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The return of the Winnipeg Jets to the NHL will create a ripple effect throughout the league with a dramatic realignment for the 2012-13 season as a result, multiple media outlets have reported.

With Western Conference teams Detroit, Nashville and Columbus hoping to be relocated to the East, the NHL has opted to realign the entire league rather than shifting Winnipeg, according to the Sporting News.

The purveying plan seeks to divide the league into four divisions -- two with eight teams and two with seven teams. The plan will likely be finalized at December's Board of Governors meeting.

please please please put Detroit in the East

Any ideas on how division would look? The bigger idea is...interesting


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6706113

They should put 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. More competition for the playoffs in the East but less travel. Less competition in the West but much more travel.

trwi7 wrote:They should put 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West. More competition for the playoffs in the East but less travel. Less competition in the West but much more travel.

Um, no. That's the reason why baseball is realigning, why create that problem in hockey?

The easiest way to do it is to get rid of conferences altogether and just do four divisions. You have sixteen teams in the eastern time zone, split those up and make two divisions, then do seven and seven out west. Here's what I would do:

Division I
Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Buffalo, New Yorks, New Jersey

Division II
Detroit, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philly, Washington, Carolina, Tampa, Florida

Division III
Winnipeg, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado (in Mountain, but closest in terms of travel to the other teams in the Central)

Division IV
Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, San Jose, LA, Anaheim, Phoenix

Top four in each division make the playoffs, first round two rounds are divisional, Division I winner takes on Division II winner, Division III takes on Division IV.

Tada, now give me money for coming up with something so simple.

I don't see how my proposal is any different than yours. You still have two 8 team divisions and two 7 team divisions except there's one in each conference. Once again, travel is much easier for Eastern Conference teams, so they should make it more difficult for them to make the playoffs.

Once again Chicago, Nashville and Dallas will have a good chunk of games in the Pacific time zone while the New York teams, Philadelphia, New Jersey etc. can just take a bus to a lot of games. How is that fair for teams in the West?

You can play more games within your division and less elsewhere if you just eliminate the conferences altogether. That's what I'm saying, don't bind divisions together anymore due to conferences, just have four divisions and have teams play within their division more. Only use a "conference" for the playoffs, when it would only matter for two rounds.

Here is another idea, from a Michigan site:

Eastern Conference:
Northeast Division (eight teams): Detroit, Columbus, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo, Boston, Pittsburgh.

Atlantic Division (eight teams): Rangers, Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida.

Dividing the Western teams is a little tricky. On one hand, it makes sense to keep all four Western Canadian teams in one division. On the other hand, maybe this format would be better:

Pacific Division (seven teams): Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix.

Midwest Division (seven teams): Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Winnipeg.

I like this a little better because it gets us into an original six division. greedy i know


http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf ... rom_n.html

Craig Leipold owner of the Wild was on KFAN in Minneapolis today and said the Wild division would include Winnipeg, St. Louis, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago and maybe Columbus depending on if they go East.

That's only six teams so I'm guessing if Columbus goes East then Colorado goes to that division. If Columbus stays in the West then I'm guessing Colorado goes to the Pacific or whatever the division will be called.

My take, read why here: http://hockey.realgm.com/src_betweenthe ... for_12_13/

Pacific Division: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix

Central Division: Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, Columbus, St. Louis, Nashville, Colorado, Dallas

Atlantic Division: NY Rangers, NY Islanders, New Jersey, Washington, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida

Northeast Division: Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

Colorado and Columbus are two time zones apart. Move Colorado to the Pacific and I like it.

As long as Detroit goes east i'm happy. I'd really like to be in the same division as some Original Six teams as well. Would love to renew the Toronto rivalry or be with Montreal

trwi7 wrote:Colorado and Columbus are two time zones apart. Move Colorado to the Pacific and I like it.

This. And for the love of god, abandon the geographical division names. They're dull.

Norris, Smythe, Patrick, and Adams. Better names that honour history than geography, IMNAAHO.

Welp looks like we know the Central Division

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2011/7/7/22 ... wner-radio

So perhaps Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold was supposed to stay mum on the issues when he appeared on KFAN in Minneapolis on the Paul Allen Show and basically told everyone what the brand-new Central Division will look like and what kind of changes are in store

"Our division would include the Winnipeg Jets, us, the Blues, the Nashville Predators, the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets… maybe not depending on if they go east or west. I am all in favor of that. I think that is a grand slam, home run, hat trick for our team."

We’re all Central Division now. All of our teams, except for Columbus, all of our teams will be Central Division. We’ll play less teams in Canada. We will play every team home and away at least one time.

ajaX82 wrote:Welp looks like we know the Central Division

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2011/7/7/22 ... wner-radio

So perhaps Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold was supposed to stay mum on the issues when he appeared on KFAN in Minneapolis on the Paul Allen Show and basically told everyone what the brand-new Central Division will look like and what kind of changes are in store

"Our division would include the Winnipeg Jets, us, the Blues, the Nashville Predators, the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets… maybe not depending on if they go east or west. I am all in favor of that. I think that is a grand slam, home run, hat trick for our team."

We’re all Central Division now. All of our teams, except for Columbus, all of our teams will be Central Division. We’ll play less teams in Canada. We will play every team home and away at least one time.

So uhhhh Leipold....YOU arent in the Central right now, so how can you say "We're all except for Columbus", and Columbus is.

Realignment back in the news:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_d ... hl-wp12995

A number of realignment scenarios were laid out in front of the governors, including ideas to keep the current six-division format or move into a four-conference format, featuring two conferences of eight teams and two conferences of seven teams.

Completely overhauling the current system into a four-conference system would obviously require the League to change the playoff format as well.

"There are no shortage of issues and possibilities," Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "There are a number of clubs that would like to see an adjustment as far as where they're aligned, and every club that felt that way had an opportunity to explain to the board why. We went around the room to get a sense of what people were thinking."