OHL - Realignment

frontsfan2005

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Why have SSM and Sudbury play 6 times in opposing conferences? That has been the case for many years.

The Colts going Mid-West is sort of dumb since they are the midway team for North Bay and Sudbury. I could understand Missy moving but then Erie would have to play against Sudbury and North Bay only for the purpose of justifying the 6 games out of conference they play against Niagara? For real? That isn't too bright either.

There is no combination of realignments that make sense. Every time you try to match up two teams that are seemingly close together, they end up playing the other games against teams so much further away for the rest of their division/conference....the net effect is less than zero.

Like you said, there isn't a perfect realignment, someone is going to be upset. The proposed realignment in the original article would keep pretty much everyone happy except Barrie and Owen Sound. Maybe the Colts and Attack could go up to the Soo and play two games up there to limit travel? Owen Sound already does this with Erie in their division.

Perhaps the minor tweak will be to move Niagara to the Midwest, and Owen Sound out to the Central? At least they would be with Barrie, who they already play six times.

Midwest - Erie, Guelph, Kitchener, London, Niagara
Central - Barrie, Missy, North Bay, Owen Sound, Sudbury

I'm sure the other Midwest teams would welcome the IceDogs as a divisional rival, St. Catharines is closer to all those cities than Owen Sound is. The Battalion and Wolves would be ok with the Attack in their division, Barrie already plays them six times, so that isn't an issue, while the Steelheads would most likely be happy with Niagara instead of Owen Sound. The Attack wouldn't be happy though, they'd rather be with London, Kitchener and Guelph.
 

battfan888

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In my opinion the only realignment you can do is switching Niagara and Owen Sound.

Niagara wouldnt mind that I dont think seeing as Guelph, Kitchener and London are all within 2 hours away.... London just a shade over 2. Erie would be very happy with that as well.

Owen Sound would get to play Barrie 8 times, Mississauga is about the same distance as Kitchener and Guelph just in a slightly opposite direction.
The problem would be having Owen Sound having to play Sudbury and North Bay 6 times each so trying to convince Owen Sound to do that might be a bit hard. Unless they cut down their games against North Bay and Sudbury to 4 times each and then let them continue to play Kitchener and Guelph 4 times as well.

Other than that I can't see how any realignment would work.
 

EON

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In my opinion the only realignment you can do is switching Niagara and Owen Sound.

Niagara wouldnt mind that I dont think seeing as Guelph, Kitchener and London are all within 2 hours away.... London just a shade over 2. Erie would be very happy with that as well.

Owen Sound would get to play Barrie 8 times, Mississauga is about the same distance as Kitchener and Guelph just in a slightly opposite direction.
The problem would be having Owen Sound having to play Sudbury and North Bay 6 times each so trying to convince Owen Sound to do that might be a bit hard. Unless they cut down their games against North Bay and Sudbury to 4 times each and then let them continue to play Kitchener and Guelph 4 times as well.

Other than that I can't see how any realignment would work.

This isnt even necesary. Erie really wouldnt be that happy with this, they already play Niagara 6 times a season. London/Kitchener/Guelph could care less about losing Owen Sound and adding Niagara. So really it would just make things worse for Owen Sound. The way the divisions are now, with the unbalanced schedule are fine.
 

frontsfan2005

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This isnt even necesary. Erie really wouldnt be that happy with this, they already play Niagara 6 times a season. London/Kitchener/Guelph could care less about losing Owen Sound and adding Niagara. So really it would just make things worse for Owen Sound. The way the divisions are now, with the unbalanced schedule are fine.

I think London, Kitchener and Guelph would be happy to swap out Owen Sound for Niagara, considering St. Catharines is much closer and easier to get to than Owen Sound, especially in the winter months. As an Otters fan, I'm sure you'd rather have the IceDogs in the same division and conference than Owen Sound. You might only get two more games against each other, but the games would mean a lot more than they currently do.
 

