Yeah because i started watching hockey when Ovechkin and Crosby entered the league. Good one..and its funny because Triumph probably didnt even know the NHL existed prior to 1995 anyway.
Playoff series dont mean you are big rivals otherwise our biggest rival would be the Hurricanes. Ask any pens fan if they ever considered the Caps a huge rival, dont just look up that they played each other in the postseason and conclude they must be! Thats my point, but dont bother reading any of the posts, just respond with some childish sarcasm...
Of the many wrong things said (by multiple people) in this thread this is the worst imo.
Playoff series are where rivalries are born. The canes may not be top 2 on any devils fans list of rivals, but I'm sure it's on many fans top 5. Maybe I just don't understand your definition of rivalry.
I'd like the old name's coming back, at least give a bone to the older fan since it feels like it's getting less and less like the game used to be(I still have no clue why a tie is such a abd thing). I wouldn't be upset with Gretzky, Orr, Howe and Lemieux cause I would just call it the Claude conference anyway. But I'd guess it will be some generic geographical naming convention.
Not thrilled with the new format but it fits the wants of most teams. Seemed getting each team in home and away was a big deal. I was happy with with not having to see every western team but I understand I'm in the minority.
That eats up a bunch of games so you have 2 choices. Play your division a bunch, or play a more balanced conference(I'm talking in the current sense, not next years sense) by taking away divisional games. I'd prefer the more balanced, but since you are seeing more teams that won't draw as much you want as many of the divisional games instead of the conference games(the thinking being divisional game is a better draw the a conference game which is a better draw then a conference game). I'm thinking draw, but from a western conference team they are thinking in terms of travel but it is similar logic.
If this is the schedule they are happy with, I don't see how you could have a different playoff format with such a unbalanced schedule. One bad team could have such a dramatic affect on all of a division that wild cards wouldn't really work.
After a few seasons, whatever rivalries that might not currently exist between divisional opponents will occur naturally by seeing them so much during the regular season and with a couple playoff series
I would have preferred just status quo with a team swapped here and there, but that is a devils centric view, travel is a big issue with too many teams as it is currently set up
Joe
