|
Since We're Blowing Up the NHL Anyway... |
|
|
|
|
|
I was laying in the bathtub a minute ago thinking about ways to improve the NHL. Actually, I was thinking about Katee Sackhoff, but that was short lived. My mind eventually went back to the NHL.
There's gonna be a lockout. Not trying to be negative here, friends, but both sides are 1,000,000 miles apart when it comes to negotiating a new CBA. Since the season is going to be ruined anyway, now might be time to radically change the NHL for the better. Here's a few suggestions, and yes, I am being serious with these. I know you're gonna read the blog and think I'm off my meds again. Well, let me assure you, I most certainly am not.
1. Expand the League to 32 Teams - Well, duh. Obviously. You can't have a league with 15 teams in each Conference. The math is all wrong. Either you need 14 teams or 16 teams. 16 is a better number, because that would allow you to have 8 teams in each Division. But where do you put these two new teams? Wait for it...You'll like this, I promise.
2. Realignment With a Twist - Okay so we'll make two Conferences, NHL East and West. Two Divisions in each Conference. Make the Gretzky and Howe Divisions in the West, and Orr and Lemieux Divisions in the East. How we doin' so far?
This is where the fun begins.
Gretzky Division: Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Cobains, San Jose Sharks, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (they were better when they were Mighty), Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche.
Howe Division: Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers
Orr Division: Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Nordiques, Markham Hipsters, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers
Here's the exciting part. Are you excited? I'm excited.
Lemiuex Division: London Smog, Paris Capitulation, Moscow Red Threat, Berlin Wallers, Stockholm Syndrome, Helsinki Flying Fins, the Chickens of Kiev , and the Munich Bavarians. The names of the teams...heck, most of the cities I have listed...are completely debatable. My point is, now is the time for the NHL to have a completely European Division.
Aside from the fact that teams in these cities would sell out every single game, talk about a way to open up new revenue streams. The NBA, MLB and NFL will have nothing on the NHL if there is one full, complete, functional Division of the league in Europe.
Of course, this plan means a number of current NHL teams will need to be scrapped and/or moved. I'd apologize to those teams and those cities if I could remember who they are.
All of these moves are designed to have eight teams in Canada, plus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Why? Because Canada is and always will be the game of hockey. This is where the money and the support is. If the league ever gets into trouble, it's always Canadians who save it. Expanding the NHL is security and smart planning.
And for all of you sitting there going, "but moving a bunch of teams out of the US will kill the game south of the border," I say to you this: If you live in New York, will you get more emotional about the Rangers playing a team from Bumpkin, Carolina, or a team from London, England? Exactly. New York, London, Paris, Munich, everybody's talkin' bout, the NHL.
Adding the European Division = Everyone Gets Richer. Players. Owners. The guy walking up the isles selling popcorn. Everyone. Can you image the fees the NHL could soak new owners and cities to bring the league over there? Billions. And the television deals too...eventually...once people catch on...
And why make the European Division named after Mario Lemieux? For one thing, he's a French Canadian...closest thing we have to a European. Secondly, he smoked while he played, which is a very European thing to do. He complained about the refs and the league constantly; another very European quality. The league should actually give Lemiuex the team of his choice to manage over there.
3. If we're bringing in Europe to the NHL, it's time to kill the instigator rule and encourage more fighting. Trust me, I've lived in Europe. If there's one thing European sports needs more of, it's violence from the players.
4. One advantage of a 1/4 European league is that it would completely eliminate the travel bias situation that currently exists between teams in the NHL East and West. Soft, bored veteran players like Rick Nash insisted on playing in the East because it's easier. Less time on the plane. Well not anymore. You're going to Europe for two eight-game road trips per season, Rick. Enjoy!
Of course, the travel schedule for the European teams would be God awful, but if Winnipeg can survive playing in the SouthEast...
5. Another way to improve the game? A rule compromise between Europe and North America. Instead of the 85' by 200' rink in the NHL or the 100' by 200' rink used in Europe, make the new NHL standard 90' by 200'. The extra 5' of width will open the game up a tad.
6. A bunch of players who would end up going to Europe would whine and cry about it, and to an extent, they have a point. So with the lockout looming, how about this: Let's eliminate the rosters from all 30 current teams, throw in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft players, and have one big, massive, complete, redrafting of the entire NHL? Can you imagine what this would look like: A five-day draft event, whereas each team selects 50 players/prospects. This is a great idea for HockeyBuzz. French, Yost, Anderson, anyone else? We need to hold a draft to divide the entire league up into 32 teams. How about it? Sounds like a dozen great blogs in the making.
So to summarize, we've completely blown up the NHL; we've moved into Europe, and we've eliminated a bunch of current franchises no one cares about. We've made the ice bigger, and we've restored fighting to what it once was. We killed all the current players contracts, and we've completely redrafted everyone eligible to play in the NHL. The new salary cap could be set to a fixed amount in Season #1: $60mil, with teams forced to spend at least $50mil. Revenue growth would be set to a 50%/50% split between players and owners.
Absolutely everyone is going to want a piece of an NHL super league. The money that can be made here would be ridiculous. I will look at this entire league design concept more in the coming days...especially if Yost, Anderson, French and others want to be part of a "draft all the players" event, which would be a blast.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»