OMG67

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I think London, Kitchener and Guelph would be happy to swap out Owen Sound for Niagara, considering St. Catharines is much closer and easier to get to than Owen Sound, especially in the winter months. As an Otters fan, I'm sure you'd rather have the IceDogs in the same division and conference than Owen Sound. You might only get two more games against each other, but the games would mean a lot more than they currently do.

Owen Sound is 135km up Hwy 6! How is that difficult? London to Owen Sound is only 200km...

You are making an argument about 20km's?

Meanwhile Erie to North Bay is 650km....Sudbury 685km....
 

frontsfan2005

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Owen Sound is 135km up Hwy 6! How is that difficult? London to Owen Sound is only 200km...

You are making an argument about 20km's?

Meanwhile Erie to North Bay is 650km....Sudbury 685km....

In my last post, I said to swap out Niagara and Owen Sound, which would mean:

Midwest - Erie, Guelph, Kitchener, London, Niagara
Central- Barrie, Mississauga, North Bay, Owen Sound, Sudbury

So not quite sure why Erie to NB and Sudbury would be any different than it is now.

Distances (according to Google Maps)

Sleeman Centre to Gatorade Garden City Complex: 106 km (1 hr 18 mins)
Sleeman Centre to Bayshore Community Centre: 136 km (1 hr 53 mins)

Budweiser Gardens to Gatorade Garden City Complex: 186 km (1 hr 55 mins)
Budweiser Gardens to Bayshore Community Centre: 207 km (2 hr 51 mins)

Kitchener Auditorium to Gatorade Garden City Complex: 122 km (1 hr 21 mins)
Kitchener Auditorium to Bayshore Community Centre: 149 km (2 hr 2 mins)

This also eliminates the Otters and Attack divisional road trip of 460km (4 hrs 57 min not including waiting at the border).

The distance between Niagara and OS might only be 20-30 km closer, but in every case, especially London, it's ALOT easier to get to St. Catharines, so I'm sure each of these teams would welcome the IceDogs (and their brand new arena) than the Attack if given a choice.

Of course Owen Sound will be against this, they'd be gaining Barrie (they already play them six times a year so not a big deal, 125 km, 1 hr 52 mins), NB (351 km, 4 hr 3 min), Sudbury (384 km, 4 hr 25 min) and Mississauga (162 km, 2 hrs 8 min).
 

OMG67

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In my last post, I said to swap out Niagara and Owen Sound, which would mean:

Midwest - Erie, Guelph, Kitchener, London, Niagara
Central- Barrie, Mississauga, North Bay, Owen Sound, Sudbury

So not quite sure why Erie to NB and Sudbury would be any different than it is now.

Distances (according to Google Maps)

Sleeman Centre to Gatorade Garden City Complex: 106 km (1 hr 18 mins)
Sleeman Centre to Bayshore Community Centre: 136 km (1 hr 53 mins)

Budweiser Gardens to Gatorade Garden City Complex: 186 km (1 hr 55 mins)
Budweiser Gardens to Bayshore Community Centre: 207 km (2 hr 51 mins)

Kitchener Auditorium to Gatorade Garden City Complex: 122 km (1 hr 21 mins)
Kitchener Auditorium to Bayshore Community Centre: 149 km (2 hr 2 mins)

This also eliminates the Otters and Attack divisional road trip of 460km (4 hrs 57 min not including waiting at the border).

The distance between Niagara and OS might only be 20-30 km closer, but in every case, especially London, it's ALOT easier to get to St. Catharines, so I'm sure each of these teams would welcome the IceDogs (and their brand new arena) than the Attack if given a choice.

Of course Owen Sound will be against this, they'd be gaining Barrie (they already play them six times a year so not a big deal, 125 km, 1 hr 52 mins), NB (351 km, 4 hr 3 min), Sudbury (384 km, 4 hr 25 min) and Mississauga (162 km, 2 hrs 8 min).

But you are trying to put together a division with hardly any travel at all and then asking another division to travel way more. Owen Sound get screwed huge here. They lose two of their closest three teams and then you add Sudbury and North Bay to them? Why penalize Owen Sound so bad for the sake of saving a few teams 30 minutes in drive time? It is just too silly.

