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NHL to realign to four conferences in 2012-13

  • Rumored new division names: Pavel, Datsyuk, Nicklas, Lidstrom

    MSUManiac13

  • The MDS said...

    Will they call them that again? Because that would be fricking epic!

    My favorite thing about this? I saw a post by a penguins fan on one of the stories reporting the re-alignment that the NHL is abandoning tradition by going to these conferences and a divisional playoff system.

    Beardy

  • I'm stealing this from someone on Twitter, but I think we've got the new conference names: "NBC Favorites, Canadians and Floridians, Flyovers, and Teams that Air Too Late to Watch"

    HillSpartan ●

  • I like it, it's going to end up creating really deep rivalries knowing you're going to play everybody 5-6 times and then see them in the playoffs. I especially like that you can potentially play so many different teams in the final if they re-seed. My only gripe is I would have liked to see us in a division with toronto, or a scheduling change to get more original 6 matchups, but apparently the NHL has determined for us that Chicago is our one and only real rival

    signature image

    Chilly ●

  • All Ages Shows said...

    Dammit i just had so much hope that we would be in with Toronto and Montreal. Efffff.

    Oh well, this is better. At least we play everyone twice.

    no kidding! The only team closer to Toronto than Detroit is Buffalo and we're not in the same conference?loco

    "No one cares what you know, until they know how much you care." Mark Dantonio

    GTASpartan87

  • john winger said...

    God help the NHL and the hockey world.

    Why? This is a very good thing that equalizes travel throughout the league and promotes divisional rivalries. The only downside is that two conferences have 7 teams and two conferences have 8 teams. When the league expands to 32 teams in a few years, that will be a moot point.

    The Red Wings certainly would have preferred a simple move to the East (a swap to the Southeast with Winnipeg), but that was never going to happen because they didn't have the 20 votes they needed to push that through. The only other plan that probably had a chance of passing was Columbus or Nashville to swap with Winnipeg and the Red Wings would have strongly objected to that.

    PRStoetzer ●

  • The new divisions are about as good as the Red Wings could hope for. There was no way the NHL was going to leave Chicago as the only Original 6 and there looks to be a minimum of convaluted geography ie NFL's Dallas in the NFC East.

    More games on Eastern and Central time is better for those of us watching from home.

    GRR Spartan ●

  • I know they won't do this, but the conferences should be the Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe Conferences.

    The conference champions should then be reseeded to two series - #2 and #3 play in the Clarence Campbell Series and #1 and #4 play in the Prince of Wales Series, the winners play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    This post was edited by PRStoetzer on 12/6/2011 at 8:50 AM

    PRStoetzer ●

  • I don't see many down sides with this.

    We get our rival cities from the last 30 years including the old Northstars and the new ones. We now only travel to the Central time zone to play our division.

    I saw one Edmonton writer asking forthwith names Gretzky, Howe, Richard and Lemieux. I like that too if we can't go back to the Adams, Patrick, Smythe and Norris.

    Sparty is our mascot, we are Spartans.

    ConQueso ●

  • AUAlum06 said...

    so i like it

    basically 4 divisions and no conferences

    will the all star go back to north america vs the world?

    Square rink, 4 goals.

    It was about time they did a home and home with everyone. Good change.

    MadMaxim

  • PRStoetzer said...

    The conference champions should then be reseeded to two series - #2 and #3 play in the Clarence Campbell Series and #1 and #4 play in the Prince of Wales Series, the winners play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    I am hoping for that format as well

    Brass Spittoon

  • PRStoetzer said...

    I know they won't do this, but the conferences should be the Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe Conferences.

    The conference champions should then be reseeded to two series - #2 and #3 play in the Clarence Campbell Series and #1 and #4 play in the Prince of Wales Series, the winners play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    That raises a good point - what will happen to the Clarance Campbell Bowl and the Prince of Wales Trophy? I hope they use your suggestion or a variation of it.

    Dr Draymond ●

  • does it make a difference having more or less Canadian teams in your division?

    Diodotus

  • Conference names: Legends, Leaders, Losers, Lummoxes

    Jim Delaney was hired as a special consultant.

    Andy_H

  • PRStoetzer said...

    I know they won't do this, but the conferences should be the Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe Conferences.

    The conference champions should then be reseeded to two series - #2 and #3 play in the Clarence Campbell Series and #1 and #4 play in the Prince of Wales Series, the winners play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    They probably will. I really like your idea about the Clarence Campbell and Prince of Wales Series.

    I think the NHL legitimately hit a grand slam with this one.

    This is legitimately the blue print that the NBA should use. Everyone complains about one conference being better than another. What the NHL has done is promote more parity and fairness in their league and playoff system. They nailed it.

    PPTPW51983

  • Beardy said...

    Divisions are based on the old Patrick, Adams, Norris, Smythe divisions with new teams thrown in where needed.

    They should bring back those names.

    signature image

    RPMadMSU ●

  • New division names Probert, Mcsorley, Domi and Williams

    signature image

    Eggy

  • Izzo Court said...

    Fricking retarded. Make two conferences and no divisions.

    That's what you'd do if you cared about the game. If you're just trying to maximize profits you break it into regions to reduce travel and play more w/in your region. I'm surprised they didn't just divide it into 8 divisions and put 3 or 4 teams in them.lol

    This post was edited by spartan80 on 12/6/2011 at 1:12 PM

    spartan80

  • I hope that once they are down to 4 teams, they let the team with the most regular season points choose who they want to play in the semi-finals.

    "Put your mother in a straight-jacket you punk ass white boy." ~ Mike Tyson

    tig ol bitties19581 ●

  • tig ol' bitties said...

    I hope that once they are down to 4 teams, they let the team with the most regular season points choose who they want to play in the semi-finals.

    That would be fascinating, especially if it causes the chosen team to feel disrespected.

    Dr Draymond ●

  • What I like about this is that it's the first time in freaking forever that the NHL has actually had the balls to be unique and not try to force themselves into the model of other sports. It gives me hope that they could give the old division names back. Why not do that? It gives a cool flavor to it. Was there ever one person in this country who never became an NHL fan because the division names didn't specify a direction? Say what you will about the Legends and Leaders names, but at least it's unique.

    Maybe, just maybe, this is a signal that the NHL has finally stopped obsessing about growing the sport among non-fans. Is that too much to hope for? To put it business terms, focus on your current customer base and making your "light users" (1-2 games/year) become "heavy users" (5-10 games/year). That's a hell of a lot easier than getting a non-user (never goes to games) to become a light user, let alone a heavy user.

    MiamiSpartan

  • Marty McFly said...

    Would love to see the NHL go back to old names like this instead of geographical names. Campbell, Wales, Norris, etc.

    this. +1

    "Leave the gun.....take the cannoli" "It's not your job to be as confused as Nigel."

    Son of Sparta ●

  • http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/11547/the-winners-and-losers-of-nhl-realignment

    "The top four teams in each conference will play one another in the first two rounds of the playoffs, with the winner of each of these mini-tournaments advancing to the Stanley Cup semifinals."

    WINNERS

    Schoolteachers in Detroit and Columbus:

    WBill19542 ●

  • -PPTPW- said...

    They probably will. I really like your idea about the Clarence Campbell and Prince of Wales Series.

    I think the NHL legitimately hit a grand slam with this one.

    This is legitimately the blue print that the NBA should use. Everyone complains about one conference being better than another. What the NHL has done is promote more parity and fairness in their league and playoff system. They nailed it.

    I think the NHL hit a HR on this too.

    It's rather ironic that college football is going in the other direction when it comes to rivalries while the NHL is embracing them.

    mydogsparty ●

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