Re-Alignment with Seattle

[Negan4Coach]

@DrSanchez but I want to make this complicated... The owners have said they want more teams in the playoffs. What about having two conferences with four 4-team divisions in them?

Top 2 from each 4-team division make the playoffs. 2 wild card teams play a one game wild card play-in series. Top 3 from each conference get a first round bye.

ANA
LAK
SJS
ARI

VAN
SEA
CGY
EDM

MIN
WPG
CHI
DET

STL
COL
DAL
VGK

NYR
NJD
NYI
BUF

WSH
PIT
PHI
CBJ

TOR
BOS
MTL
OTT

TBL
FLA
CAR
NSH

If a representative from the league would like to get in touch regarding a job offering at the NHL you can reach me via PM on here.

Perfect. Resurrect the South East wih Nashville!

 

[Adam Warlock]

And again this fails to address travel distance, travel time, time zone crossings, sleep loss, practice time loss, cost inequalities, and likely more, with an East/West Conference alignment. Or, just admit that you’re ok with the current alignment burdens being carried mostly by the Western Conference teams.

Smaller divisions make it easier to group teams based on time zones. Less east vs west play at least takes some travel out the west.

It sucks the west puts up with more but I dont see any way around it.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Smaller divisions make it easier to group teams based on time zones. Less east vs west play at least takes some travel out the west.

It sucks the west puts up with more but I dont see any way around it.

There is no way around it but you don't make it easier for the East.

 

[pvr]

Smaller divisions make it easier to group teams based on time zones. Less east vs west play at least takes some travel out the west.

It sucks the west puts up with more but I dont see any way around it.

There is no way around it but you don't make it easier for the East.

Sure there is...align the conferences like the other three major NA sports have them. Tough luck for the Eastern time zone teams. Time to step up and make travel equitable.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Sure there is...align the conferences like the other three major NA sports have them. Tough luck for the Eastern time zone teams. Time to step up and make travel equitable.

So you think teams in the East should be in divisions with teams in the West?
Ratings would take a huge hit because I imagine a lot of people in the east cant stay up until 1am to watch games. That would hurt the league as a whole.

 

[pvr]

So you think teams in the East should be in divisions with teams in the West?
Ratings would take a huge hit because I imagine a lot of people in the east cant stay up until 1am to watch games. That would hurt the league as a whole.

It’s done in every other league.

 

[Crede777]

Sure there is...align the conferences like the other three major NA sports have them. Tough luck for the Eastern time zone teams. Time to step up and make travel equitable.

Sounds like a problem for the Western teams, not for the Eastern teams.

The NBA is pretty much the same way except Cleveland and Detroit are in the Western Conference. The NHL tried that already and it didn't work.

 

[Adam Warlock]

It’s done in every other league.

NFL teams play once a week meaning the tv schedule is way easier to regulate. Mlb plays series so longer travel isnt as big of a deal. Cant compare them to the NHL...completely different models.

 

[PredsV82]

Everyone calling for less interconference play is missing the boat. I think in what has become a very star-driven league the value of knowing that all of the big names are going to be in every barn in the league at least once every year is significant.

So no matter how you want to divide the league, having a home and home with every team should and will still be done

 

[coolboarder]

Here is what I would like to see: no more conference. 4-team divisions to be split across the league

8 games each against divisional games for 24 total games
2 games each against rest of the league for the total of 56 games
Total regular season games: 80 games

To ensure that every game matter, two separate records for playoffs format. Regular season should go something like this: first 56 games should be against every teams that is not of divisional play. After the 56th game, the divisional play begins for the drive to the playoffs, all 24 games left in their regular season would focus on the divisional play for the purpose of who makes the top 2 in the division. It also helps the western club to stay in their time zone as much as possible for the stretch run and very light travel as well to ensure the fairness on travel aspect when playoffs comes around.

In the playoffs, the divisional series to determine the divisional winner and 8 divisional winners would be reseeded according to their record and the regular season divisional record is thrown out since first round is a guaranteed divisional series and is not a part of reseeding format then 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5 for the rest of the playoffs. This is to ensure that the best team of the league face each other off in the Stanley Cup Final. The odd of best teams in one division is lower with this set-up.