The outlying teams do not do single game road trips. It is rare teams like Ottawa, Erie, and SSM do single game trips. They do three game in three day trips. They accept the fact their first game is far but the other games in the trip are close. Then, of course, the long haul back.

We should not be looking for ways to help the central teams like Guelph and Kitchener who already have the best schedules in the entire league. They can do countless single evening trips all season long at a huge cost savings.

The league has a system in place to help with travel expenses by allowing for an unbalanced schedule. This unbalanced schedule only effects a small handful of teams. There is no perfect solution but trying to reinvent the wheel to "justify" the already existing schedule (ex. Niagara and Erie six games) by putting them in the same division and hurting other teams is just silly.

If you were to move Owen Sound to a North Division, all you will see is them play Kitchener and Guelph six times out of Conference to help them with travel. So really, why bother changing it? You fix the Erie-Niagara issue and you create an Owen Sound-Kitchener-Guelph problem.
 

frontsfan2005

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But you are trying to put together a division with hardly any travel at all and then asking another division to travel way more. Owen Sound get screwed huge here. They lose two of their closest three teams and then you add Sudbury and North Bay to them? Why penalize Owen Sound so bad for the sake of saving a few teams 30 minutes in drive time? It is just too silly.

The outlying teams do not do single game road trips. It is rare teams like Ottawa, Erie, and SSM do single game trips. They do three game in three day trips. They accept the fact their first game is far but the other games in the trip are close. Then, of course, the long haul back.

We should not be looking for ways to help the central teams like Guelph and Kitchener who already have the best schedules in the entire league. They can do countless single evening trips all season long at a huge cost savings.

The league has a system in place to help with travel expenses by allowing for an unbalanced schedule. This unbalanced schedule only effects a small handful of teams. There is no perfect solution but trying to reinvent the wheel to "justify" the already existing schedule (ex. Niagara and Erie six games) by putting them in the same division and hurting other teams is just silly.

If you were to move Owen Sound to a North Division, all you will see is them play Kitchener and Guelph six times out of Conference to help them with travel. So really, why bother changing it? You fix the Erie-Niagara issue and you create an Owen Sound-Kitchener-Guelph problem.

How is the Central Division travelling way more and hurting those teams? Sudbury is actually closer to Owen Sound than St. Catharines, North Bay is six minutes closer to Niagara than Owen Sound, so I don't think they care either way. Barrie to St. Catharines and Barrie Owen Sound takes about the same amount of time, so they wouldn't care either. Only Mississauga, and Owen Sound wouldn't be too pleased with this alignment. What makes Owen Sound so special that they don't have to travel long distances, despite being in a remote part of the province when it comes to OHL cities? Of course they like having the Rangers, Knights and Storm in their division, it fills their arena up while the Wolves, Battalion and Steelheads aren't much of a draw.

It wouldn't be an Owen Sound-Kitchener-Guelph problem, those two teams would much rather have Niagara with them than Owen Sound for travelling purposes.

How come it's ok for the IceDogs to travel 4+hours to Sudbury and North Bay, but not the Attack? Switch divisions and Niagara gets a much better travelling situation, and the Attack basically take over Niagara's current travelling distances.
 

frontsfan2005

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Remote part of the province? I think you're grasping at straws. There's no need for realignment.

Yea, ok, Owen Sound is in a heavily populated part of the province, so many teams close by and easily accessible to get to... Fact is Niagara is closer to EVERY team in the current Midwest Division than Owen Sound is... and Owen Sound is closer or about the same distance to North Bay, Sudbury and Barrie than Niagara is in the Central Division... plus it would eliminate those annoying six game series that Niagara-Erie and OS-Barrie play despite being out of conference... but there's no need for realignment...
 
