218 replies to this topic

[SterioDesign]

Didnt realize the devils had such a huge rivalry with the B's and Habs.

They don't. But i do with have one with fans since i don't live in NJ... im mostly dealing with Habs, Pens, Leafs and Bruins fans... to the point that i dont really care much about Rangers fans since i dont deal with them... i know one Rangers fan thats it

[Devil Dan 56]

I take it you weren't watching in the 80's and early 90's? From 82-87 the Rangers played the Flyers 5 times in the first round. Rangers won 3 and the Flyers 2. Was huge for building that rivalry.

Agreed. We are going to get some real knock down drag out series out of this. And playing a team every year will just make it better. Look at Montreal-Boston. They seem to play each other almost every year in the playoffs, and those series are almost always great.

And as for killing the parity, I think there will still be plenty of parity. You have 7 teams fighting for 4 spots. Sure, one team might be out all season but it's the same now with 15 teams fighting for 8 spots. There's always a couple of teams that will pull away from the pack and there's always teams that will be in close to last all year, but you'll still have the dog fights for the last couple of spots.

Edited by Devil Dan 56, 06 December 2011 - 03:06 PM.

[DaneykoIsGod]

If by that you mean, Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe, then I agree.

Kidding aside, those guys (except for Charles Adams) still have awards named after them. It's time for the next generation of hockey contributors to be immortalized, and if Gretzky, Howe, Orr and Lemieux aren't worthy of that honor, then no player(s) ever will be.

And besides ... without cheating, can you honestly tell me anything about James E. Norris? Nostalgia is nice, but it also helped bring Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik, Jason Arnott, etc. etc. back to Jersey. In other words, sometimes it's best to move on ...

[Onddeck]

well i dont know how to feel about it. i guess I really don't care honestly that much. there wasn't much a reason to change the old system but its obviously different than other sports, something new to look at.

[Triumph]

Kidding aside, those guys (except for Charles Adams) still have awards named after them. It's time for the next generation of hockey contributors to be immortalized, and if Gretzky, Howe, Orr and Lemieux aren't worthy of that honor, then no player(s) ever will be.

And besides ... without cheating, can you honestly tell me anything about James E. Norris? Nostalgia is nice, but it also helped bring Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik, Jason Arnott, etc. etc. back to Jersey. In other words, sometimes it's best to move on ...

Or in the Rangers' case, bringing back Esa Tikkanen and Mark Messier.

If someone proposed to name the baseball divisions after 1880s players they'd be laughed at. The old names are silly, I wouldn't mind names from the more recent past. I have to imagine, though, they'll stick with the geographical type names.

[SterioDesign]

its gonna be rough for awhile but with the right moves and signing the right players we could be competing in a few years with our youngs Ds all up here and with a more experience Larsson...

can only hope the Canes and islanders continue to suck and that Carolina and Rangers can't find a good replacement after Ward and Lundqvist...

[DaneykoIsGod]

As always, great stuff from Stu Hackel:

Reportedly, Bettman’s divisions (he preferred they be called conferences) originally were:

Group One: Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, Colorado, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

Group Two: Dallas, Nashville, Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Winnipeg and Columbus or Detroit

Group Three: Detroit or Columbus plus Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Boston.

Group Four: New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.

Well, it sounded good in theory until the conferences were revealed and the howling started again. For one thing, the Penguins and Flyers, two of the NHL’s most fierce rivals, were in separate conferences.

The Flyers-Penguins problem was solved by putting them together in the group with the New York area teams. That meant moving the two Florida teams into the group where the Penguins were — among four northeastern teams — and they stick out geographically like the hair under George Parros’ helmet.

As you can imagine, the Florida teams may not have been too pleased with the drastic increase this would mean in their travel costs, but more visits from the Canadiens and Maple Leafs, who always fill those Florida arenas, likely eased their mind.

The whole thing is a really good read.

Edited by DaneykoIsGod, 06 December 2011 - 04:17 PM.

[Matteau#32]

This isnt the 80s...

yeah, and hockey was a lot better in the 80's.

[MDPucks]

Geographical Conference names but each winner wins the following trophies:

"Atlantic Division" wins the Lemieux-Brodeur Trophy

"Northeast Division" wins the Orr-Bowman Trophy

"Central Division" wins the Howe-Hull Trophy

"Pacific Division" wins the Gretzky-Messier Trophy

[Marshall]

Which part is the Brodeur-part of the trophy?

[devilsfan26]

As always, great stuff from Stu Hackel:



The whole thing is a really good read.

Definitely, thanks for posting that. After reading how it all went down, I don't think I mind this idea as much. I wonder what happens if the NHLPA is totally against this though.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Which part is the Brodeur-part of the trophy?

