186 replies to this topic

[wings1110]

anyone else think that this could be a prelude to a 2 team expansion in the future?

[Crashnburnluder]

Quebec and Atlanta round 3 ???? Lol

[haroldsnepsts]

Let's see, the Wings wanted less travel out west especially during the playoffs & more games with traditional rivals in the east. And with this realignment they get....less travel out west & more games with traditional rivals in the east. How did the Wings get screwed with this move?

And from the reports I heard, the reason the 2 eastern conferences have 7 teams each & a better percentage chance to make the playoffs is to get those owners to buy off on the additional costs & travel time of now having more games out west under the new alignment. And for any complaints about teams missing the playoffs out west with more points than teams in the east, how is that any different than now?

Agreed.

Though while I believe you, the bolded part is friggin annoying. They had to give the eastern conference a playoff advantage, to make up for losing a little of the advantage they already have in significantly less travel?

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm sort of neutral on it for now. The Wings were never moving east though. They're too valuable in the west as a popular team with a large fan base.

[Jedi]

In case anyone wanted to see how the new conferences are aligned in terms of geography...

[greenrebellion]

This might open the door to a European conference since you could set it up to only have a couple of road trips under the new format. Not saying I'm a fan of international expansion, but hasn't Bettman mentioned that in the past?

[haroldsnepsts]

In case anyone wanted to see how the new conferences are aligned in terms of geography...

That map shows just how screwed the Florida teams got, and just how much leverage the teams in Conference D have. Must be nice to be able to ride your bike to away games if you wanted to.

[redwingfan19]

That map shows just how screwed the Florida teams got, and just how much leverage the teams in Conference D have. Must be nice to be able to ride your bike to away games if you wanted to.

yep, why not just put philly and pittsburgh in the northeast and put the two florida teams in the atlantic is beyond me. i wonder who the 4 teams who voted No were, my guess is the ny area teams lol

[softshoes]

In case anyone wanted to see how the new conferences are aligned in terms of geography...

file:///C:/Users/SOFTSH%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-4.png

[Jedi]

That map shows just how screwed the Florida teams got, and just how much leverage the teams in Conference D have. Must be nice to be able to ride your bike to away games if you wanted to.

Exactly.

yep, why not just put philly and pittsburgh in the northeast and put the two florida teams in the atlantic is beyond me. i wonder who the 4 teams who voted No were, my guess is the ny area teams lol

Because as it is, the league's 2 most marketable stars/teams (Crosby/Pens, Ovechkin/Caps) could conceivably meet up in the playoffs every single year. Seperating Pittsburgh and Washington would effectively kill one of the best marketing tools the NHL could have, before they even had a chance to use it.

IMO, there's a lot to like, and a lot to dislike about the new alignment. As it is, it's possible to have a Chicago/Vancouver Stanley Cup finals. Imagine how intense that series could be...

If I had to guess at the conference names, I'd bet the NHL goes with something unimaginative, and use something like this (Color Coded to the map)...

WESTERN (GREEN PINS)
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks

CENTRAL (RED PINS)
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

EASTERN (YELLOW PINS)
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs

ATLANTIC (BLUE PINS)
Carolina Hurricanes
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals

[mjlegend]

Royal Assent!

http://www.nhl.com/i...s.htm?id=604905

On first glance, Crosby likes realignment plan
Monday, 12.05.2011 / 10:56 PM / NHL Insider

[Hockeytown0001]

Interesting.

[VM1138]

That is correct. We could play the Pens in the semifinals and the Sharks in the Finals. This also means, we'll never play anyone in our conference beyond the 2nd round.

Alright, I'm on board with this, then. Being able to potentially see San Jose in a Cup final would be epic. The only team in our new conference worth playing in a final would be Chicago, but I guess that's a fair trade-off. And being able to play Eastern teams in the playoffs before the final could be interesting, too.

EDIT: Just imagine, the other teams in the Midwest/Central now know they will always face Chicago or Detroit in the playoffs, haha. Sucks for them, I guess. Also likely that every second round matchup will be Detroit-Chicago. Pretty much disqualifies everyone else from advancing.

Edited by VM1138, 06 December 2011 - 01:02 PM.

[mmamolo]

I'm not the hugest fan of the new alignment but it's really not so bad. There are some teams who get a bit of the short end of the stick but overall it's probably an improvement over the current travel demands of a lot of teams. Or at least it's more evenly spread out across the league.