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OMG67

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Yea, ok, Owen Sound is in a heavily populated part of the province, so many teams close by and easily accessible to get to... Fact is Niagara is closer to EVERY team in the current Midwest Division than Owen Sound is... and Owen Sound is closer or about the same distance to North Bay, Sudbury and Barrie than Niagara is in the Central Division... plus it would eliminate those annoying six game series that Niagara-Erie and OS-Barrie play despite being out of conference... but there's no need for realignment...

No the point is if you made that switch, Owen Sound would get the annoying six game out of conference series with Guelph and Kitchener so what is the difference? If you think different, you are delusional. There is no way the league will take away those two matchups from Owen Sound and Replace them with North Bay and Sudbury without allowing them the same accordance as the other wonky alignments.

Niagara may get North Bay and Sudbury but they get it reasonably well with Missy and Barrie. Plus they get the extra games against Erie which is reasonably close.

Ottawa, for example, usually only plays two games against Sudbury to allow the extra games between SSM and Sudbury. They get the extra two against Kingston instead. It works out well for Ottawa because they get the shorter trip to Kingston and lose the 5 hour drive to Sudbury.

The league, with their mandate to have as many games as possible on weekends, and making efforts to reduce travel for teams, will always have an unbalanced schedule to accommodate the travel schedules and help teams reduce costs where possible. Why fight it? Why not embrace it as a positive?
 

krazy kanuck

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Yea, ok, Owen Sound is in a heavily populated part of the province, so many teams close by and easily accessible to get to... Fact is Niagara is closer to EVERY team in the current Midwest Division than Owen Sound is... and Owen Sound is closer or about the same distance to North Bay, Sudbury and Barrie than Niagara is in the Central Division... plus it would eliminate those annoying six game series that Niagara-Erie and OS-Barrie play despite being out of conference... but there's no need for realignment...

I'm glad you agree with me so whole heartedly...oh, is that :sarcasm: ? Owen Sound isn't remote. They aren't as central as Niagara, but that's not what you said. You said "remote part of the province". Ottawa is in a more remote part of the province than Owen Sound. So is SSM. So is North Bay. And Sudbury. If we want to include the States Erie and Saginaw too. You could argue Kingston. How about this division:

Kingston - Ottawa - North Bay - Sudbury - SSM?

Get all the true North teams together and throw Ottawa a bone by including Kingston? :sarcasm:
 

PensFan101

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As an Owen Sounder and lifelong Attack supporter, pretty clearly against any re-allignment that moves Owen Sound out of the midwest. The team has long standing rivalries with Guelph, Kitchener, and London (especially the latter two) and that is reflected in the home attendance for those games. So any schedule that causes them to lose any games with those three teams will be hugely unpopular, also from a financial standpoint.

In the past this would have been completely unviable because any change to the Wednesday/Saturday home schedule might've spelled financial doom for the club. Now that they're on good financial footing and (based on inside information) breaking even or turning a small profit in good seasons, it's slightly more viable. But playing in the Midwest is part of the city's underdog hockey culture. Replacing Saturday night showdowns with the Knights and Rangers for Sudbury and North Bay just won't excite fans. Although there's a proximity rivalry with Barrie and the 6 matchups a season is nice, the games don't have the same meaning. So it's a close to impossible sell.

The trip to Erie isn't such a big deal, since the two teams often do double headers in Owen Sound and Erie once or twice a year, or part of another road trip. And Niagara has to travel an hour or two to reach the rest of the central division anyhow, so it's a wash for them. It doesn't look the best on a map, but it's definitely not broken.
 

dogfan

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From an IceDogs fan perspective I hope that Erie, Guelph, Kitchener, London, Niagara is a division that is proposed. I'd hate to move to the west and lose Ottawa and Oshawa as playoff rivals but I think moving into the new building next year they could compete financially with London and Kitchener and I think those two teams are better draws then Mississauga and North Bay. Add Guelph and Connor McDavid for the next couple years and those divisional games would be great.
The biggest downside for me as a fan would be losing all those road games on TV when the team goes to Erie, Plymouth, Saginaw and SSM (hardly any games on TV). As it it today we get 28 road games if they moved they'd be down another five or six plus any possible playoff matchup.
 

frontsfan2005

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I'm glad you agree with me so whole heartedly...oh, is that :sarcasm: ? Owen Sound isn't remote. They aren't as central as Niagara, but that's not what you said. You said "remote part of the province". Ottawa is in a more remote part of the province than Owen Sound. So is SSM. So is North Bay. And Sudbury. If we want to include the States Erie and Saginaw too. You could argue Kingston. How about this division:

Kingston - Ottawa - North Bay - Sudbury - SSM?

