Does a Realignment Work Better?

The NHL has realigned in a move to save travel time and costs but is it for the best?

Yesterday the NHL’s Board of Governors approved a restructure of the league that will see four conferences instead of 6 divisions.  Here is what it would look like:

CONFERENCE A	CONFERENCE B
Anaheim Ducks	Chicago Blackhawks
Calgary Flames	Columbus Blue Jackets
Colorado Avalanche	Dallas Stars
Edmonton Oilers	Detroit Red Wings
Los Angeles Kings	Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes	Nashville Predators
San Jose Sharks	St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks	Winnipeg Jets
CONFERENCE C	CONFERENCE D
Boston Bruins	Carolina Hurricanes
Buffalo Sabres	New Jersey Devils
Florida Panthers	New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens	New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators	Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning	Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs	Washington Capitals

NHL.com says “The new alignment also enables the NHL to create a balanced schedule in which all teams will play each other at least twice every season, once at home and once on the road, giving fans a chance to see every team and superstar in the League. The remaining games will be played within the conferences.”

I’m in favour of almost everything this structure offers; more regionalized matchups, less staying up late to watch your favourite team on a 7 game western road swing (expect if you’re like me and cheer for a team on the west coast…then your still subject to watching games a 10:00pm), and getting to see every team and every player at a rink near you.

What I don’t like is how the playoffs will go.  It is proposed that the top four teams in each conference make the playoffs, that’s fine.  The first round will be 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 in each conference then the winners play against each other to determine the winner of the conference.  I don’t like the way this goes because take a look at Conference B.  Looking at this year’s standings you have the 4 best teams in the Western Conference in this grouping and only on is going to be top 4 in the league?  That’s not how to garner interest in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  This structure may make sense geographically, but it’s not good in determining the best teams in the league.

Let me know what you think!