New Re-Alignment Proposal

[ssags11]

I'd have no issue with the old Adams division coming back or any of that. It is just a name anyway. Anything is better then "Conference 1". I just have the feeling if they were going to go this kind of name route, those are the four they would pick. Mario is one of those "could have been" things, and I think people realize if he played a full career, he probably would be an easy lock for #2.

We can say the same for one legged Orr too or he would have been number 1.....

Effectively he only had 10 seasons and 1/2 of those he was on one leg. What he did in the Canada Cup in 1976 on one leg should be remembered as one of the greatest feats in hockey. And you know what everyone says about the 76 Canada Cup.

[Fappin Raptor]

Personally they should be named the Howe, Yzerman, Lidstrom and Sawchuk divisions.

[ssags11]

Personally they should be named the Howe, Yzerman, Lidstrom and Sawchuk divisions.

What about Lindsey and Kelly? And you mean Sawchuk's time in Boston right?

[ssags11]

Getting a report this no longer a proposal but will happen. You are looking at the new divisional alignment.

[leaffan]

Apparantly a lot of teams arn't happy with this. Similar to my thinking the chances and odds of teams in the Eastern Conferences making the playoffs is a lot lower then the west. A lot of southeast teams arn't happy being grouped with big money teams either.

[ssags11]

Apparantly a lot of teams arn't happy with this. Similar to my thinking the chances and odds of teams in the Eastern Conferences making the playoffs is a lot lower then the west. A lot of southeast teams arn't happy being grouped with big money teams either.

I don't understand the southwest part of your comment. The only teams moving are Detroit, Columbus and Colorado. Those are the only true changes, everyone else is still the same.

[ssags11]

Tampa and FLA are suited best in the Central with the likes of all the "snowbird" team. Lots of New Englanders, Upstate New Yorkers and I understand alot of eastern Canadians live in FLA now. It's the best teams to be grouped with when you take attendance into consideration. Why wouldn't FLA and Tampa want to be grouped with 4 O6 teams??? Pretty much all the O6 teams sell out everywhere they go, it's an owners wet dream to be stuck with the likes of 4 of the 6 most popular NHL teams in one division.

[ssags11]

Breaking it down further, The old Patrick division is back together. Washington/Lenonis has to be excited to be back in with their old rivals. Cap fans (as far as I know) have been angry they were taken away from playing the Flyers, Rags, Pens and Isles, those teams are their enemies. I have heard it equated to when the Seachickens were put in the NFC West and away from Denver, Oakland and San Diego. All the Cap fans I know skip the Southleast games and mostly go to the games against the old Patrick. So to me the Eastern Conference 1 is perfect.

On the West, it's really good too, especially for Dallas who is back with more centrally located teams that is better suited for regional rivalries. It makes more sense for Dallas to be playing those teams instead of the California teams. Then Conference 4 is perfect with all the west coast teams grouped in. Maybe Edmonton and Calgary have a complaint but where else can they go but with the western seaboard teams especially with the amount of teams centrally located.

I just don't see a better alignment, it's pretty much geographically perfect and keeps most of the rivalries together. The only one lost is Col/Det but that has been for years and it was really only for a few years, it's not a long historical one.

[Ravin]

I don't understand the southwest part of your comment. The only teams moving are Detroit, Columbus and Colorado. Those are the only true changes, everyone else is still the same.

If you look at the current southeast division they are some of the lowest payroll teams in the league or teams on a budget. Florida is now going to have to compete with Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Boston and Buffalo, five teams who can spend as much as they want, when they want. That is why the southeast likes staying together, because no one is spending crazy amounts of money.

Yes, those games should get more fans to them, but it doesn't change to much when you think about it in cap terms. It is going to take a couple of seasons for Florida to feel confident enough that they can spend up to the cap without being in trouble. Tampa is the same way, though they have a few big contracts on their team that helps drive their cap space up.

Conference 1 on the other hand, its biggest money maker is New York, and then after that it drops to like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Not a lot of sway in terms of cap in that division at all. All the teams except the Islanders who are use to being on a budget, will spend up to the cap and whatever.

It does put teams like Florida at a disadvantage because when a player in free agency is looking at the team and the division they are now in, they know Florida is going to have a hard time competing against teams who can spend a bunch of money. In the old 3 division system, they only had to beat out teams who also had low cap hits, now they have to go against the biggest hockey markets in the league for three playoff spots, and 9 other teams for 2 wild cards.

[ssags11]

If you look at the current southeast division they are some of the lowest payroll teams in the league or teams on a budget. Florida is now going to have to compete with Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Boston and Buffalo, five teams who can spend as much as they want, when they want. That is why the southeast likes staying together, because no one is spending crazy amounts of money.

Yes, those games should get more fans to them, but it doesn't change to much when you think about it in cap terms. It is going to take a couple of seasons for Florida to feel confident enough that they can spend up to the cap without being in trouble. Tampa is the same way, though they have a few big contracts on their team that helps drive their cap space up.

Conference 1 on the other hand, its biggest money maker is New York, and then after that it drops to like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Not a lot of sway in terms of cap in that division at all. All the teams except the Islanders who are use to being on a budget, will spend up to the cap and whatever.

It does put teams like Florida at a disadvantage because when a player in free agency is looking at the team and the division they are now in, they know Florida is going to have a hard time competing against teams who can spend a bunch of money. In the old 3 division system, they only had to beat out teams who also had low cap hits, now they have to go against the biggest hockey markets in the league for three playoff spots, and 9 other teams for 2 wild cards.

Good points. Angle I didn't think of.

However, I really think having the snowbird teams and 4 -O6 teams will have an immediate financial impact. They will be better off in the long run being against those fan bases. Then again, more argument that those FLA teams should be moved which I have advocated for 20 years. If putting them in with the 4 most popular teams in the NHL doesn't help, nothing will help them.

[Ravin]

Its funny when you watch Florida games against the Leafs because there is a good sea of blue, but also the seats right behind the benches are empty.



That is because they jack the prices up for those seats and so people just go sit in other places. Everything else is full except for those seats.

[sraczk2011]

Its funny when you watch Florida games against the Leafs because there is a good sea of blue, but also the seats right behind the benches are empty.

That is because they jack the prices up for those seats and so people just go sit in other places. Everything else is full except for those seats.

And it's unthinkably stupid that they chose those sections to fuck around with because it makes the place look horribly empty every single game, no matter how full the other sections are. I'm sure there's a massive overlap between people who want to go to Rhianna concerts and people who want to watch Southeast division hockey.

[Fappin Raptor]

Its funny when you watch Florida games against the Leafs because there is a good sea of blue, but also the seats right behind the benches are empty.

That is because they jack the prices up for those seats and so people just go sit in other places. Everything else is full except for those seats.

I've been tuning in to some Panther games lately and have noticed that empty black hole right in center ice. It looks terrible. The seats you should want to sell are the seats that appear on TV.

[Apocalypse]

[leaffan]

Sweet setup NHL I'm sure all the eastern conference teams are just thrilled there's two more teams then the other conference.

Still hate this btw.