Get all the true North teams together and throw Ottawa a bone by including Kingston? :sarcasm:

Ottawa is in a more remote part of the province, the funny thing is that they are closer to Oshawa, their furthest division rival, than Owen Sound is to Erie, by about an hour. It's also a lot easier to drive down the 401/416/417 than it is to head up HWY 6, especially in the winter months. I also don't see Oshawa or Peterborough playing "double headers" in Ottawa because it's so far away, yet Owen Sound and Erie have to. So are they really more "remote"? Does the Soo even play double headers against anyone?

Throwing Kingston in with those teams makes about as much sense as it is to have Erie and Niagara split up in different conferences. Yes, lets split up Kingston and Belleville, have them in separate conferences, but continue to play six times a year when there is clearly a better solution and balance the schedule better.

Niagara to the Midwest, Owen Sound to the Central is the best bet for realignment if there is going to be a minor tweak. It balances the schedule better. The reason why it's being brought up now, six years after the IceDogs relocated to Niagara, is because the Otters are staying long term in Erie after years of relocation rumours, and the IceDogs are staying in St. Catharines long term because of the new arena opening next season.

I have heard from various people in the league that the major realignment as proposed in the original post in the article is what a majority of the league wants. We'll see what happens in the coming months.
 

GangGreen

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I think this is more about getting Kitchener and Guelph in the opposite conferences as London, Windsor, Plymouth etc.
In other words, it's more about sexier league finals and disparity between conferences than it is about travel.
I also read somewhere, it has to do with teams that are able to consistently attract top end Americans. So by placing Kitchener, Guelph and maybe Erie in the Orr conference, they would join Niagara as a so called "attractive" destination for the American based players, joining the likes of London, Windsor, Sarnia and Plymouth in the Gretzky Conference. Thus balancing the competitive advantage somewhat.

But let's be honest, Branch and co. would rather see London-Kitchener or Plymouth-Kitchener in the OHL finals than the West Finals
 

krazy kanuck

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Ottawa is in a more remote part of the province, the funny thing is that they are closer to Oshawa, their furthest division rival, than Owen Sound is to Erie, by about an hour.

Your comment was that they are a remote team. It had nothing to do with how far they are from Erie. They actually aren't that bad in terms of distance to other cities:

5 Closest to Owen Sound:

Barrie 1:49, Guelph 1:52, Kitchener 2:01, Mississauga 2:09, London 2:49

I think that would be less than at least 40% of the teams. A total of 10 hours 40 minutes to the next closest 5 cities. I'm not going to do all the maps, but off of the top of my head that's probably less than SSM, North Bay, Sudbury, Ottawa, Kingston, Erie, Saginaw...Belleville, Peterborough probably close as well. Owen Sound isn't the problem in terms of remoteness. I'm not an Attack fan, and I couldn't care less how far they drive, but your statement was factually incorrect.

Throwing Kingston in with those teams makes about as much sense as it is to have Erie and Niagara split up in different conferences. Yes, lets split up Kingston and Belleville, have them in separate conferences, but continue to play six times a year when there is clearly a better solution and balance the schedule better.

Of course it makes absolutely no sense. Hence the :sarcasm: (sarcasm). I don't think putting Owen Sound in with SSM when it's one of the longest drives in the entire OHL makes any sense either. I don't think most fans care, many don't even realize, that there is an unbalanced schedule.

I have heard from various people in the league that the major realignment as proposed in the original post in the article is what a majority of the league wants. We'll see what happens in the coming months.

