NHL Realignment

Here is my idea of how the NHL should realign it's teams and divisions. What do you guys think?


Eastern Conference


Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers


Northeast Division

Buffalo Sabres
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs


Southeast Division

Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals





Western Conference



Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
St. Louis Blues



Northwest Division

Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Minnesota Wild
Winnipeg Jets



Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks

I hate it, but you"ll never get me to like anything the take Pittsburgh/Philly out of the same division.

All that really needs to be done is to swap Columbus and Winnipeg.  That solves a lot of problems.  Nashville is in the Central Time Zone, the same as Winnipeg.  So move Columbus, the team furtherest east in the West to the Southeast and move Winnipeg to Columbus's spot in the Central and that fixes that until a total re-alignment is done if and when we find out about Phoenix. 

All that really needs to be done is to swap Columbus and Winnipeg


this *dusts hands*



and how dare you split the Flyers and Penguins. how DARE you! i do like having Boston, though. I'm sure the Habs and Leafs would oppose.    

If anybody moves, it will be Detroit.  I think NHL is wanting to re-ignite the rivalries with Toronto, Montreal, and Boston.  Red Wings have no clear rival in the West anymore except for the Blackhawks.  The Blues rivalry really isn't that great anymore.  I think the realignment will move Detroit to East.  Columbus will go East too until expansion teams come in.   Expansion teams will be Quebec and someone in the West.  When that happens, Columbus moves back to the West.  Each conference would have 8 teams at that point.  The problem is Phoenix.  What is going on with them?  Are they staying in Phoenix?

Simple...send Detroit to the East and Winnipeg to the West. I'd prefer to expand giving Seattle and Quebec a team with Seattle joining Winnipeg in the West, and Quebec joining Detroit in the East. Make 2 divisions of 8 teams in each division, top 8 in each conference makes playoffs. There are alot of young kids getting much better these days and I think you could easily make 2 more teams that could be competitive without watering down the talent in the future.

I have a question for everyone. 

I keep seeing renewing the Rivialy of the Wings verses the Leafs, Habs, Ect.   But it has been since 1992 that Detroit has played in a division with anyone of those teams.  So why do you really think there would be a bigger rivialry with the Wings verse what the Wings have with the Blackhawks, Blues, Preds etc? 

I know some are longing for the days of 6 teams again, but unless you are over 40 years of age, the chances of you reallying knowing or caring about the rivialry is probably very little, except for hearsay. 

Now I have no problem with Detroit moving to the east, but if there was to be only one team to move to the east verse Winnipeg moving west then in my opinion it should be columbus.  They don't have the rivalrys of say the Wings and Hawks, or Wings and Blues and if the NHL really wants that franchise to survive then they need the Jackets in the East to bring more of their fans to the game IMO. 

This from a Hurricane fan.  With that said,  if they do move 2 teams like is being rumored then yes, because of the time zones, the Wings and Jackets should move.  But the Wings only if they move 2 teams. 

mikeyfan,

Even though I am not a Red Wing fan, I could see the Red Wings-Maple Leafs rivalry potentially becoming bigger than the Blackhawks-Red Wings rivalry.  I say that because of the close proximity the two cities are to each (i.e. that small section of Canada) compared to the distance between Detroit and Chicago.  It is my understanding that both teams have a large following of fans within that portion of Canada and fans living their are more fanatic about ice hockey than Americans.  Also, it is my understand that the NHL owners (or Bettman) want to return hockey to its "roots" (since it is viewed as a Canadian sport) as a way of re-energizing the revenue stream and interest in the sport.

The only downside to moving Columbus to the East is Columbus would be placed in the Southeast Division.  Does that really make more sense moving a central/midwest team to the Southeast instead of Nashville (who is located in the southeast region)?  I understand Nashville is in the central time zone, but I am not sure Columbus would really develop any rivalries with the Southeast teams since it would logistically be located on an island (separated by at least 1 Atlantic Division team) from its closest divisional foe (Washington).  At least Tennessee and North Carolina border each other, so there is a better chance at least a Nashville-Carolina rivalry could develop from the move.  There is even a possibility that Nashville-Washington could develop into a rivalry (if you agree with the assumption that at least part of Virginia is considered Caps "terroritory" and Tennessee borders Virginia).  Even though most Caps fans would rather be in the same division as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, I believe they could be content with having a similar rivalry with Nashville that they have with Carolina.  It may not be perfect, but I am not sure there is any perfect solution given the number of teams located in the east.

