Totally Radical - The NHL Realigns

After intense negotiation and silver-tongued persuasion that would've made Daniel Webster proud, it took one whole hour for the NHL board of governors to approve a radical realignment resulting in 4 conferences. Click on the image below for a cartographic representation of the new conferences.

 

The impetus for the realignment occurred with the Atlanta Thrashers moving up to Winnipeg last offseason, which resulted in their hilarious inclusion in the Southeast Division this year, so realignment became a must. Click below for more details and the plan's implications.


The 4 conference plan was the more radical of the two on the table. In another scenario, the Winnipeg Jets would move to the Central Division, and either Detroit or Columbus would move to the Southeast (Columbus being the only correct choice). Rather than just treat the wound though, the NHL opted for taking off the whole gangrenous limb, creating a disfigured NHL monster for 2012... but what a monster.

Speaking of limbs, I'm going to go out on one and say these will never be popular collectors items.

Many fans tout the plan as having some Mike Ricci's (pros):

1. Many of the best rivalries are intact. 
• The three eastern Canadian teams are grouped together with Buffalo and Boston, and that conference will boast half of the Original 6 teams.
• The NY-NJ-PA tri-state area is all together, and the Caps join them given their rivalry with Pittsburgh.
• Keeping the Red Wings in a Midwestern conference is absolutely the right thing to do. That gives the Chicago Blackhawks an Original 6 rival and ups the talent level of a division sporting weaker markets like Columbus and Nashville.
• The new Western conference should foster some bigger rivalries between the western Canadian teams and some big market U.S. western teams. Vancouver vs. the L.A. Kings is like Canadian Hollywood vs. real Hollywood. 
2. Easier travel for most teams.
• The biggest winners are the Winnipeg Jets (for obvious reasons), and the Dallas Stars leaving the Pacific Division.
3. Home and home games for every team.
• This means that every team will get to have back-to-back home games against all other conference teams. This reduces travel.
4. Playoffs will begin with intraconference series.
• Thankfully, the number of playoff teams will hold at 16 total, however they will be comprised of the top 4 teams in every conference rather than the top 8 from the East and West like it is now. If conference teams don't have bad blood by the time the playoffs roll around, you can bet they'll be sick of each other when they meet in elimination rounds. It should make for some intense, nasty hockey.

While others see some glaring Ilya Kovalchuk's (cons):

1. The team groupings are garbage
• It look like every major rivalry is intact or improved with more scheduled games.
• Some newb fans may think that the Caps and Pens in the same conference is just out of convenience for Ovie vs. Crosby, and putting the teams together for just 10 good years is silly. However, the rivalry dates all the way back to Dale Hunter's playing days as the teams have met numerous times in the playoffs.
2. The Florida teams are screwed for travel compared to everyone else
• The other option in terms of time zone was the Atlantic conference with the NY-NJ-PA teams, and it would be silly to break up those teams and rivalries. It's not like Florida and Tampa would be hopping a bus to Philly versus flying to Boston. The cost savings of flying to Philly versus flying to Boston is not that great.
3. Home-and-homes are annoying
• No, they're not.
• More specifically, I like the idea of teams clashing again after a hard fought battle. One team will always have a sense of unfinished business, and if anything went down the night before, you know there has to be retribution. Series like this make games more exciting and intense, not less.
4. The playoffs are going to have garbage teams from weak conferences making it in over more worthy teams elsewhere
• The only division that would worry me in the slightest is the Midwestern one, but the inclusion of Detroit allays my fears. Chicago and Minnesota have great hockey markets, and the Stars and Blues have quite a bit of history making the playoffs in legit fashion.
5. Lolz, butt wut aboot tradishon?!
• We don't live in a static sports business environment, and the fact that the NHL is more nimble than Gozer now is part of the reason why the league is growing stronger every year. But go ahead, enjoy a joke league like the NBA that can't even allow teams to move players as David Stern tries to squeeze competitive balance out of his league using gloves covered in Crisco.

And a couple Mike Green's (outstanding issues) remain:

1. The conferences haven't been named. 
• The old-timers are going to want the old conference/division names like the Wales and Campbell conferences, and the Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe divisions.
• Not a bad idea, but those sound a bit too Canadian for my taste. I'm casting my vote for naming the conferences after Orr, Lemieux, Howe and Gretzky. Haters of their teams will riot for exactly 25 seconds when they hear about it, but I think those would be great since they actually fall out nicely: one great relevant to each conference.
2. Playoff scheduling
• After a conference winner is crowned, who do they place next? Will it still be West vs. Midwest, and East vs. Atlantic? Or do the teams get seeding and home ice advantage based on record? I'm crossing my fingers for the latter, no more of this east vs. west malarkey.

Despite the brevity required to make these changes, the reception has been largely positive, so I'm excited for the new look NHL's debut next year.