Depending on who those folks are and what they actually know, that's unfortunate. But as you say, we shall see.
 

krazy kanuck

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I think this is more about getting Kitchener and Guelph in the opposite conferences as London, Windsor, Plymouth etc.
In other words, it's more about sexier league finals and disparity between conferences than it is about travel.

You could be right, but how much sexier do you need than a back and forth final that went to the very last second of game 7? :help:
 

OMG67

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Originally Posted by frontsfan2005 View Post
I have heard from various people in the league that the major realignment as proposed in the original post in the article is what a majority of the league wants. We'll see what happens in the coming months.

Depending on who those folks are and what they actually know, that's unfortunate. But as you say, we shall see.

I don't doubt that realignment will happen in some form but you all need to be prepared for an unbalanced schedule regardless of what restructuring takes place.

There are two types of unbalanced schedule as well. First, there is the part where one team in one conference plays a team in the opposing conference more times and they sacrifice inter-conference games to make up that difference. The other type of unbalanced schedule is simple math. See the following:

1> Each team plays each team in the opposing conference twice for a total of 20 games
2> Each team plays each team in the opposing division inter conference four times for a total of 20 games
3> Each team plays each team in their division 6 times for a total of 24 games.
TOTAL = 64 games

Where do those other four games come from? You guessed it, THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE! So, unless the league decides to lower the schedule to 64 games or raise it to 72 games, there is no chance of a balanced schedule regardless of realignment.
 

David McConnor

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It would be nice to see a 21st team added, creating 3 divisions of 7 teams. This allows for the possibility of any match-up for the Championship, including a match-up of the actual 2 best teams in the league. Very often you'll see the Championship virtually won in the 3rd round, and under a divisional playoffs format you'll sometimes have this virtual championship series take place in the 2nd round.
 

GangGreen

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You could be right, but how much sexier do you need than a back and forth final that went to the very last second of game 7? :help:

I take it from your cute little sign at the end you think this is my choice. I'm guessing at the reasoning by the OHL brain trust, that's all. I doubt last years final would change their minds over all.
 

krazy kanuck

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I take it from your cute little sign at the end you think this is my choice. I'm guessing at the reasoning by the OHL brain trust, that's all. I doubt last years final would change their minds over all.

Nope. I'm just commenting on the fact that the OHL may be considering this at all.
 

frontsfan2005

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Your comment was that they are a remote team. It had nothing to do with how far they are from Erie. They actually aren't that bad in terms of distance to other cities:

5 Closest to Owen Sound:

Barrie 1:49, Guelph 1:52, Kitchener 2:01, Mississauga 2:09, London 2:49

I think that would be less than at least 40% of the teams. A total of 10 hours 40 minutes to the next closest 5 cities. I'm not going to do all the maps, but off of the top of my head that's probably less than SSM, North Bay, Sudbury, Ottawa, Kingston, Erie, Saginaw...Belleville, Peterborough probably close as well. Owen Sound isn't the problem in terms of remoteness. I'm not an Attack fan, and I couldn't care less how far they drive, but your statement was factually incorrect.



Of course it makes absolutely no sense. Hence the :sarcasm: (sarcasm). I don't think putting Owen Sound in with SSM when it's one of the longest drives in the entire OHL makes any sense either. I don't think most fans care, many don't even realize, that there is an unbalanced schedule.



Depending on who those folks are and what they actually know, that's unfortunate. But as you say, we shall see.

Actually, I'm factually correct, you misread my post, I said the 67's are closer to everyone in their own division (East Division) than Owen Sound is to Erie (both Midwest teams). Ottawa doesn't have to schedule "doubleheaders" against teams in their own division because it's hard to get to.

If you look at a map of OHL cities, you would see it makes NO sense to have Erie and Owen Sound in the SAME division, and have Erie/Niagara and Owen Sound/Barrie in SEPARATE conferences, especially considering they play each other six times despite being in separate conferences. Swapping Niagara and Owen Sound eliminates this problem. Kitchener, Guelph, London and Erie are all closer to Niagara than Owen Sound. It takes roughly the same amount of travel time from OS to Barrie, North Bay and Sudbury as it is from Niagara.

