NHL realigns teams and conferences

The NHL Board of Governors announced Monday (12/05/11) that the current two conference and six division organization will change next season into a four conference league with guaranteed home-and-home games for every team.

What does this mean for the Dallas Stars?

It actually benefits teams like the Dallas Stars because of the distances currently traveled each season. Thanks to the Stars' geographical location in Dallas, Texas, every away game is a significant road trip, whether they are the visiting team for the Coyotes almost 1,100 miles away in Phoenix or the Predators in Nashville almost 700 miles from home. Even the St. Louis Blues are a little over 600 miles as the crow flies, not sure the actual miles in the Stars custom jet.

The new alignment also benefits other Western Conference teams like Detroit, Nashville, and Columbus, but will increase travel for Eastern Conference teams who've benefitted from fewer miles in their season with less wear and tear on players and coaches as the season winds down into the playoffs.

When asked, Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said following the Senators’ 4-2 win over Tampa Bay Lightning that "Florida in January's not too bad."

How does the realignment work?

Nothing is set in stone yet, but new the four yet-unamed conference system is definitely the first step in a total realignment of the entire NHL conference system.

According to Scott Dubow of The National Post:

The new look has two conferences with seven teams all based in the Eastern time zone: New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina in one, and Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay in the other.

The third conference consists of eight teams in the Eastern and Central time zones: Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg. The fourth conference has eight teams in the Mountain and Pacific time zones: Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Colorado.

How does that work in the playoffs?

Currently, the two conferences--Western and Eastern--take the top eight teams of their respective divisions. With this new system, the playoffs will consist of the top four teams from each conference, with the first two rounds as intraconference matchups. Bettman and the GMs haven't decided what will happen next to determine matchups.

Is this good for the league and for the players?

Yes, and no, and maybe.

“But now, the Western teams don’t have to leave the time zone every single time we have a road trip,” Phoenix captain Shane Doan said. “We leave our time zone every single time now.”

While fewer miles on the body is definitely a good thing, and seeing every team at home is certainly a draw in tickets and fan fun, how the NHL conference realignment will shake out in the playoffs is anyone's guess. Yet, we all knew something had to give after Atlanta's move to Winnipeg.

While this won't lesson the physical miles between cities, it will, Bettman and company hope, reduce the miles traveled and wear and tear on teams each season.

However, if we have to play every team in the conference before the end of the regular season, will the miles for teams like the Dallas Stars still add up to the same, or more?

Again, yes and no.

For the current Western Conference teams, it will help tremendously, as Western Conference teams like the Stars go on extended road trips at least three times a year to cities like Calgary, Edmonton, L. A., etc., yet will increase road trips and miles for teams in the Eastern Conference like New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

For instance, the Rangers play the Islanders six or so times a year with a whopping 27.6 miles drive between stadiums. The Rangers drive a grand total of 13.5 miles to play the New Jersey Devils. While the Stars' nearest NHL neighbor is St. Louis at 648.8 driving miles and they aren't even in the Stars' division or conference. (If you dont believe me, check out the NHL team map at Sport Map World.)

“I think there were more than two or three teams not happy with the current situation,” Columbus general manager Scott Howson said. “This was a compromise that really satisfies everybody to a large extent.”

The new NHL alignment might not make everyone happy, but overall, it will certainly help the Dallas Stars. Look for some fallout, changes, and not just a little hooplah, positive and negative, in the near future as we are still waiting for input from the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA).

However it shakes out, Stars fans will be in for a real treat next season should the league implement this new plan that soon.