• Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

Sign in to follow this  
Guest irishock

Red Wings to be in an Eastern conference in latest NHL/NHLPA proposal

Rate this topic

Recommended Posts

The saying used to go..."where is the best place to get tickets to a Wings game"? answer..."United Center".

I love now that the Hawks have a good team that everyone forgets their history...no broadcast TV...the Eric Daze and Alexei Zhamnov years...they were named Worst Franchise in Sports by ESPN in 2004, they straight up sucked from 1998 to recently when they got all those great lottery draft picks. Like Pittsburgh as well.

Red Wing history is not always spectacular either, but that was late 70's, early 80's. And now they say. Oh, now that they aren't that good, they run to the other conference? I guess they are tired of being a doormat for the last 20 years. We helped them get those Top 3 picks. You're welcome.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The saying used to go..."where is the best place to get tickets to a Wings game"? answer..."United Center".

I love now that the Hawks have a good team that everyone forgets their history...no broadcast TV...the Eric Daze and Alexei Zhamnov years...they were named Worst Franchise in Sports by ESPN in 2004, they straight up sucked from 1998 to recently when they got all those great lottery draft picks. Like Pittsburgh as well.

Red Wing history is not always spectacular either, but that was late 70's, early 80's. And now they say. Oh, now that they aren't that good, they run to the other conference? I guess they are tired of being a doormat for the last 20 years. We helped them get those Top 3 picks. You're welcome.

I haven't forgotten Chicago's history (routinely bottom 10 in attendance pre-lockout), but that's an oversimplification. They routinely have some of the best attendance in the league now. Their old ownership was so bad people couldn't even get the games on TV (and the team sucked). TV viewership and fan interest is one thing, but when it comes to putting butts in the seats and the prohibitive costs of ticket sales, I really don't blame "casual" fans for staying home when the product is terrible.

Also, I wonder how Detroit would rank if you measured ACTUAL attendance as a percentage of tickets sold. JLA is embarrassing at times on TV, especially in the lower bowl - it looks like 15,000 to 17,000 out of 20k capacity actually show up for games. Of course, those are terribly expensive tickets you see, but even they're corporate, somebody has that ticket and is sitting on it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do like the idea of realignment. But having one conference with 16 teams and the other having only 14 teams is beyond ridiculous. Total disadvantage to any mediocre eastern team, regardless of any "wildcard" scenarios. Cause the bottom line is top 8 of 16 and top 8 of 14 in this competitive league is a HUGE difference.

I'm for realignment as long as both conferences have 15 teams

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do like the idea of realignment. But having one conference with 16 teams and the other having only 14 teams is beyond ridiculous. Total disadvantage to any mediocre eastern team, regardless of any "wildcard" scenarios. Cause the bottom line is top 8 of 16 and top 8 of 14 in this competitive league is a HUGE difference.

I'm for realignment as long as both conferences have 15 teams

By my rough estimation...the 2 eastern divisions will have a 56% chance of making the playoffs with a wild-card, while the 2 western divisions will have a 57%.

Also, you're forgetting that they're throwing out conferences now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I would love to play Boston a bunch of times. In the western conference I only get excited when we play Chicago, St. Louis, or Canadian teams that don't come with 10:30 start times.

Screw this whole eastern time zone, western conference stuff. I'm so tired of it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest irishock

I'd much rather keep Chicago San Jose Vancouver and Colorado than lose them and gain Boston and Montreal. Thats really all I'd look forward to seeing in this promotion. Tampa Bay is ok I guess, buffalo is pretty meh, and Toronto doesn't do anything for me.

If you're bringing in SJ, Vancouver and Colorado, gotta mention that we gain Pittsbrugh, Philly, and NY Rangers as well

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

By my rough estimation...the 2 eastern divisions will have a 56% chance of making the playoffs with a wild-card, while the 2 western divisions will have a 57%.

Also, you're forgetting that they're throwing out conferences now.

To me the league would be nuts to use a wildcard playoff format. Stick to 16 teams. Top 4 teams from each division make it in. Then there's no advantage or disadvantage to having one more team in your division since 4 make it in across the board from each. 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 in each division. Winners play each other in round 2. 4 remaining division winners play each other with whatever seeding. Winners face off in the finals.

The Cup is the toughest championship to win and a big reason is the fact you have to go through 4 rounds of 4-7 games. It's grueling and that's what makes it worth it. That's mostly what gives it it's credibility and status. To try and emulate an NFL style wildcard system would easily cheapen the title. There's nothing in sports like playoff hockey. DO NOT CHANGE THAT.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd much rather keep Chicago San Jose Vancouver and Colorado than lose them and gain Boston and Montreal. Thats really all I'd look forward to seeing in this promotion. Tampa Bay is ok I guess, buffalo is pretty meh, and Toronto doesn't do anything for me.

