142 replies to this topic

[Chuck the Duck]

I agree. This whole dumb realignment was only done to appease their whining. Also by having this and saving them money for travel, they also threw Florida and Tampa under the bus.

 

Exactly.  The NHL bends over backwards for the Original 6, plus the Flyers and Pens (as long as they have Crosby), almost to the total disregard and detriment of the rest of the league. 

 

Like Satan said, the MLS figured out a year or 2 ago that this type of system is confusing to the casual fan and were smart enough to get rid of it and go with a traditional alignment.  It seems like the NHL does everything it can to be a$$ backwards. 

[devilsfan26]

When this realignment talk started last year, I read in a pretty detailed article that the NHL guaranteed the Red Wings they would be moved to the East the next time the divisions are reconfigured.  It seems to me the issue isn't the Red Wings whining, it's the NHL making that stupid promise years ago.

 

I think realignment had to happen because of all the travel the Western Conference teams had to do, and there isn't really a perfect solution geographically, but I don't really like that they are changing the playoff format.  Also why are they calling it divisional playoffs when potentially only half of the series are division matchups?  What happens if the wild card teams win in the first two rounds, is there no division champion or are the wild card teams considered the champions of their opponent's division?  If they are re-seeding teams 1-4 for the third round then we would have division champions that may or may not be from that division, and no conference championships at all.  This is a mess.

 

Also, it seems ridiculous to have Tampa Bay and Florida in a division called "Northeast."  I am all for going back to naming the divisions after people to eliminate this problem.

[Triumph]

When this realignment talk started last year, I read in a pretty detailed article that the NHL guaranteed the Red Wings they would be moved to the East the next time the divisions are reconfigured.  It seems to me the issue isn't the Red Wings whining, it's the NHL making that stupid promise years ago.

 

I think realignment had to happen because of all the travel the Western Conference teams had to do, and there isn't really a perfect solution geographically, but I don't really like that they are changing the playoff format.  Also why are they calling it divisional playoffs when potentially only half of the series are division matchups?  What happens if the wild card teams win in the first two rounds, is there no division champion or are the wild card teams considered the champions of their opponent's division?  If they are re-seeding teams 1-4 for the third round then we would have division champions that may or may not be from that division, and no conference championships at all.  This is a mess.

 

Also, it seems ridiculous to have Tampa Bay and Florida in a division called "Northeast."  I am all for going back to naming the divisions after people to eliminate this problem.

 

'This is a mess.  By the way, let's go back to making it even messier by changing the division names for no good reason.'

 

The NFL has the Cowboys in the NFC East, MLB had Atlanta in the NL West for years and now has Houston in the AL West.

[devilsfan26]

I figured you would chime in on that haha.  But in my opinion it's not making it messier, it isn't that hard to learn the divisions, and they did it this way before and it was fine.

 

At the end of the day though, what the divisions are called isn't really that big of a deal, I'm more concerned with how the playoffs will work.  It would just be weird seeing a banner in Tampa Bay that says "Northeast Division champions," just like Winnipeg still being in the Southeast.

Edited by devilsfan26, 08 March 2013 - 02:06 PM.

[Chuck the Duck]

I figured you would chime in on that haha.  But in my opinion it's not making it messier, it isn't that hard to learn the divisions, and they did it this way before and it was fine.

 

At the end of the day though, what the divisions are called isn't really that big of a deal, I'm more concerned with how the playoffs will work.  It would just be weird seeing a banner in Tampa Bay that says "Northeast Division champions," just like Winnipeg still being in the Southeast.

 

Or seeing a banner hanging at the Rock that says "Northeast division playoff champions" which could conceivable happen if we were the wildcard and had to play the top seed from that division.

[Z-Man]

I just hope they don't re-seed the final four....East should play East, West should play West.

 

The potential for matchups like a Vancouver/Pittsburgh semifinal and a Los Angeles/Montreal semifinal to reach the Cup Finals just sounds stupid.

[redruM]

I heard onlyt the top 3 teams are g'teed spots, then the last 2 spots in each conf goto the next 32 best teams, meaning its quite possible you get 5 dteams form 1 conf,. and 3 from the other.

[BlueSkirt]

Florida & Tampa will probably move to Quebec City & Hamilton.....

 

In the west they'll add 2 teams at some poiint.

 

Then it will all make sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

maybe...

[mouse]

Florida & Tampa will probably move to Quebec City & Hamilton.....

 

In the west they'll add 2 teams at some poiint.

 

Then it will all make sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

maybe...

Tampa's not going anywhere. They're a decent draw with some history, albeit recent.

