Speculation: Would you be okay with Detroit moving back to the Western conference?

[RabidBadger]

We would be a playoff team if playing at weak Pacific Division.

But that's not reality, it's always the Central where we would go, and that Division is still a grinding battle, just like Metropolitan Division at East.

Not gonna be any more easier if re-joining Central.

The Wings are sitting in a playoff spot right now without the extra travel and sleep deprivation.

That being said, I'm a nay for moving back to the west. While I do empathize with fans in different time zones who would benefit from said move, I'm going to say you'll just have to adjust your work and sleep/wake schedules like all of us living in EST had to do when the Wings were in the west

 

[FMichael]

"YES"

Meaning only if a team were to relocate to QC...Otherwise I'd just assume Detroit stays in the East.

 

[KJoe88]

I’m the minority, because I work until 10pm, but I sort of miss the late night games.

They had a flair about them. They never seemed to go well during the playoffs minus those deep cup runs, but meh.

 

[Snuggs]

Absolutely not. Very unfair in the playoffs for both teams in the series.... I'm sure Anaheim and San Jose loved coming to DET then switching it all up a few days later during the hardest hockey play in the season.

We're where we belong now.

 

[Hen Kolland]

The obvious answer is no. The big brain answer is yes, if we are gifted Shane Wright and Conor Bedard as compensation.

 

[The Real Pastafarian]

I don't see how such a move would help the team in any way. The central division we'd go to includes the Blues, the Stars, Colorado...I don't miss Helm that much. A resurgent Minnesota. And you just know that Chicago's going to win the next 3 consecutive first overall picks; and I hate Chicago and Nashville so much that I would prefer to never watch another of their games just to keep my blood pressure down.

Plus more travel.

I don't know why any Red Wings fan would be in favor of this. Just DVR the game, it's really not that difficult. It's not like you have to find a VCR tape, make sure you're not going to record over the Fast Times Phoebe Cates scene, and then pray that the thing actually works this time, like we old guys had to do back in the dark ages.

 

[SoupNazi]

Maybe they're just more likely to win if I can more easily watch. I mean, I have a pretty good track record there. Better than the Maple Leafs for the last 50+ years.

If you've been watching the Leafs and blaming yourself for them not winning, then please, Winger, I beg you to keep watching.

 

[Winger98]

If you've been watching the Leafs and blaming yourself for them not winning, then please, Winger, I beg you to keep watching.

Blaming...congratulating...I'm good either way.

 

[deca guard]

ide run the league without division /conferences and you just play every team 2 or 3 times . so everybody travels the same .
and fans get to see their team vs every other team in league every year . then the top 16 make playoffs . 1 vs 16 and so on
thru every round ...

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

ide run the league without division /conferences and you just play every team 2 or 3 times . so everybody travels the same .
and fans get to see their team vs every other team in league every year . then the top 16 make playoffs . 1 vs 16 and so on
thru every round ...

That's very similar to my plan.

62gp = 1 home/away vs. each team.

then add another 15gp for EC/WC.

total 77gp.

for current purists, if they wanna go 82gp, the addl. 5, i.e., can be vs. 1 division (rotates every yr.)...let the math gurus/schedule makers figure out the fairest/most efficient way that makes sense.

Preason = 7gp for each team.

 

[avssuc]

Maybe I missed those comments, but the comments I saw from Fertitta were a lot more apathetic about it. He said they'd welcome the team but they're not going to get into a bidding war, they'd only be interested for the right price. Didn't really sound excited about it. I think he understands the NHL needs Houston a lot more than Houston needs the NHL though.

I read the article linked below 4 years back, I live near Houston, it would be my closest NHL city, so I need this to happen!

Obviously he wants to make money on the deal, but he was talking about getting a NHL team as soon as he got the Rockets, and the talk hasn't stopped. Houston and the NHL are such obvious partners, I'd be shocked to see Houston miss the next chance.


"The ink was barely dry on Tilman Fertitta's record-setting deal to buy the Rockets and control of Toyota Center when he said he was open to another sports venture.
Fertitta, who closed on the deal last Friday, said he would consider bringing an NHL team to Houston either as an owner or landlord if the numbers could work.
"I would put an NHL team here tomorrow," Fertitta said. "This one has got to work. But I'd love to have the other dates in the building. Do I want to see Toyota Center filled up 300 nights a year? Definitely. We'll do whatever we can do, but whatever we do has to make sense."

New Rockets owner would consider NHL team if money was right

 

[deca guard]

ide run the league without division /conferences and you just play every team 2 or 3 times . so everybody travels the same .
and fans get to see their team vs every other team in league every year . then the top 16 make playoffs . 1 vs 16 and so on
thru every round ...

and when on road many times you play 2 games in same town in 2 or 3 days to cut down on travel

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

No thanks, Love the early games in the east. Too many late night games playing in the west.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

No thanks, Love the early games in the east. Too many late night games playing in the west.

Agreed. I would be okay, but I think the travel would be a disadvantage for the Wings.

 

[DetroitRed]

It would be a disadvantage for the sport of hockey in Michigan in general because kids can't stay up to watch late games when they have school in the morning.

The onus is on the NHL to expand responsibly if they expand again. They have to say that if they ever expand again, it will be to 36 teams with two new teams in the east and two new teams in the west. And if they have teams that didn't work out, then it is time to scale back to 28 if it can be done responsibly or move teams from western city to western city or from eastern city to eastern city. It's that easy to do.

 

[Henkka]

It would be a disadvantage for the sport of hockey in Michigan in general because kids can't stay up to watch late games when they have school in the morning.

Still the change is moving to Central, I think it's doesn't add any Pacific games at all for the current schedule in 32-team league. The structure is still like 2 times against other Divisions and 4 times against Central + some extra games.

Playoffs are the problem for late games (10 PM starts), if you slid through wild card to play against Pacific team and the Conference final obviously.

 

[DetroitRed]

Still the change is moving to Central, I think it's doesn't add any Pacific games at all for the current schedule in 32-team league. The structure is still like 2 times against other Divisions and 4 times against Central + some extra games.

Playoffs are the problem for late games (10 PM starts), if you slid through wild card to play against Pacific team and the Conference final obviously.

It would be Columbus first, because Columbus would travel fewer miles than the Wings. But nobody wants to move the 7:30PM starts to 8:30PM anyway because then the games would then last until 11PM, or 11:30PM for tie-breakers, on television. School kids don't stay up that late regularly. Maybe for a special occasion like a playoff game, but not for an entire season. That would also potentially take the games out of prime time and hurt the NHLs ratings in doing so. People are more apt to watch a late playoff game, so that's not a big problem. But we don't get enough sleep already.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Detroit would be 2nd in the central right now. Just saying.

 

[waltdetroit]

Detroit would be 2nd in the central right now. Just saying.

LOL I see you're kidding. That sounds similar to TML fans wanting to change the playoff format because they'd get out of the 1st round if they didn't have to play Boston early

 

[r0bert8841]

They don't bring more money to the owners than Houston, Portland or other cities. If you're talking expansion of four more markets, might they be the last one and would they have more pressure to meet a 600 million dollar price? Maybe, but what is being proposed is a relocation.

I don’t know very much about the business side, but if QC wanted it bad enough couldn’t they just sell them a team (either relocation or expansion) at an even more inflated price than the current expansion teams and drive up all the team valuations even more. Wouldn’t it be most profitable to sell the team to the highest bidder regardless of location? Or is that just naive?