If you're bringing in SJ, Vancouver and Colorado, gotta mention that we gain Pittsbrugh, Philly, and NY Rangers as well

You have to remember, that under this "plan" any team that is not in the Red Wings division is played the same number of times. So the Wings would see the Pens twice, as well as the Sharks twice and so forth.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do it every year....and its as pleasant as you say it is. My wife and I were walking to our seats a couple years ago before the game started and as we moved into our row, we were greeted with "f*** You, f*** You, f*** You."

Drives me nuts that I'll never be able to take my daughter there simply because I won't expose her to an environment like that.

I was at a game there between the two right after new years for 2008 where I witnessed possibly the most disgusting act I have ever seen. I (unfortunately) had standing room tix for the game up behind the 300 level seats where the Wings were shooting twice during the game and had another group of Wings fans who were next to my friend and I during the game. With about 2 mins left in the game and Detroit having a victory sealed, a group of 4 Chicago fans walked up from the seats they had and immediately got into an argument with the group next to us about apparently mocking Chicago's chant regarding Detroit (the Wings group just flipped it around and said Chicago Sucks!)

Next thing you know, some pushing and shoving starts and a female fan in the Wings group tried to separate the two guys and then out of nowhere she gets a hard right hook right to the jaw. As this was happening my friend and I began backing away in case things escalated, but there was no denying how disgusting it was seeing a women get punched right in the face like that. Once my friend and I got away from the action, security began running from all directions and even one grabbed me asking for information of what had just happened. I told them exactly what happened and one of the guys had a pair of cuffs for the guy who punched the female fan (I'm assuming he was an off duty cop).

I never did find out what happened after that, but actually witnessing seeing a women get punched like that just sickened me and actually turned me off from going to games there when Detroit came to town. I just look at it as why bother when the level of harassment has gotten progressively worse since Chicago became relevant again.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I doubt Bettman goes along with this. Detroit is far too good a draw for teams that otherwise don't get much attendance out west.

Representatives from both the League and the NHLPA worked on this plan.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest The Axe

The saying used to go..."where is the best place to get tickets to a Wings game"? answer..."United Center".

I love now that the Hawks have a good team that everyone forgets their history...no broadcast TV...the Eric Daze and Alexei Zhamnov years...they were named Worst Franchise in Sports by ESPN in 2004, they straight up sucked from 1998 to recently when they got all those great lottery draft picks. Like Pittsburgh as well.

Red Wing history is not always spectacular either, but that was late 70's, early 80's. And now they say. Oh, now that they aren't that good, they run to the other conference? I guess they are tired of being a doormat for the last 20 years. We helped them get those Top 3 picks. You're welcome.

Chicago has fewer cups so they can suck it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

More information about playoffs under the new proposal, per Bob McKenzie...

Going to be series of tweets here on realignment. Remember, neither NHLPA nor NHL B of G have agreed to this yet. It's still just a proposal

Top 3 teams in each of two 8-team East conferences make the playoffs. Two wild cards from remaining 10 East teams also make the playoffs.

Top 3 teams in each of two 7-team West conferences make playoffs. Two wild cards from remaining 8 West teams also make the playoffs.

Playoff format remains old divisional style, 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3 though it remains to be seen how the wild cards are slotted for first-round.

I assume schedule matrix stays same as Dec/2011 proposal. Clubs in 7-team conf play 6x 6 in conf (36), and home-and-away with other 23 (46).

8-team conferences also play home-and-away with 22 out of conf teams (44) but play either 5 or 6 games vs. conference rivals (38).

NHL governors were made aware of realignment proposals today by league but cautioned that NHLPA and B of G approval still required.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

LeBrun is now posting information, too, as to how the conferences would be named, and some clarification on the playoff system...

According to NHL memo sent to 30 teams, no longer is the idea to go to 4 conferences, but rather 2 conferences with two divisions each

The Eastern Conference would have the Atlantic and Central divisions, the Western Conference would have the Mid-West and Pacific divisions

Top 3 teams in each division make the playoffs. The remaining 4 spots go to wild-card teams, best two records left in each conference...

So you could have 5 teams make playoffs from one division and only 3 from one division...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hawks and Blues fans think the Wings are turning tail on them by leaving the West now that the Wings aren't the powerhouse. When did they start paying attention? Wings eked a promise when they first moved to the West that they would be the first team to go to the East when the opportunity arose. Had this happened 10 years ago, what would they have said then?

I feel (kinda) bad for RWN not being able to see the Wings as much, but honestly it's the best thing for the team. The reduction in travel should have a measurable positive impact on their performance.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Sign in to follow this