NHL Realignment (2013-14) – Photo: Paul Armbruster
By Paul Armbruster • KingsNewsDaily.com •
With the news that the players have agreed to the NHL realignment proposal (see stories below), it appears all but certain the Kings will find themselves facing new divisional opponents next season. Gone will be the Dallas Stars, who I imagine are more than happy to leave the Pacific division considering they’re about 1000 miles from the left coast. Back to the Pacific will be Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton who left the Division to form the Northwest back in 1998. It also harkens back to the days of the old Smythe Division when Winnipeg joined the group above sans Phoenix and Anaheim.
USA Today
Executive director Donald Fehr said the NHL Players’ Association has given its blessing to the league’s realignment plan for next season. The league, which has needed to make changes to its setup since the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg in 2011, will go from the current six-division alignment to four.
CBS Sports
NHL realignment is one step closer toward becoming a reality. In a statement on Thursday afternoon Donald Fehr announced that the NHLPA has given consent to realignment for the 2013-14 season with the understanding that it will be revisited and re-evaluated after the 2014-15 season.
By CBC Sports
“After discussions with the executive board, the NHLPA has given consent to realignment, to be re-evaluated following the 2014-15 season,” Fehr said in a statement.
Detroit Free Press
Days from embarking on a grueling travel schedule, the Red Wings got a fantastic piece of news: The NHLPA has signed off on re-alignment, clearing the path for it to happen next season. The Wings would go from playing the majority of their road games in other time zones to playing most of them in the Eastern time zone, as they would join Buffalo, Boston, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Tampa Bay, a conference that also features four Original Six teams. The deal still has to be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors, but that isn’t a hurdle and could come within days.
Still kind of sucks for Tampa Bay and Florida. Would rather see Rangers and Devils swapped into the Central for them.
It does seem silly. There must be a reason but I haven’t heard it yet. They won’t break up that Rangers, Devils, Islanders trio but I think putting them with the southern most teams and putting the Pennsylvania teams with the North would work well.
Hey Paul, I think it was on the Insider that I heard someone suggested two conferences delineated on a north/south axis making eastern teams play in the same conference as western teams thus removing the huge travel advantage of eastern teams. IE., North conference Vancouver, Calgary, Edm., Minn., Win., Det., Tor.,Ott., Buf., NYR., Bos., NYI., Pit., Phi., divided into two divisions, and balance the confernce schedule.
I know this will NEVER happen because it evens out the travel with the west.
What do you think? Anyone else? I like it just to piss off the east but it does make some sense….
The only objection I can see being made would be the TV schedule putting more late games on. But if they are truly interested in trying to even out travel and make it fair, this is the only thing that makes sense. I doubt that the old Eastern establishment would stand for this and they would block any attempt at common sense in exchange for their own interests. I didn’t start out with this being my opinion, and I am NOT saying that it is, however it is beginning to make more and more sense.
You definitely answered your own question. It’s about TV ratings and start times. Travel fairness is hardly important. It’s about making as much money as possible and this helps achieve that. Or at least they hope it does.
I don’t mind the idea of re-alignment, but having conferences with unequal numbers of teams (16 East and 14 West) is just wrong. Divisions have 8,8,7,7, the whole thing is crazy. If the league adds another team, it would be like Puerto Rico wanting statehood: sounds good, but where do you put the star on our flag? These are thing that trouble me at 4:44 a.m., but there’s an even bigge problem. Why am I up at 4:44 a.m.?