With the NHL franchise previously located in Atlanta moving north to Canada to become the reborn Winnipeg Jets, the NHL will be realigning its teams for the 2012-13 season. The simplest realignment plan would be for Winnipeg to move to the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The team would mostly likely displace the Minnesota Wild who would then shift over to the Central Division.
One of the more eastern teams in the Western Conference would be reassigned to the Eastern Conference to replace the Winnipeg team. The Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators are all hoping to be the team that takes Winnipeg's spot in the east. For these teams, the move represents reduced travel costs and fewer late starting times for road games. Picking which team will get to move will take some politicking. As a Carolina fan, I hope Nashville will get the nod and join the Hurricanes along with Florida, Tampa Bay, and Washington in the Southeast Division.
Instead of the obvious and simple plan, I think the NHL should consider a more radical realignment plan. With the new franchise in Winnipeg, the number of NHL teams located in Canada rises to seven which is 23% of the 30 franchises. However, a Canadian team has not lifted the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The drought has now stretched to 18 years. Considering Canadian teams made up 20% of the league over most of that span, it would be expected that a team from Canada would win the championship once every five years.
To promote more games between the Canadian franchises, I propose that the current Eastern and Western Conferences be eliminated in favor of Northern and Southern Conferences. Obviously, all seven of the Canadian teams would be in the Northern Conference. The Northern Conference would contain mostly older, more established franchises including all of the "Original Six" teams. Some exceptions would be the Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild who are recent expansion teams and the relocated Winnipeg team which began as the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. The Southern Conference would have more recent expansion and relocated franchises but would also have five of the second six franchises (the sixth being the defunct California Seals/Cleveland Barons).
Below a straight geographically-correct realignment. Each conference is split into West, Central and East Divisions similar to the NFL divisions prior to its 2002 realignment.
| Northern Conference | ||
|---|---|---|
| West Division | Central Division | East Division |
| Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Minnesota Wild Vancouver Canucks Winnipeg Jets | Buffalo Sabres Chicago Blackhawks Detroit Red Wings Ottawa Senators Toronto Maple Leafs | Boston Bruins Montreal Canadiens New Jersey Devils New York Islanders New York Rangers |
| Southern Conference | ||
| West Division | Central Division | East Division |
Anaheim Ducks Colorado Avalanche Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks | Columbus Blue Jackets Dallas Stars Nashville Predators St. Louis Blues Tampa Bay Lightning | Carolina Hurricanes Florida Panthers Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins Washington Capitals |
I think switching some teams would definitely improve the above proposal. For instance, swapping the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens would put all three of the northeast Canadian teams in the same division. The seven Canadian teams would thus be concentrated into two divisions which would result in more match-ups between the Canadian teams.
I would also group Carolina, Dallas, Florida, Nashville and Tampa Bay in a true southern division. I renamed this division the South Atlantic. The other division affected by this change ends up with a mixed bag of teams that stretches from Philadelphia to St. Louis. I renamed this division the Mid-Atlantic. I do not think the names of the different divisions matter too much. I reverted back to the current division names for the Northwest and the Pacific and changed the name of the northeast division to the North Atlantic. The final result is below.
| Northern Conference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Northwest Division | Central Division | North Atlantic Division |
Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Minnesota Wild Vancouver Canucks Winnipeg Jets | Chicago Blackhawks Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators Toronto Maple Leafs | Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres New Jersey Devils New York Islanders New York Rangers |
| Southern Conference | ||
| Pacific Division | Mid-Atlantic Division | South Atlantic Division |
Anaheim Ducks Colorado Avalanche Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks | Columbus Blue Jackets Pittsburgh Penguins Philadelphia Flyers St. Louis Blues Washington Capitals | Carolina Hurricanes Dallas Stars Florida Panthers Nashville Predators Tampa Bay Lightning |
Interestingly enough, it seems that the NHL is considering what I think is an even more radical proposal which would reduce the number of division from the current six down to four.
No comments:
Post a Comment