VT, Columbus is closer to Raleigh and Washington DC than Nashville is.  The distance between Nashville and Tampa or Miami is not that much closer than Columbus would be to those cities, Also, the time zone difference makes moving Columbus to the southeast over Nashville, more fesible than Nashville.

Here are the distances Columbus to Washington - 400 miles to Raleigh 489 miles;  Nashville to Washington 664 miles to Raleigh 539.  Also, there are lots of people here from OH,  so,  a rivilary could probably be developed in a hurry. 

Columbus is more East the Detroit, right? It would be pretty stupid to move the team farther after without moving the closer team.

mikey,

I understand what you are saying about distance.  However, distance does not necessarily mean 2 locations share the same culture.  Ohio is viewed as either a midwestern or central state.  Tennessee is viewed as southeastern or south state.  If the NHL is going to have a Southeast Division, then doesn't it make the msot sense to have teams from within that region?   

Red Wings been "promised" to be moved to the Eastern Conference a long time ago.

As long as Toronto is the same division again as my Wings I will be happy.

NHL front office I read asked the NHLPA to decide on their proposal of realignment by this weekend but I haven't heard anything yet.

Right now the stupid front office proposal has an uneven Conferences where a wildcard playoff spot will be needed every season but even then it still won't be fair percentage wise for everyone to make the playoffs.

Hope the players shoot down the NHL lawyers latest brain fart realignment idea....flush.

Whatever the alignment, you really can't break up the Atlantic division.  The rivalries there are too close.  The exception would be the Islanders if something were to happen to the team to force it to move.  That's the only way I could see the Atlantic breaking apart.

swap Boston and Pitt. Gotta have Bruins/Habs and Pens/Flyers.

Swap Toronto and Philadelphia.

Swap Toronto and Philadelphia.

That would be even worse.  You can't take seperate the Rangers and Flyers.  Sure Pittsburgh is the hot rivalry right now, it's not nearly as old or intense as the one for NYR or NJ. 

I think it sucks. I would never approve anything that took the Flyers and Caps out of Pittsburgh's division. Switch Boston (because it is more north like the other teams you put in the NE) and Pittsburgh, and I'm cool with it

As flawed as the alignment is, I think it's much closer to how things should be than what they have now.  

I don't like the disparity in teams but more playoff games for the west is justified for revenue purposes.    More travel expenses and fewer cheeks in the seats than if they played against more traditional markets regularly.      

I have problems with the realignment, but I have far fewer problems than with what they had before.    The more I look into the details for each franchise, the more I'm comfortable with the changes from a league perspective. 

hockeybob,

Would you prefer the NHL realign in the 2 division format (or some form of it) or make suble changes to the 3 division format (i.e. move 2-4 teams among the divisions) until the NHL settles some outstanding issues (i.e. sale of the Coyotes, relocation of other teams, expansion, etc)?  It just seems to me that it may not be in the NHL's best interest to shake things up until it has settled/defined a few of the unknowns.  I say that because in a few years the NHL could end up expanding 2 more teams.  Would the NHL only expand in western cities (i.e. Seattle, Kansas City, Houston, Portland, etc) or could an eastern city (i.e. Quebec City, Hartford, Atlanta, Markham, Hamilton, etc) be a part of the expansion plan?  If the NHL awarded expansion franchises to 2 eastern cities, then would the NHL move 2 teams (back?) to the West or allow the conferences to be unbalanced even it has 32 teams (Eastern Conference = 18 teams and Western Conference = 14 teams)? 

If the Eastern Conference did happen to expand to 18 teams, then are there enough western cities to where the Western Conference could expand by 4 (i.e. Houston, Kansas City, Portland, Seattle)?  What I don't want to see happen is goes through a period where it is frequent realignment because teams are either relocating to cities in the other conference or because of expansion.  I don't think it would be good for the league to see any team flip flop between the conferences multiple times within a relatively short period of time (i.e. 20 years) for one reason or another because it will be tough for the team to rebuild and maintain any sort of rivalry since the scheduling format could lead to breaks or reductions in games.  

NFL - Last time I check, the Caps aren't in the same division as the Flyers anyway.