To safeguard the complaint, a team may opt out of the division agreement with other divisions to switch teams if they feel that they would be the best two teams or a team needing an attraction to increase the attendance can do that. A deadline must be made by season end for division to be switched for next season. If all teams in the division are perfectly happy with the set-up has the first right to stay together. It should be all about its own teams decisions who they want to be in a division together, not the league. It also empowers the franchise on who they want to pair up knowing that the first round is a bloodthirsty series.

 

[Mike Louis]

I mean, I guess you're going for old outdated rivalries or something, but you put Nashvile in a midwest division with a bunch of teams that are anything but "midwest" while every team in the supposed "central" is geographically west of Nashville.

When I posted my alignment proposal, I took into account the political backroom realties of the Board of Governors (you currently need 21 of 31 teams to approve any changes to the alignment). Therefore I moved Arizona to my proposed Norris Conference and kept the current rivalries in the same conference if not the same division. As for placing Nashville in the my proposed Midwest Division, it was either that or separate St. Louis from Chicago which to me would’ve been the greater crime (the Blackhawks had already had their rivalries with Toronto and Detroit taken away from them due to realignment).

 

[PredsV82]

When I posted my alignment proposal, I took into account the political backroom realties of the Board of Governors (you currently need 21 of 31 teams to approve any changes to the alignment). Therefore I moved Arizona to my proposed Norris Conference and kept the current rivalries in the same conference if not the same division. As for placing Nashville in the my proposed Midwest Division, it was either that or separate St. Louis from Chicago which to me would’ve been the greater crime (the Blackhawks had already had their rivalries with Toronto and Detroit taken away from them due to realignment).

I appreciate you explanation but I'll just say I'm not in favor of the 8 division league idea in any form. Especially if it guarantees two playoff spots to each division. The NFL has already shown that's a recipe for disaster, ie getting a team with a losing record in the playoffs when a better team in a very competitive division doesnt make it.

 

[DetroitRed]

Detroit has rivalries in the east, but those rivalries, like their old rivalries in the west, are not serious given the state they are in lately. Nobody cares about any of their rivalries at this point. What does help ratings is having as few games between EST and PST (or EST against MST) as you can, to for example, avoid 10:30pm start times. More games in prime-time is more attractive.

Secondly, I'm pretty sure Detroit stretches a bit farther east than Columbus. Also, I think the Wings are located further east than the Blue Jackets, even if Detroit's central point is like a half mile west of that of Columbus. Moreover, because Columbus is located more centrally in terms of north and south, the Blue Jackets would travel fewer miles than Detroit in a western conference and miles traveled are the issue.

Third, Detroit wanted to move back into the east; it was fully intentional, and the league supported it with full knowledge that it would make the conferences uneven for a while. So, the league's plan to even out the conferences again has something different in mind, like adding new teams in the west.

 

[bukwas]

As a westerner I'm looking forward to more evening games once Seattle joins. I love it when my favorite team travels to the west coast to play a few games in prime time once in awhile.

 

[Viqsi]

Going through this thread makes me think some of you folks need a damn globe.

Or else you're all just of a mind to think "let's screw Nashville"
It was bad enough the post I responded to before had them in a "midwest" dis vision but now they are "southwest"??? FFS.

Still beats the guy who apparently still thinks Columbus is a Southern team. "Their team name is supposed to be about the Civil War. That makes them Southern, right?"

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And again this fails to address travel distance, travel time, time zone crossings, sleep loss, practice time loss, cost inequalities, and likely more, with an East/West Conference alignment. Or, just admit that you’re ok with the current alignment burdens being carried mostly by the Western Conference teams.

100% completely okay with it, and with zero sympathy whatsoever to fans who want to kvetch otherwise. The travel is a complete nonissue... yet road games starting at 4 or 5 aren't nearly as much of a hardship as road games starting at 9 or 10. That folks couldn't stay up to watch games that late with regularity was constantly used as a cudgel to justify taking away our team "because there's clearly no fans", so suck it up and turn on the radio during your commute home from work.

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Also, I think the Wings are located further east than the Blue Jackets, even if Detroit's central point is like a half mile west of that of Columbus.

Actually, no. If you go by arena position, the Nat is still further east. Both are downtown arenas.