Imagine if Owen Sound missed the playoffs this year by a point to eighth place Erie because the Otters go 6-0 against the Eastern Conference IceDogs, while the Attack go 0-6 against Eastern Conference Barrie? Doesn't it make sense that these teams should be in the same conference at least if they play each other six times a year, especially when they play some teams in their own conference only four times a year? A 100% balanced schedule will never work, but shouldn't the league try to do their best for integrity purposes?

As for Kingston and the Soo being in the same division, it doesn't make sense, but at one time, they were, despite being probably the longest road trip in the league at about a 10 hour drive. Owen Sound to the Soo is a long trip, about 7 and a half hours away, but if the league had a 10 hour trip in the past, don't be surprised to see the Soo and the Attack become divisional rivals if they get what they want with the proposed "North" Division.
 

OMG67

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Actually, I'm factually correct, you misread my post, I said the 67's are closer to everyone in their own division (East Division) than Owen Sound is to Erie (both Midwest teams). Ottawa doesn't have to schedule "doubleheaders" against teams in their own division because it's hard to get to.

If you look at a map of OHL cities, you would see it makes NO sense to have Erie and Owen Sound in the SAME division, and have Erie/Niagara and Owen Sound/Barrie in SEPARATE conferences, especially considering they play each other six times despite being in separate conferences. Swapping Niagara and Owen Sound eliminates this problem. Kitchener, Guelph, London and Erie are all closer to Niagara than Owen Sound. It takes roughly the same amount of travel time from OS to Barrie, North Bay and Sudbury as it is from Niagara.

Imagine if Owen Sound missed the playoffs this year by a point to eighth place Erie because the Otters go 6-0 against the Eastern Conference IceDogs, while the Attack go 0-6 against Eastern Conference Barrie? Doesn't it make sense that these teams should be in the same conference at least if they play each other six times a year, especially when they play some teams in their own conference only four times a year? A 100% balanced schedule will never work, but shouldn't the league try to do their best for integrity purposes?

As for Kingston and the Soo being in the same division, it doesn't make sense, but at one time, they were, despite being probably the longest road trip in the league at about a 10 hour drive. Owen Sound to the Soo is a long trip, about 7 and a half hours away, but if the league had a 10 hour trip in the past, don't be surprised to see the Soo and the Attack become divisional rivals if they get what they want with the proposed "North" Division.

There is no such thing as a balanced schedule in the OHL. You need to play 64 or 72 games to make a balanced schedule. Ottawa plays Kingston and Peterborough 8 times and Belleville and Oshawa 6 times. These teams are in the same division and they don't play each other a balanced number of games because to do so you would need a 64 or 72 game schedule. The OHL plays a 68 game schedule. No matter how you look at it, it will never be balanced unless they change the number of games. So, your argument about Owen Sound playing Barrie and Erie playing Niagara extra games is moot considering the non-balanced schedule.

I also think you are fooling yourself if you think Owen Sound will only play 2 games against Guelph and Kitchener considering they are so close. Any swap of conference for Owen Sound would come with additional out of conference games against Kitchener and Guelph.

The league doesn't care about out of conference games because no one that matters really cares about an unbalanced schedule. SSM and Sudbury will always play extra games against each other regardless of divisional alignments.

Why try reinventing the wheel when the wheel stays the same?
 

krazy kanuck

Registered User
Dec 24, 2008
2,768
0
Alberta
Actually, I'm factually correct, you misread my post, I said the 67's are closer to everyone in their own division (East Division) than Owen Sound is to Erie (both Midwest teams).

I didn't misread anything. Here, let me help you remember:

What makes Owen Sound so special that they don't have to travel long distances, despite being in a remote part of the province when it comes to OHL cities?

The above is factually incorrect, and that was what I was responding to. In a subsequent post you made the comparison to the 67s.
 

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