCE.
Gary Bettman needs to go. NOW. The entire NHL front office needs to go. NOW.
The product sucks again. Plans to "grow the game" have failed. We are living off of the Canadian money boost (wait for the crash.....).
It's called pander to your core audience. So frustrating being a long-time NHL fan. Especially since the early 90's.
Darth Vitale
Dark Matter
The amount of travel would be similarly bad. Winnipeg is a more natural fit in the divison witn Minnesota and Chicago. And frankly it's good not to cluser all the Canadian teams into their own division.
PHX is almost guaranteed to go to Seattle because of this re-alignment and the league likely has already anticipated this / is setting things up for it. The real question is will we have to re-align again when Markham and Quebec get expansion teams?
Alesle
Registered User
So you essentially want it like the original proposal from Bettman that got rejected by the NHLPA?
Personally, I would just make the two division winners in each conference the #1 and #2 seeds, then have seeds 3-8 be whoever has the most points after that.
That being said, if I only have to choice between a divisional playoff format and this wild card format, I'd take the wild card format. It allows better teams in stronger divisions to get in over lesser teams in weaker divisions.
That being said, if I only have to choice between a divisional playoff format and this wild card format, I'd take the wild card format. It allows better teams in stronger divisions to get in over lesser teams in weaker divisions.
plaidchuck
Registered User
Darth Vitale
Dark Matter
Just educated guesses Chuck. PHX ownership situation has gone down the toilet, just like in ATL and the hand-writing is on the wall. Before it was less clear where they might go, but now if they're being aligned into the west, and the west already has two fewer teams than the east... logically the only place PHX can be relocated to without re-aligning everything again (prior to new teams being added), is Seattle. Or maybe KC, if they still are pursuing a team to play at the Sprint Center.
i hate the format. 16/14 is idiotic. too bad detroit, geographically columbus is closest to the east so you lose detroit. sorry. it isnt all that much but they are.
that way 15/15 figure out divisions.
hate that TB/FLA are in the northern east division. ridiculous.
herse my idea for conferences:
tb, fla, carolina, wash pit, columbus, philly
boston, nyr, nyi, nj, tor, ott, mtl, buff
it would suck losing njd and the new yorkers, but you gain washington and keep philly rivalry. plus the potential for a carolina rivalry with the staals is intriguing.
my west div would be:
det, stl, chi, min, win, dal, col, nash
phx, sj, ana, la, van, cal, edm
i then would keep the same format for the playoffs. you dont want to finish 4th and be the second most points, play harder win the division
LETS GO PENS!!
that way 15/15 figure out divisions.
hate that TB/FLA are in the northern east division. ridiculous.
herse my idea for conferences:
tb, fla, carolina, wash pit, columbus, philly
boston, nyr, nyi, nj, tor, ott, mtl, buff
it would suck losing njd and the new yorkers, but you gain washington and keep philly rivalry. plus the potential for a carolina rivalry with the staals is intriguing.
my west div would be:
det, stl, chi, min, win, dal, col, nash
phx, sj, ana, la, van, cal, edm
i then would keep the same format for the playoffs. you dont want to finish 4th and be the second most points, play harder win the division
LETS GO PENS!!
plaidchuck
Registered User
Yeah it makes sense but I have the feeling PHX will stick around a little while longer. Bettman and co. seemed to have some strange obsession with keeping them on life support.
edog37
Registered User
the NHL operated for years with unbalanced divisions, I really don't see why everyone is up in arms. It's a non-issue. I personally love this concept as it promotes divisional play & ensures the hate continues in the playoffs.
#66
Registered User
I'm hoping for...
