New conference/division alignment

[Arian The Insider]

such a stupid proposal..

would be good for me bbkl-wise in the long run probably, but i care about real life nhl more.

[Peter]

I don't get why there is a 16 team conference and a 14 team conference, why not move Columbus to the Mid West?

Columbus has a more natural fit with the Pennsylvania teams (rust belt rivals) and they'd stay in the same conference with the Wings. Bottom line, they wanted to get all 16 of the Eastern time zone teams into one half. It's unbalanced right now but there's always expansion that can shake things up.

Ahh okay that makes a lot more sense. I guess we just need an expansion then

[Nick]

I don't get the polarized love or hate, it's small potatoes. Better teams will make the playoffs, regardless of the setup.

[KapG]

I don't get the polarized love or hate, it's small potatoes. Better teams will make the playoffs, regardless of the setup.

whats wrong with the current set up?

It's not perfect, but neither is this. Just another attempt at tinkering with a product that doesn't need tinkering.

[Nick]

For BBKL schedule making this new breakdown is better.

For NHL travel will have less impact on players game readiness/equal footing.


Both are practical improvements.

[Shep]

It's only a matter of time before it's a 32 team league anyways. All EST teams in the East. MT, CT, PT in the West. I don't care about the number of teams per conference, meh.

[hong57]

What is the league going to do to account for the fact that the East has 16 teams vs 14 in the West? It would be lame if they did nothing.

totally agree and that's what i first thought of when reading it too

[hong57]

And so the inter-division play would be different .. as two of the division gets one more team?

[Nick]

Guys the even number of teams per conference is a JOY for scheduling.

[Shep]

Well, when Seattle gets a team they'll go in the West. Just weird for teams rumoured like QC and TOR2.

I guess Kansas City would go there too, in the Central.

[Mike]

Well, when Seattle gets a team they'll go in the West. Just weird for teams rumoured like QC and TOR2.

I guess Kansas City would go there too, in the Central.

Markham in the West. Yankees/Mets.

[kyuss]

they could still relocate the Panthers to make room for a new team in the East.

[Shep]

Seattle (PST), Kansas City (CST), Las Vegas (PST), Quebec City (EST), Toronto II (EST)

Those are the Top 5 destinations. 2 are in the Eastern Time Zone.

IMO this is what should happen:

(W) Phoenix moves to Seattle
(W) Florida moves to Las Vegas
(W) Columbus moves to Kansas City
(E) Quebec City expansion
(E) Toronto II expansion

You maximize your expansion fees from QC and Toronto, while moving the stragglers out. You get 16/16 per conference.

[Tony]

Vegas would never be able to support a team from any sport. People have been moving away in droves because it sucks to live there ... Tourists go there to lose money, fuck hookers and get drunk

[Nick]

don't think in tourist they'd be able to fill a stadium? I'd add it into my Vegas trips

[Lee]

They'd have the best intermission shows.

[Lee]

They'd be the first team to making a living off of the *ahem* come'rs and go'ers.

[Shep]

Vegas would never be able to support a team from any sport. People have been moving away in droves because it sucks to live there ... Tourists go there to lose money, fuck hookers and get drunk

Tourists will fill the arena. They'll make a ton of money. IMO it'll be a short-term thing, because you cannot rely on tourists alone to support a team. It's just a matter of time.

The New Las Vegas Arena is a description of a 20,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States that is currently in the planning stages. It originally had a planned opening date in 2010. It is hoped that it will attract a National Basketball Association or National Hockey League franchise.

The arena, which will be located behind Bally's Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas, was being developed by Harrah's Entertainment and Anschutz Entertainment Group. Despite reports to the contrary, Harrah's again indicated in 2008 that it was still interested in the project.

It was competing with another arena proposal, favored by then-Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, that would be located downtown. That proposal has since been canceled.

Construction has not begun and the actual date of groundbreaking is uncertain.

The project is still active with presentations being made to the Clark County Commission and plans for a ballot initiative to help fund the project.

[bills09]

if theres western expansion it'll be Portland and KC imo.

Fla to Q-City.

[Shoalzie]

I know they wouldn't do it but I'd actually like a setup similar to the NFL or MLB where you have two leagues/conferences and each have the same divisions (East/Central/West). It would inconvenience everyone equally. Essentially cut the league into 3 divisions but split each division into seperate conferences so each have 15 teams still but you have 5 East, 5 Central and 5 West teams in each conference. You could bring back the Wales and Campbell Conference names since those are still the names of the conference championship trophies. I'd try to keep rivals in the same division or conference and you'd still play everyone in the league at least once home and away.

Campbell Conference
East
Carolina
Florida
Philadelphia
Tampa Bay
Washington

Central
Chicago
Columbus
Detroit
Nashville
Pittsburgh

West
Anaheim
Dallas
Los Angeles
Phoenix
San Jose

Wales Conference
East
Boston
Montreal
New Jersey
N.Y. Islanders
N.Y. Rangers

Central
Buffalo
Minnesota
Ottawa
St. Louis
Toronto

West
Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver
Winnipeg

All 6 Canadian teams go to the new Wales. While some rivalries aren't within division, they're at least in conference...Philadephia-Pittsburgh for example. I tried to keep some natural geographic rivals together...for example, all 3 California teams stay together or the 4 Western Canadian teams are in one division with the Avalanche. The two West divisions are kinda regional (north and south). The Central divisions are a little more random but I tried to keep rivals together. I'd keep the same 8-team playoffs with 3 division winners at the top 3.