The Backbone.

I wish there were markets for the NHL to grow a couple more teams out west and end this travel/fatigue/etc issues... Las Vegas, Porland, Seattle, Spokane, Salt Lake.

But the economy has this a damper on the whole game right now

[devlman]

I don't think the playoffs will get stale if we're playing the same teams.. You seriously want to tell me that even 15 years from now you'll be like "Oh the Devils are playing the Rangers in the playoffs? Yawn, wake me up when something new and exciting happens".. It'll be huge even if it happens every season

People like you and I will never get bored with it, but the casual fans may lose interest.

Edited by devlman, 06 December 2011 - 05:02 PM.

[devlman]

yeah, and hockey was a lot better in the 80's.

Yeah whatever, and 1994 was the best year for the NHL, too, right?

[Devil Dan 56]

Yeah whatever, and 1994 was the best year for the NHL, too, right?

1994 aside, there was some real great stuff in hockey back in the 80's-early 90's that I miss. I love watching an old game and seeing few or no ads on the boards, smaller goalie equipment worn by goalies who did more than butterfly, enforcers who could skate a regular shift, and no instigator rule come to mind. I know those days are gone, but they sure were entertaining.

And anyone who says we won't have Cinderella runs or parity needs to look no further than the 1987-88 Devils. They were in a race with the Rangers till the very last game, upset the mighty Islanders, upset the Caps, and then took a great Boston team to 7 games.

[BlueSkirt]

Have to admit, that isn't too bad. Just shows how far away the Florida teams are from everyone else anyway, not to mention NW Canada.

i think it shows the league expects PHO to end up in QUE, then you move PIT back into the Northeast
and then re-add TAM/FLA back into the Atlantic with us, so we end up with the 8-team conference....until the Isles move out !

[MDPucks]

1994 aside, there was some real great stuff in hockey back in the 80's-early 90's that I miss. I love watching an old game and seeing few or no ads on the boards, smaller goalie equipment worn by goalies who did more than butterfly, enforcers who could skate a regular shift, and no instigator rule come to mind. I know those days are gone, but they sure were entertaining.

And anyone who says we won't have Cinderella runs or parity needs to look no further than the 1987-88 Devils. They were in a race with the Rangers till the very last game, upset the mighty Islanders, upset the Caps, and then took a great Boston team to 7 games.

I'd argue that most enforcers have to skate a shift now versus back in the day. Troy Crowder, Dave Brown, Stu Grimson, Bob Probert, etc. wouldn't make it past the ECHL in today's era of salary caps. Most enforcers today are welter-weights in the mold of Boston's Shawn Thornton that are far from hopeless playing on the 3rd or 4th lines of most teams.

[Matteau#32]

1994 aside, there was some real great stuff in hockey back in the 80's-early 90's that I miss. I love watching an old game and seeing few or no ads on the boards, smaller goalie equipment worn by goalies who did more than butterfly, enforcers who could skate a regular shift, and no instigator rule come to mind. I know those days are gone, but they sure were entertaining.

And anyone who says we won't have Cinderella runs or parity needs to look no further than the 1987-88 Devils. They were in a race with the Rangers till the very last game, upset the mighty Islanders, upset the Caps, and then took a great Boston team to 7 games.

I remember that. We had family over for Easter Sunday, by the time they left the Rangers had already beaten Quebec, and I watched the end of the Devils-Blackhawks. Started my hatred of the Devils, but hated the Isles more so rooted for them against the Isles.

86 Rangers too, had 78 points off the top of my head. Beat the 100+point flyers in 5, and the 100+ point caps in 6. Lost to Habs and some unknown named Roy, but it was a great run.

Edited by Matteau#32, 06 December 2011 - 06:20 PM.

[NJDevs4978]

i think it shows the league expects PHO to end up in QUE, then you move PIT back into the Northeast
and then re-add TAM/FLA back into the Atlantic with us, so we end up with the 8-team conference....until the Isles move out !

Phoenix is currently in one of the eight-team conferences. All that would happen if they did move to Quebec is you take them out of that division and put them in the Montreal-Boston-Buffalo 'conference', which currently has seven teams including Quebec's original rivals.

[Random Poster]

If someone proposed to name the baseball divisions after 1880s players they'd be laughed at. The old names are silly, I wouldn't mind names from the more recent past. I have to imagine, though, they'll stick with the geographical type names.

Of course the old division names are silly to you. You only started watching hockey in 1995.

The old division names were unique to hockey and the rivalries within them are stories and games remembered today.

Edited by SJP20, 06 December 2011 - 06:23 PM.