The one advantage I do see for the Wings is that by the time they (hopefully) get to the third round 2/3 chance of playing a team in the Eastern Time Zone. Historically (relative past), under the current alignment, the teams that realistically could face off against the Wings in the third round would be something like Anaheim (past), Vancouver, San Jose, and Chicago. Of those teams that the Wings have faced or could face none of them are in EST (with chicago obviously being the closest).

I haven't done the math for it but at first glance I'd say that the chances of the Wings going through to the finals (all four rounds) without playing a West Coast team are dramatically better under the new alignment when compared to the current alignment.


Also, I know a lot of people would rather not face SJ in the playoffs this year but wouldn't it be sweet to face them in the WCF and eliminate them. That'd be such a sweet way to say goodbye to the Western Conference

[haroldsnepsts]

anyone else think that this could be a prelude to a 2 team expansion in the future?

I was hoping it was a prelude to a two team contraction.

[Crashnburnluder]

I understand ever one is upset that we didn't get to go east, but let's face it for playoff reasons and Stanley cup contenders. This just made us one of the top contenders year in and year out. 5-6 contenders will be eliminated before we even have a chance to face them like I said earlier... Only 2 of phily, Pitt, wash. NYR, NJ, la, SJ, Anahiem and Van. We only could possibly face two of those teams in a playoff run every year... No more having to go through Phoenix, then SJ, then Vancouver just to get to the Finals

[Red Wings Addict]

I understand ever one is upset that we didn't get to go east, but let's face it for playoff reasons and Stanley cup contenders. This just made us one of the top contenders year in and year out. 5-6 contenders will be eliminated before we even have a chance to face them like I said earlier... Only 2 of phily, Pitt, wash. NYR, NJ, la, SJ, Anahiem and Van. We only could possibly face two of those teams in a playoff run every year... No more having to go through Phoenix, then SJ, then Vancouver just to get to the Finals

True but the Wings would have to get through their own conference first. Maybe a lot of the other teams in the conference don't have the kind of hype appeal that makes the public fawn over them but they are still very good teams.

-Chicago, of course, is a top contender.
-Dallas and Minnesota are making big strides on getting better.
-Nashville and St. Louis are very solid teams as well.

The main point is that a lot of those teams are getting better and it's not as if the Wings only have to worry about Chicago, especially with the increasing trend in parity and the looming shift in eras after Lidstrom retires.

I'm not saying that Detroit won't be good. We really don't know at this point. I'm just thinking the whole "alignment has guaranteed another 20 years of playoffs" reaction is premature.

Edited by Red Wings Addict, 06 December 2011 - 01:50 PM.

[b.shanafan14]

True but the Wings would have to get through their own conference first. Maybe a lot of the other teams in the conference don't have the kind of hype appeal that makes the public fawn over them but they are still very good teams.

-Chicago, of course, is a top contender.
-Dallas and Minnesota are making big strides on getting better.
-Nashville and St. Louis are very solid teams as well.

The main point is that a lot of those teams are getting better and it's not as if the Wings only have to worry about Chicago, especially with the increasing trend in parity and the looming shift in eras after Lidstrom retires.

I'm not saying that Detroit won't be good. We really don't know at this point. I'm just thinking the whole "alignment has guaranteed another 20 years of playoffs" reaction is premature.

TRUE.

Has anyone looked at the Western standings lately? Of the top 6 teams, 5 will be in the Central Conference. As it stands:

Minnesota (Won't last)
Chicago (Umpteen games more played)
DETROIT (Lidstrom retiring soon)
Dallas (On the upturn, probably to stay)
Vancouver
St. Louis (Good young team)

Its gonna get hairy come playoffs, for sure.

[Seraph]

This is absolutely awful. If you watch playoff hockey for the next 20 years, you are going to get sick and tired of seeing the same teams over and over. Think about it.

[Crashnburnluder]

Yes good up and comers but would u rather have a dog fight between La, SJ, Anaheim, Van and pho... Or battle Philly, Washington, Pitt, NYR and NJ.... I rather have St. Louis, Chicago, minny, Nashville and Dallas... Those teams may be decent or getting better but they are no LA, Vancouver or Phily, Boston or a legit true contender... Detroit and Chicago are the only cup threats in our division

[Z Winged Dangler]

the only thing i like about it is the amount of times the Wings will play the Jets...i will finally get the see my beloved Wings again in Winnipeg!