Western
EDM, CAL, VANCAN, PORT ('yotes), SEA (FLA)
WIN, MIN, CHI, ST.L, DET
COL, DAL, SAN, ANA, LA
Eastern
PITT, NJ, NYR, NYI, PHI
TO, OTT, MON, BOS, BUF
CBJ, WASH, CAR, NASH, TB
Thats 30 teams in solid hockey markets and I'm a firm believer in building up that north west coast. DET is still in the west but they have such a history with the Blues and Hawks that its almost crazy to break that up. DAL gets screwed with time zone issues but in the future the NHL looks like this...
Western
EDM, CAL, VANCAN, PORT ('yotes), SEA (FLA), SAN, ANA, LA
WIN, MIN, CHI, ST.L, COL, DAL, WISC., KC or Salt Lake City
Eastern
PITT, NJ, NYR, NYI, PHI, TB, NASH, WASH, CAR
TO, OTT, MON, BOS, BUF, QUE, CBJ, DET
Again expanding more west and less south is key. Expantion to Quebec and relocating failing teams like the Panthers and 'yotes to hockey markets is key to having a healthier league that can expand to Wisc. or Utah. A 34 team league is pretty well rounded with good coverage around NA.
Western
EDM, CAL, VANCAN, PORT ('yotes), SEA (FLA)
WIN, MIN, CHI, ST.L, DET
COL, DAL, SAN, ANA, LA
Eastern
PITT, NJ, NYR, NYI, PHI
TO, OTT, MON, BOS, BUF
CBJ, WASH, CAR, NASH, TB
Thats 30 teams in solid hockey markets and I'm a firm believer in building up that north west coast. DET is still in the west but they have such a history with the Blues and Hawks that its almost crazy to break that up. DAL gets screwed with time zone issues but in the future the NHL looks like this...
Western
EDM, CAL, VANCAN, PORT ('yotes), SEA (FLA), SAN, ANA, LA
WIN, MIN, CHI, ST.L, COL, DAL, WISC., KC or Salt Lake City
Eastern
PITT, NJ, NYR, NYI, PHI, TB, NASH, WASH, CAR
TO, OTT, MON, BOS, BUF, QUE, CBJ, DET
Again expanding more west and less south is key. Expantion to Quebec and relocating failing teams like the Panthers and 'yotes to hockey markets is key to having a healthier league that can expand to Wisc. or Utah. A 34 team league is pretty well rounded with good coverage around NA.
Fordy
Registered User
- May 28, 2008
- 26,814
- 2,969
Depends on who you ask. Some hate it for the very reason you mentioned - unbalanced divisions and conferences. However, with the recent news on the new playoff format, some of the hardcore traditionalists hate it now because it's not strictly divisional playoff with the idea of a wild card.
Take a look at how it was in the 1993-94 season: 2 conferences, 4 divisions. 14 teams in the eastern conference, 12 teams in the western conference. Come playoff time, the #1 and #2 seeds in each conference were the division winners, seeds 3-8 were whoever had the most points in the conference after that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993%E2%80%9394_NHL_season
UnderratedBrooks44
Registered User
I'm under the thought that the NHL should not expand until some of the current teams get on better financial ground.
Shady Machine
Registered User
- Aug 6, 2010
- 36,704
- 8,141
So you think they should just magically expand 2 teams for next season but yet the "grow the game" efforts have failed? Where exactly should we expand by next season that would make each division have 8 teams?
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
In theory I agree...but the problem with that thought process is...
a.) You can't strip franchises from owners that are playing within the rules and have no interest in selling. Florida, Columbus, whoever we like to pick on this week are settled in with unbreakable leases and content owners. If the Panthers were looking to sell and/or their lease was nearing an end it would be an issue, but their owner is happy with the way the team is doing and largely uses the Panthers to drive profits with his other business properties...so while the Panthers may be in the red, he's coming out in the black in the end and he's a happy man with no reason to even consider selling the Panthers.
