It took about an hour, and after a 26-4 vote, realignment has come to the NHL. The Armageddon-like confrontation at the Board of Governors meeting that was predicted by a lot of the hockey media didn’t happen. It does make me wonder when this pompous group is going to realize that the commissioner is politically astute, he had this in the bag before these meetings ever began.
The four conference format is an interesting concept. It certainly alleviates some of the travel concerns and makes for some fascinating discussion. Maintaining the Central Division is a real positive for this observer, some nice little rivalries are building among the five centrals and adding Dallas, Minnesota and Winnipeg fits in very nicely. Seeing each of these teams three times a year, along with every other team in the league every season is a big positive in this setup.
I am also a big fan of the conference playdown in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The rivalries that get built during these types of scenarios are just fun. Think of how a good healthy hate gets built as you play teams within your division now… it has certainly added to the antipathy Pred Nation feels toward Chicago or Detroit.
This setup also allows for situations that may arise in the next few years. If the Phoenix debacle is not resolved and a move becomes necessary, this will accommodate it nicely. The real agenda behind this may be the eventual expansion to 32 teams. It is not a stretch to figure out that the league would like to balance out the conferences to a nice, tidy 8 teams each. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there is a discussion about that eventuality on the agenda as the BoG meetings continue. It certainly would be a nice little negotiating point for the owners to have going into negotiations on a new CBA.
There is a few things about it I don’t like. Ummm… Tampa and Florida in a conference with Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto? Just call it the snowbird conference and be done with it. I don’t like the imbalance, eastern teams… errr… teams in the two seven team conferences have an increased chance to make the playoffs, and frankly, the bus circuit that is Philly/NY/NY/NJ wasn’t broken up at all. I would’ve rather seen a Florida team go to each of the two eastern oriented conferences to give that cabal a little more travel.
These are minor quibbles, all-in-all, this was probably the best solution available, although I still like the idea of looking at more of a North/South orientation but I digress… I will be interested to see how the GM's come up with the playoff formatting in January.
---------------------------------
Game Night in Smashville as the Predators host the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at the Bridge, the Desert Dogs are coming off a huge win at the United Center last night, beating the Blackhawks in a shootout. The Predators will be trying to get back on track after Saturday’s loss to the Sabres. Phoenix stands 3 points in front of the Predators in the tight Western Conference race and both teams have been floating a bit in their last ten games or so each playing .500 hockey.
This game represents the opportunity to begin getting things right on home ice for Nashville. This team has traditionally been very tough to play at 501 Broadway, but this year sees a 4-4-3 record so far. That kind of record doesn’t cut it for a team that has playoff aspirations and with 11 of the next 15 inside the friendly confines of Bridgestone Arena, the time is now to get their home act together. There are two keys to achieving that…
- Rested Rinne – Pekka Rinne has struggled a bit in his last few outings, it could be the weight of a new contract, but it probably was being a bit tired after starting 23 of the teams first 25 games. With Anders Lindback starting Saturday night, Rinne had a few days off to recharge and will be in net tonight.
- Beleaguered Blueline – The defense is taking its’ share of hits over the past week or so, beyond the top D pair of Ryan Suter and Shea Weber, some of the younger blueliners have struggled, to the point where Ryan Suter came out in the City Paper questioning how the pairs kept getting shuffled, defending the youngsters in print. A wise move from the veteran, giving the youngsters some cover, but the reality is, this blueline needs to mature and fast. Help is on the way though as Francis Bouillon is expected to return to the lineup, perhaps as early as Saturday night.
The injury situation is fairly straightforward for both teams. For Nashville, Bouillon is out and Blake Geoffrion continues on IR, Sergei Kostitsyn. For the ‘Yotes, Michal Rozsival is on IR and Kurt Sauer is listed as out.
Game time is 7pm at Bridgestone Arena, coverage on Fox Sports Tennessee and 102.5 the Game.
-----------------------------------
Random Notes
- Still waiting on a decision from the NHL office on the Tootoo / Miller incident. The delay is a little unfair to Nashville as the team will need to act fast in a callup if the Shanahammer falls. To me there was no reason why this wasn’t already taken care of
- By the way… to those that keep repeating this… Jordin Tootoo is
NOT considered a repeat offender. A repeat offender for disciplinary purposes is a player that has been suspended sometime within the past 18 months. Tootoo’s only suspension of his NHL career occurred in 2007. That’s right folks… it’s been almost five years since his only suspension and he has only been suspended once in his career… but hey, don’t let the facts get in the way.
- Nice to see Preds prospect Austin Watson on Team USA’s preliminary WJC roster. Another Pred prospect, Miikka Solomaki will play for Finland.
- Big win for the Maple Leafs at MSG last night.
- Boston continues their run… last night they took down the Penguins.
- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun needs to quit whining and put on the big boy pants. Apparently, ole Steve is upset that Brian Burke isn’t making his job easy… hey Steve… there’s a reason they call it work! I am sick to death of sports writers (and certain investigative entertainers) complaining about the people they cover being uncooperative when they don’t do what they want, when they want it. Grow up…
----------------------------------
You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the
link.
-------------------------------------
On the next
SlapShot Radio, built by RiverBirch Homes
We have a very special show on tap this week… we welcome New York Times journalist John Branch, author of a fascinating series in the Times called "Punched Out - The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer." We will then get a report from the Board of Governor's meeting in California from ESPN.com’s Scott Burnside. We will preview Saturday night's Anaheim game with Dan Wood, radio color analyst with the Ducks and we'll cap off the show with an update from Huntsville, Alabama with one of the leader of the Save UAH Hockey effort Nathan Bowen. That is all tomorrow night at 6 on 102.5 the Game… SlapShot Radio is built by
RiverBirch Homes.
More past episodes are also posted on the SlapShot Radio website.
Click
here to listen or download.
-------------------------------------
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Predators Buzz, a one-stop feed for all things Predators-related on HockeyBuzz. Your subscription includes a free 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month thereafter. For more information,
click here.
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • 
Join the Discussion:
»