This past Monday in Pebble Beach, California the NHL Board of Governors approved Radical Realignment for the 2012-2013 NHL season.
The breakdown for conferences goes like this.
Conference A:
Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver
Conference B:
Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg
Conference C:
Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto
Conference D:
Carolina, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington.
Realignment hasn't happened in the NHL since the last wave of expansion over 10 years ago. Naturally it has left a lot of questions about how and why this was done the way it was and what can be expected from this.
Lucky for you I am here to help answer your questions and provide you with a better understanding of how things went down.
Why did the NHL decide to realign?
This past summer the Atlanta Thrashers were bought and moved to Winnipeg where they became the Jets. The deal took place right around the time the 2011-2012 schedule was coming out so Winnipeg was still in the Southeast Division for one more season with the NHL deciding to realign in time for the 2012-2013 season.
Couldn't the NHL just swap out a team in the West with Winnipeg instead of blowing up the current six division set up?
That was the NHL's original plan. There were two problems with this.
1. Three teams (Detroit, Columbus, Nashville) wanted to take Winnipeg's spot in the East.
2. A few other franchises out of place in the West (Dallas, Minnesota) said if we are going to realign let's take a look at the whole setup and see if we can find something that works better.
My personal belief is the NHL did want to do a one for one swap but it takes 20 of 30 votes for anything to pass. I don't believe Detroit had the votes to go from the West to the East.
Putting Nashville in the East would have not been fair to the two teams in the West that play in the Eastern time zone. Moving Columbus would have been the lesser of three evils but by doing that you risk upsetting one of your better owners, Mike Illitch, of one of your marquee franchises.
So, the NHL decides to just to move Winnipeg to the West and not another team to the East leaving one conference with 16 teams and one with 14 teams?
Not Exactly.
Instead of dividing the teams by divisions, the NHL will now divide the teams by conferences. Each team will play the majority of games within their conference with the rest of their games being played against teams from different conferences.
Does that mean every team will play each other twice next year?
Yes, next year every team will play everyone at least twice.
That means if you are in the West, Crosby & Ovechkin will play in your building next year instead of having to wait two or more seasons like some cities have done to see them. If you are in the East, Detroit & Chicago will be paying you a visit every season instead of every other season and vice-versa.
To me this makes nothing but sense. Every team should have to play each other twice. Here in Minnesota if seeing Crosby & Ovechkin every season means having Carolina & Florida come to Xcel Center once a year I'm fine with it.
If there are four conferences how will the post-season work?
Think of it as the way it was when the NHL had the Patrick, Adams, Norris & Smythe Divisions.
The first two rounds of the playoffs will be within conference with the top four teams from each conference making it. After that there is talk of the NHL re-seeding the final four teams that advance from their respective conferences.
Is there any chance the NHL goes back to the Original division names of Patrick, Adams, Norris & Smythe as the names for the conferences?
As much as I would love this to happen I doubt it. From what I hear the conferences will be named Pacific, Central, Eastern and Atlantic.
Of course I was also hearing Winnipeg being named the Manitoba Moose when they moved instead of the Jets so anything is possible.
Getting back to re-seeding, does this mean we could have a Boston-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup Final?
If the NHL does decide to re-seed we could absolutely see a Boston-Pittsburgh Final one year. You could also see a Vancouver-Chicago Final or a Detroit-San Jose Final, both of which would have a lot of drama because of recent playoff meetings.
On the downside the door would be open for a Carolina-Florida final or a Phoenix-Nashville Final. The NHL might want to re-think this one.
Speaking of Phoenix, does this mean they are staying in the desert?
Not Exactly. The Coyotes still have ownership issues that need to be straighten out.
One thing this realignment set up does allow is that if Phoenix should move to another city the NHL can just place them in a different conference without having to dramatically realign the other conferences.
If the Phoenix franchise happens to end up in Conference B because of a move then either Detroit or Columbus would probably be placed in Conference C.
Is there any chance the NHL could expand by two more teams to give each conference eight teams?
I think NHL expansion is a stronger possibility under the conference format than it was under the division format. A lot of things have to fall in place though before it is a reality.
The NHL has to see what and where Phoenix ends up before any realignment talk can seriously take place. Then the NHL has to see what cities can and would be willing to support a new franchise.
The last thing the NHL wants is a situation like the one they have in Phoenix or had in Atlanta.
What cities would be in line for expansion?
I'll save that question for another column.
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