b.) The teams that are bad off will fix themselves, except for the Coyotes who are going to be sold off and moved to the highest bidder soon. Dallas was a profitable team before Hicks went broke and destroyed the team...I see no reason why a return to competency and an owner that is on firm ground won't be able to get things back there. The Islanders will probably double in value with their move to Brooklyn...they won't get quite the jump that the Nets did, but that brand value will definitely go up...and Wang now may be willing to sell now that he succeeding in guaranteeing that franchise's future in New York. Team ownership becomes more and more of a truly rich man's game...there aren't any more Howard Baldwins in this league.
c.) The league isn't talking about expanding to fast growing non-traditional markets that may or may not work like in the 90s...they're talking about guaranteed money like Quebec and Markham. Seattle is atop the relocation lists because of numerous factors...the NHL will be a huge success in the Pacific Northwest in my opinion, not the least of which is the fact that the city has supported junior hockey, has a young and wealthy population base, is close to Canada, has influence over an entire region, and about fifteen other reasons to think why hockey in Seattle will be a huge success.
If the league was talking about expanding to Kansas City and Houston I'd be far less enthusiastic about it.
SlapnutsV1
Registered User
I'm assuming the NHL is content with Phoenix losing money until this format is put in place, then they would be open to the team moving... Which limits the club to another Western Conference market. Can we be sure that Florida is safe? Putting them with the Northeast clubs seems like a "deal with it" solution a la Winnipeg in the Southeast.
I do believe expansion is inevitable as well.
I do believe expansion is inevitable as well.
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
As much as a lot of their fans want to gripe about it, and have a good reason to do so, I think the re-alignment that 'screws' the Florida teams is actually for the better in the long run for one reason and one reason only - snow birds.
Florida doesn't really have any rivalries outside of the geographical one with Tampa, which this preserves (and vice-versa) as the forced rivalries with the Southeast never came to fruition. There are going to be more fans in those arenas when Toronto and Montreal come to town than there ever were for Carolina and Atlanta.
And every report I've read about Florida speaks to their health. We know their lease is iron-clad and extremely team friendly. Here's a good article about just how team friendly that lease is and how profitable that arena is. Throw in the fact that ownership is extremely loyal to the area and...yeah. The Panthers may move eventually, but it's not even a topic of discussion worth having for the time being.
Phoenix...I think it's obvious that the league doesn't want to lose that market...but I think the league is finally coming to an acceptance that it's just not going to happen right now and relocation finally becomes an option. The unfortunate thing is that there isn't an easy solution to this as there was with the Thrashers...the three cities that everyone keeps pointing to as future markets for the NHL aren't ready to hold a team yet - Quebec could house a team at Le Colisee for a while while their arena is getting built, but it doesn't appear that an ownership group has been assembled yet. Toronto 2 is not a relocation option at all - it's expansion or bust as they have no temporary venue to play in. And Seattle...the league has already said KeyArena is suitable for a temporary venue, the man who is likely to be involved in the ownership has said it's not...throw in the fact that there doesn't appear to be an ownership group in place quite yet and the timing seems off.
Portland could house a team instantly...but there's still that pesky Paul Allen situation blocking the chance of that happening.
Phoenix may well get the ultimate lame duck season next season. There is a chance a group in QC, Seattle, or elsewhere will pop up and jump at the chance to get a mobile franchise when it's available...but right now it's hard to picture anyone being ready for a team in just a few months.
http://video.tsn.ca/?dl=nhl-analysis/latest/1/0/874299/clip/566
According to Dreger, the NHLPA hates the conference imbalance, but the NHL doesn't want to budge for two big reasons: 1.) The Blue Jacket's survival could depend on them moving to the Eastern Conference, and 2.) The Red Wings have been promised a move to the Eastern Conference in the past more than once.
According to Dreger, the NHLPA hates the conference imbalance, but the NHL doesn't want to budge for two big reasons: 1.) The Blue Jacket's survival could depend on them moving to the Eastern Conference, and 2.) The Red Wings have been promised a move to the Eastern Conference in the past more than once.
Ragamuffin Gunner
Lost in the Flood
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