Winnipeg Jets to the Central Division

[elocomotive]

True, very confusing how that all would work though. Of the Atlantic teams, who'd move? Other than the Pens they're all very close to each other over there, but the Pens wouldn't fit in the SE. And I doubt they move the Philly Pitt rivalry. I dunno...certainly seems that Detroit is moving. That is until Phoenix moves to Quebec City and kicks 'em back

Two scenarios:

(1) I could see it being Philly b/c of the Pitt/Det rivalry. Yeah, you'd lose PHI-PITT, but you'd gain PIT-DET and WAS-PHI.

(2) I could see it being Pitt b/c of the OV/Crosby thing and since all the other Atlantic teams are really clustered together. Again, you'd lose PHI-PIT, but gain DET vs NY and Philly markets. Big ratings. Plus, you'd have your star-laden golden goose of Washington and Pittsburgh.


Re: some posts above. I agree Nashville or Columbus seems a more natural move, but we are presuming Detroit is moving East based on the article (that says Columbus stays west and has Detroit absent). If that is true, you can't really move ANOTHER team to the East. You'd have serious imbalance and they aren't going to move Detroit to the East and then make some East coast team be in the West.

Unless this might mean a 16/14 split, which would be ridiculous because it would make playoff qualification uneven and potentially knock out more top markets in the East.

 

[elocomotive]

Preds to the Southeast.

/thread

That doesn't follow what the article says.

 

[UTVolCountry]

According to the Grand Rapids Press, Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold said as much on Monday, telling Minneapolis radion station, KFAN that the Wild would be playing in the Central Division against the Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars and possibly the Columbus Blue Jackets. He made no mention of the Detroit Red Wings, which is the team most likely to move the Eastern Conference to accomodate the Jets' move.

So where does that put the Blues?

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Timezones won't matter once European expansion begins.

 

[elocomotive]

So where does that put the Blues?

Good question. In the Pacific? I don't know. I'm not sure how real any of this is b/c I didn't think the NHL had talked about this yet, much less made any concrete decisions.

 

[mattola]

Details of the NHL Realignment Slip Out - NHL and Hockey Coverage for fans! - NHL Hot Stove

 

[elocomotive]

Oh, so the quote is that a division would be...

Winnipeg
Minnesota
St. Louis
Nashville
Dallas
Chicago
Columbus

So with Detroit presumably headed East, that means the other West division is...

Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
Colorado
Los Angeles
Phoenix
Anaheim
San Jose

 

[SLY]

I like the idea of three divisions, no more conferences.

 

[dare2be]

(2) I could see it being Pitt b/c of the OV/Crosby thing and since all the other Atlantic teams are really clustered together. Again, you'd lose PHI-PIT, but gain DET vs NY and Philly markets. Big ratings. Plus, you'd have your star-laden golden goose of Washington and Pittsburgh.

I don't buy the star-power argument. These stars won't be around after 15 or so years, and possibly not even with the same teams in less than that. To do an alignment based on which players are on certain teams is a shaky proposition at best.

 

[dare2be]

I like the idea of three divisions, no more conferences.

You need to count. The 3 divisions listed are just the remaining 23 teams from the division not mentioned with Winnipeg. So that would make 4.

 

[elocomotive]

So the East would then be?...

Boston
Montreal
Buffalo
Toronto
Ottawa
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
New Jersey

Pittsburgh
Philly
Detroit
Washington
Tampa Bay
Florida
Carolina

 

[elocomotive]

I don't buy the star-power argument. These stars won't be around after 10-15 years, and possibly not even with the same teams in less than that. To do an alignment based on which players are on certain teams is a shaky proposition at best.

You wouldn't put this past the NHL? I wasn't saying they should, just trying to figure out the logic, but I didn't realize they were talking about 4 divisions really.

 

[dare2be]

So the East would then be?...

Boston
Montreal
Buffalo
Toronto
Ottawa
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
New Jersey

Pittsburgh
Philly
Detroit
Washington
Tampa Bay
Florida
Carolina

Move Buffalo/Toronto down and Philly up. Works better geographically:

Boston
Montreal
Ottawa
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
New Jersey
Philly

Buffalo
Toronto
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Washington
Tampa Bay
Florida
Carolina

 

[dare2be]

You wouldn't put this past the NHL? I wasn't saying they should, just trying to figure out the logic, but I didn't realize they were talking about 4 divisions really.

I'm saying the NHL better not do it, for the reasons stated, but yeah, I can't put it past them.

 

[elocomotive]

Move Buffalo/Toronto down and Philly up. Works better geographically:

Better for some, less so for others. I would think they'd keep Pitt and Philly together. The NE division presently + the 3 NY teams are all REALLY close together. Seems like a natural to me, though your alignment is interesting too, but Buffalo/Toronto to the South seems a haul.

 

[dare2be]

Better for some, less so for others. I would think they'd keep Pitt and Philly together. The NE division presently + the 3 NY teams are all REALLY close together. Seems like a natural to me, though your alignment is interesting too, but Buffalo/Toronto to the South seems a haul.

About the same haul as Detroit, and Pittsburgh is only a 3-hour drive from Buffalo.

I was also thinking of the Philly proximity/rivalries with the NY/NJ teams as well.

 

[elocomotive]

Or maybe an Original 6 division? Haha...

Detroit
Boston
Montreal
Buffalo
Toronto
Ottawa
NY Rangers

Pittsburgh
Philly
Washington
Tampa Bay
Florida
Carolina
NY Islanders
New Jersey

 

[SLY]

You need to count. The 3 divisions listed are just the remaining 23 teams from the division not mentioned with Winnipeg. So that would make 4.

I am not referring to the idea in this thread, I am saying I like the idea of having only three 10 team divisions. I made it up in one of the other threads pertaining to this subject.

edit: http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...7081-realignment-poll-against.html#post861598

 

[elocomotive]

About the same haul as Detroit, and Pittsburgh is only a 3-hour drive from Buffalo.

I was also thinking of the Philly proximity/rivalries with the NY/NJ teams as well.

Yeah, but I think any of the teams in the East outside of Carolina, TB, and Florida are all really close together geographically. So I was thinking the teams that are closest to them, which is Washington, Philly, and Pitt. And then where Detroit goes is the wild card. About equal distance (though a little further than most) from either group of teams.

 

[dare2be]

I am not referring to the idea in this thread, I am saying I like the idea of having only three 10 team divisions. I made it up in one of the other threads pertaining to this subject.

Sorry, gotcha. So then how would the playoff seedings work? Just a single 1-16 bracket, with the division winners as seeds 1-3?