[ATLL765]

This is pure idiocy, imo. If the NHL wanted a way to confuse every new fan it gained since the last lockout, it's done a great job because the new format makes no sense to me and I actually understand it. My casual fan friends, however, will be 100% lost.

['7']

I dont see this realignment lasting past the 2 year trial period. People hate it already. Im willing to give it a chance but it may be a disaster after year 1 anyway

[point]

Why not just use the NCAA system? The division winners are automatic, and a secret committee picks the rest , and assigns teams mysteriously to synthetic regional brackets?

[CHIP72]

The Red Wings can go to hell. Theyve always been a Western team and have always had great success and fan support. To throw the rest of the league into the toilet just so they can be in the Eastern Conference is ridiculous

 

Yeah, it's absolutely ridiculous the NHL broke up the Detroit-Chicago rivalry just because the Red Wings whined.  Really, there should be 15 "Eastern" teams and 15 "Western" teams and Detroit should be in the division with Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Dallas, and Colorado.  The Red Wings would have only one division rival 2 time zones away and most of their rivals would be 1 time zone away...which isn't that different than what the Detroit Tigers and to a lesser degree the Detroit Pistons face in division road games in their respective sports.  Having 15 teams in each conference would also address the playoff imbalance issue.

 

Also, IMO Florida and Tampa Bay should be in the East Coast division with the Devils, Rangers, Islanders, Flyers, Capitals, and Hurricanes while Pittsburgh and Columbus play in the division with Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Boston.

 

Finally, though I don't like the 4 division setup, if you're going to have "wild-card" playoff teams, then have a divisional playoff setup like what was in place from 1982 to 1993.  Like most people, I'm not super-keen on that setup (though I remember the 1982 to 1993 days and that playoff setup really wasn't that bad), but it makes more sense then having teams play a divisional playoff format against teams not in their own division when the regular season schedule will be imbalanced and heavily tilted towards playing teams in their own division.

Edited by CHIP72, 08 March 2013 - 07:50 PM.

[CHIP72]

Yep. It's pretty dumb. I hope they don't actually give out titles or banners for any playoff success because it would obviously create some asterisk marks in the records.

 

You mean like the Devils' 1988 Patrick Division Champions banner?

 

To be honest, I've always thought that banner was kind of dumb (if understandable; at that point in their history it was the first taste of success the franchise had).  Winning the regular season division championship is a greater accomplishment because you did it over 80-84 games, not two 7-game series.  Besides, if the Devils are going to have that 1988 banner, why not have a banner for their 1994 playoff run when they went equally as far in the playoffs, lost in arguably the greatest NHL playoff series of all-time to the Presidents' Trophy winner that season, and themselves were second in the NHL in regular season points?

[DH26]

You mean like the Devils' 1988 Patrick Division Champions banner?

 

To be honest, I've always thought that banner was kind of dumb (if understandable; at that point in their history it was the first taste of success the franchise had).  Winning the regular season division championship is a greater accomplishment because you did it over 80-84 games, not two 7-game series.  Besides, if the Devils are going to have that 1988 banner, why not have a banner for their 1994 playoff run when they went equally as far in the playoffs, lost in arguably the greatest NHL playoff series of all-time to the Presidents' Trophy winner that season, and themselves were second in the NHL in regular season points?

 

Maybe the custom was different then and you had to get out of the division playoffs to be considered division champ whereas now it's a regular season championship. Same as the rangers not having a conference title banner even though they had the best east record. 

[Marshall]

I don't mind the divisions (much) but the playoffs are turrrrrrible.

[msweet]

This also suggest to me if there are plans to add teams it will be in the West

[MadDog2020]

This also suggest to me if there are plans to add teams it will be in the West

Yep. To add Quebec, Columbus would have to move back to the west (they'd never move Detroit back). But hey, if there's any league that would move a team to a different conference only to move them back two years later, it's the NHL. Anything is possible with these dipsh!ts.

[mouse]

Barclay's Center was bad for Quebec. Isles were their best shot after Winnipeg got the Thrashers. Actually, Barclay's Center just blows. My landlord is selling my building because property values in Brooklyn skyrocketed so I'm getting evicted at the end of the month. Fvck the Nets.

[MadDog2020]

Barclay's Center was bad for Quebec. Isles were their best shot after Winnipeg got the Thrashers. Actually, Barclay's Center just blows. My landlord is selling my building because property values in Brooklyn skyrocketed so I'm getting evicted at the end of the month. Fvck the Nets.

Yeah, they won't expand to Quebec, not after this- a team would have to move there if it were to happen. By the looks of this whole thing, it tells me Phoenix is going to Seattle next season. I don't think there's any way that team can stay in Glendale another season.