There has been a lot of talk about the new NHL realignment proposal. There was no perfect plan for NHL realignment and what the NHL did was try to appease all of the owners.
For any who are not aware of the NHL realignment proposal here it is:
Pacific
Midwest
Central
Atlantic
Anaheim
Chicago
Boston
Carolina
Calgary
Colorado
Buffalo
Columbus
Edmonton
Dallas
Detroit
New Jersey
Los Angeles
Minnesota
Florida
New York Islanders
Phoenix
Nashville
Montreal
New York Rangers
San Jose
St. Louis
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh
Toronto
Washington
The NHL would still retain 2 conferences and would go down from 6 to 4 divisions. But with 16 teams in the East and 14 teams in the West there would be inequity in terms of qualifying for the playoffs in each conference. The appealing thing to this proposal is that every team would play a home and home with every other team in the league.
However, the 14/16 split is the worst thing for the NHL. As shown on NBC, the Red Wings and Blackhawks delivered a dandy of a game on Sunday. There is no doubt that the Blackhawks are unhappy with losing the Red Wings from their division.
And does it seem to be smart to move Detroit and Columbus? After all expansion is probably going to give teams in Quebec City and Markham since they are the most NHL ready. Then Detroit and Columbus might move back to the West in a few years. You can see the proposal put forth by Brian Stubits of cbssports.com.
The problem for the NHL is that there is a lack of cities in the West that are eager for the NHL or anywhere near ready to be an expansion franchise. Besides Seattle who is there? Maybe Kansas City and Portland? Las Vegas and Saskatchewan have been rumored. But how many of those are actually ready right now to support an NHL franchise?
It is very possible that the Red Wings and Blue Jackets could move right back to the West in a few years if Markham and Quebec City get expansion franchises. Here is another idea though. What about the thought of Chicago getting a second NHL franchise? There is a huge demand for Blackhawks tickets and there is no doubt that Chicago could support another franchise.
Or another idea is having Seattle, Portland and Kansas City involved and relocating the two Florida franchises to Quebec City and Markham. Therefore, you could have an alignment like this.
Pacific
Midwest
Central
Atlantic
Anaheim
Chicago
Boston
Carolina
Calgary
Colorado
Buffalo
Columbus
Edmonton
Chicago/Kansas City
Detroit
New Jersey
Los Angeles
Dallas
Markham
New York Islanders
Portland
Minnesota
Montreal
New York Rangers
San Jose
Nashville
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Seattle
St. Louis
Quebec City
Pittsburgh
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Toronto
Washington
We all know that expanding to 32 is inevitable for the NHL. There is no way that the NHL will keep 16 teams in the east and 14 teams in the west. But I didn’t do this for the purpose of showing off my idea of proposed realignment.
By going to 4 8-team divisions/conferences, it makes the scheduling easier. With 2 7 team divisions and 2 8 team divisions, there is a disadvantage. Teams that are in divisions with 8 will play some teams in their divisions 5 times and others 6. Whereas teams that are in divisions of 7 play each team 6 times. This leaves 46 games left for teams in divisions of 7 and 44 games for teams in divisions of 8. Therefore, playing a home and home will equal the remaining 46 and 44 games.
Except for the inequity of teams in divisions of 7 and 8, the math works out pretty good. But let’s look at the proposal above where we have four 8 team divisions. Each team can play each team in their division 6 times. 7x6=42 which means that there are 40 games left in the NHL season for each team which could be a problem; but I believe that there is an easy fix.
Assuming that the NHL wants to limit travel and continue with the West/East conference nonsense then each team will play every team in its conference twice guaranteed. 2x8=16 which added to 42 is 58.
Now there is just the matter of divvying up the remaining games. 82 games-58 games=24 games remaining. With two divisions of 8 teams each the rest of the math is simple. Teams will alternate playing the other divisions in the other conference.
One year you will play a home and home against one division while playing one game against team in the other division. This will alternate in each year so that teams play 3 games against each team in the other conference every two years. Here is the cherry on top. When teams will alternate playing divisions once a year, they will alternate playing home/away. That means that each team will play every team in the other conference at home 3 of every four years.
This plan addresses all of the concerns for the NHL. The owners get to play every team, every year. They will play each team at home in at least 3 of the four years. Both the owners and players make a bunch of money with the expansion fees. The revenue in the league will increase and both sides make more money every year.
Travel will significantly decrease in the NHL as teams will play over half of their games within their division. In addition, they will play 70 percent of their games in their division or against the other division in their conference which cuts down on travel.
Speaking of divisional play, the first two rounds would be all in interdivisional. That would mean no more silly wild cards or going to another division. This would increase rivalries and bring the NHL back to the golden era. Then the NHL could have the division winners meet up either by conference or reseed them if they want.
The players win because of the money and decreased travel. The other thing is that the players’ inequity concerns are addressed as each division has 8 teams. Now every team has an equal shot at making the playoffs.
Lastly, by focusing on realignment in the West, there is no need to move Detroit and Columbus back to the West. And who is to say that the Florida franchises move, it’s just speculation on my part since they are sticking out like sore thumbs.
There is no perfect solution for realignment/expansion. I believe that this is a great answer to the question of realignment. Every party gets something out of the deal. The owners make more money and save money in travel costs. Players have decreased travel and an equal shot at the playoffs.
The fans win because they get to experience the golden age of hockey with divisional rivalries and playoffs. That means more playoff series like the one that the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins put on last spring. Hockey is fun when you have the rivalries that feature pure hate between two teams.
The NHL has been guilty of trying to create a solution that is too complex. By keeping it simple and some creative but yet easy math, it is easy to create a potential solution.
It’s hard to believe that the NHL makes this so hard when it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
Isn’t math fun?
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