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How Would You Play Hockey God with Re-Alignment and the Schedule?

March 13, 2009, 11:50 AM ET [ Comments]
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The comments and emails I received from yesterday's 20 Random Facts Blog was among my favorites in the years I have been doing this. This afternoon I am compiling my "best of" list of the most interesting or amusing 20 random facts about hockeybuzz readers...So feel free to keep posting in the comments of the last blog.

Today we are discussing re-alignment.

I fully realize that times are tough right now, and that expansion really isn't on ANYONE'S mind. However, I know for a fact that the NHL really has an ultimate goal of 32 teams. I am a huge supporter of the 32 team concept as long as we see the return of the 4 division format and divisional playoffs.

Watching the Capitals/Flyers last night it occurred to me that this rivalry is currently every bit as strong as the Flyers rivalries with the three NY teams and the Penguins. I love seeing the way Mike Richards and Alexandre Ovechkin get up for playing each other. There is a war that goes on between these two competitors. And due to the long contracts each has, it is a war that we will be privy to for the next decade.

On a related note, a little birdy from pretty high up in the NHL told me last night that in the next three years we are likely to see the Capitals and Flyers face-off in a Winter Classic that would be played at either Citizens Bank Park or Frankiln Field in Philadelphia. "You can book it" my NHL source told me, and this is the same source that helped me be the first to report on the Wings and Hawks in Chicago.

It will be one hell of a great Winter Classic.

Besides the fact that both of these teams have such great young talent and exciting players, this rivalry was really solidified, as all great rivalries are, by a great playoff series. Last year's seven gamer between the clubs that took several extra overtimes and was even ended in a seventh game overtime was among the best playoff series I have ever witnessed.

The reason the Flyers/Rangers is losing some of its juice to me is simply because the teams haven't played a playoff series in years.

It doesn't matter how many somewhat meaningless games you play in the regular season against another team. Just look at the Sabres/Canes rivalry that was born out of their phenomenal 7 gamer a few years back.

So it is with that in mind that you and me get to play (hockey) God today.

I am putting two more teams into the NHL, re-aligning the divisions and bringing back divisional playoffs.

For a long time now I have been hearing that the next two NHL teams will be added in Las Vegas and Ontario. You all know that as an American-who believes strongly in taking the needed time to build a hockey culture in southern American cities- I have been a huge supporter of what I have seen in Nashville and Tampa. Dallas has shown the way and created the model that all other new markets should follow.

However, in the difficult economic times going on, I am straying from my usual theory that you will create a million more hockey fans by putting a team into a big southern city in America than you will by putting another team in Toronto. It is simply too difficult to put a team into a new market when you are cash strapped.

Therefore I am awarding my two franchises to the great cities that never should have lost their franchises in the first place and welcoming back the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques!

Also I am going to realign the division in a much different way. Currently the divisions have always been aligned by time zones running from east to west. That method made sense when you were dealing with teams that were only in America. Coast to Coast it is 3,000 miles, and the distance from Dallas to Minneapolis is 900 miles. However, when you add Canada to the equation it is still 3,000 miles across, but the distance from Dallas to Edmonton is nearly 2,000 miles.

Therefore, my realignment is going to be different.

Here are my Divisions.

The American Southern Division:

I am putting these teams together because they really do share a sports culture already that is not being taken advantage of in my opinion. College Football and Basketball are HUGE among these fanbases and that should be taken into account. Rivalries already exist here. Just go to a game in Carolina and check out the tailgate to know what I mean.

The Atlanta Thrashers
The Nashville Predators
The Carolina Hurricanes
The Dallas Stars
The Tampa Bay Lightning
The Florida Panthers
The Phoenix Coyotes
The Columbus Blue Jackets


The American Eastern Division

These teams are all essentially within an eight hour drive of each other. Most within a five hour drive. Bringing the Capitals back into a division with the Flyers and Penguins is really important. These teams have great rivalries and are only three-four hour car drives from one another.

The Philadelphia Flyers
The Buffalo Sabres
The Boston Bruins
The Pittsburgh Penguins
The New York Rangers
The New York Islanders
The New Jersey Devils
The Washington Caps


The American Western Division

Let's put Minnesota back into the old Adams Division. The Rivalries the North Stars had with the old Blues, Wings, and Hawks were awesome to witness. It is true that there will be more travel here for many of these teams but really we are talking the difference of an hour plane trip.

The Detroit Red Wings
The Minnesota Wild
The Chicago Blackhawks
The St. Louis Blues
The San Jose Sharks
The Los Angeles Kings
The Anaheim Ducks
The Colorado Avalanche



The Canadian Northern Division

Putting all of the Canadian Teams in the same division will do incredible things for the sport. Having watched a lot of Hockey Night in Canada games and TSN I can tell you that there is an amazing excitement that exists when these teams face-off with one another. The playoffs would be incredibly intense and you would guaranteed a Canadian team all the way to the Conference Finals. That is a 50% chance of a Canadian team in EVERY Stanley Cup final. TSN, CBC, and Sportsnet can thank me later.

The Montreal Canadiens
The Quebec Nordiques
The Toronto Maple Leafs
The Ottawa Senators
The Winnipeg Jets
The Edmonton Oilers
The Calgary Flames
The Vancouver Canucks



OK, so here is how the schedule would work.

You play all 24 out of division teams twice. Once home and once away. 48 games.
You play your divisional teams 6 times each....42 games

I know what you are thinking...a 90 game schedule?

Well what you do is you eliminate the NHL pre-season schedule, for which fans are already being forced to buy tickets...The preseason is brutal anyway and consists of way too many games. You can play a few exhibition games in your practice rinks and maybe one pre-season game for charity.

Now, here is the way the playoffs would work:

Divisional Playoffs.

1 plays 4, 2 plays 3, winners play, and a divisional champion would emerge.

Imagine the excitement in Canada to see who the "Canadian Champion" is each year!

As Hockey God I would eliminate the Conferences completely and instead the four divisional champions would be re-seeded based on their records outside of their divisions. This would be perfectly fair since the teams all play a balanced out of division schedule.

So let's just say the following teams win their divisional playoffs.

The South-Dallas
The East-Washington
The West-Detroit
The North-Calgary

In their 48 out of division games they had the following records.

Washington 39-9
Detroit 37-11
Calgary 34-14
Dallas 32-16

(oh, btw I would also eliminate points for losses)

So the newly named "Stanley Cup Semi-Finals" would be 1-4, 2-3 in this particular season.

Washington would have home ice over Dallas
Detroit would have home ice over Calgary

And then of course the winners would play for the Stanley Cup.

(and that Stanley Cup winning team would go on to play a team that won in the finals of the newly formed Euro NHL for the World Cup....well maybe....)

Anyway, yes it is radical and chock full of all sorts of flaws, but let's see you put together a better and more exciting alternative!

Cheers,

Ek

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