CBJ Board realignment discussion II (Jackets officially to the Atlantic Division)

[JacketsDavid]

From this morning's paper:

"The new alignment would come with a new schedule matrix. The Blue Jackets would play two games against each club in the Western Conference (28), three games against each club in the other Eastern Conference division, the Central (24), and the remaining 30 games within the Atlantic Division."

I'm sure the Eastern conference is looking at us like the Astros moving to the AL West in MLB.
I think it's great for the Jackets, good for me (since I can watch more games starting at 7). Tough think is going to be building a rivalry. I don't think it's Pittsburgh. Much like Detroit it was our biggest game (according to a lot of fans) but from Detroits perspective we were any other team. I wouldn't be surprised if in 5 years our rival in the East isn't Carolina, just my guess.

 

[Xoggz22]

I'm very excited knowing the CBJ will only have to play in Pacific Time a total of 4 times. 4 games at 10:00 or later.... that's it. There are only 4 games in Mountain Time as well. That's awesome from an away game viewing standpoint.

This is a great move but I want to see what happens after they revisit. A trip back to the Western conference would be brutal and disappointing.

 

[Samkow]

I hate the imbalance, but the novelty of the new conference will probably override my hate of the imbalance until they inevitably expand by 2 teams.

The only other downside to this is that it pushes our rebuild back a little bit being in a tougher division. I see the Central as it is now bottoming out in a year/year in a half. Detroit and Nashville are on the decline, St. Louis hasn't exactly screamed powerhouse this year, and Chicago literally can't get any better.

 

[Nanabijou]

From this morning's paper:

"The new alignment would come with a new schedule matrix. The Blue Jackets would play two games against each club in the Western Conference (28), three games against each club in the other Eastern Conference division, the Central (24), and the remaining 30 games within the Atlantic Division."

Thanks, Pete. It looked like the only way to make the math work to 82 games would be to use an unbalanced schedule.

Still, it looks like Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, etc will be in our building 3 times over 2 seasons. Chicago, Nashville, and St. Louis will be in our building 2 times over 2 seasons. Not a huge difference between the west and the other east division.

I agree that Carolina may become a big rival in a few years. They are the other team in our division looking without a real rival.

 

[CapnCornelius]

I'm just excited to see the schedule to plan an East Coast road trip.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Great news but let's see what happens in two years.

 

[alphafox]

On actual realignment I think they got most of the stuff right. IMO the only way they screwed up the east by trying to keep the current Atlantic division together.

Atlantic should include the Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Carolina, Washington, Florida and Tampa Bay.

A Northeast division would group the Rangers, the Islanders, The Devils,Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo.

This promotes better rivalries IMO for both Divisions.

Great news but let's see what happens in two years.

I'll bet all the internet cookies that is the expansion time frame for teams in Seattle and maybe Milwaukee. The biggest danger I can see is that instead of adding teams out west we get relocation and expansion in the east (i.e. toronto and Quebec), which would force franchises to move back west or a whole new format.

 

[Kev22]

From this morning's paper:

"The new alignment would come with a new schedule matrix. The Blue Jackets would play two games against each club in the Western Conference (28), three games against each club in the other Eastern Conference division, the Central (24), and the remaining 30 games within the Atlantic Division."

The NHL has achieved what it should have with alignment. To put every team, in every building, every year. I like this because the Jackets go East, because as a season ticket holder, I wasn't really intending on re-upping, but now I'm really reconsidering. This also gives the Jackets the potential for more National television exposure.

I'm wondering if the NHL will look to have a secondary television deal with a network like ESPN or Fox Sports 1. Maybe have something like a Hockey Night in America doubleheader on ESPN or Fox (Monday or Saturday night) and then continue the Rivalry Night and another one-three games a week, plus the NHL Overtime show on NBC Sports Network and NHL Game of the Week on Saturday, Sunday or both. If the NHL played their cards right, they could maximize their television revenue which would increase revenue sharing.

 

[major major]

Count me as one who loathes the new division names. The division with Boston, Tampa etc.. in it is the Central Division. That division is the opposite of Central. Sooner call it the Peripheral than the Central.

Meanwhile the old Central loses Detroit and Columbus, gains Dallas and Colorado, and is now called... the Midwest Division. Its less Midwest than it used to be. If the league insists on geographical names, call it Great Plains or Central.

Who did they hire to come up with this? Where did it come from? I would much prefer a named conference (e.g. Howe, Lemieux, Gretzky, Orr, or Norris, Patrick, Smythe, Adams), though if you want to do a geographical name so casual fans can easily pick up on where a division is, then at least use geographical names that pertain to where the teams actually are! Boston is not Central!

 

[InjuredChoker]

I'll bet all the internet cookies that is the expansion time frame for teams in Seattle and maybe Milwaukee. The biggest danger I can see is that instead of adding teams out west we get relocation and expansion in the east (i.e. toronto and Quebec), which would force franchises to move back west or a whole new format.

Yup, and my worry is that will Clb stay in at east then. Quebec seems inevitable and they are lock for east imo but maybe TOR 2 could go to the west..

 

[Dying Alive]

I'm sure the Eastern conference is looking at us like the Astros moving to the AL West in MLB.
I think it's great for the Jackets, good for me (since I can watch more games starting at 7). Tough think is going to be building a rivalry. I don't think it's Pittsburgh. Much like Detroit it was our biggest game (according to a lot of fans) but from Detroits perspective we were any other team. I wouldn't be surprised if in 5 years our rival in the East isn't Carolina, just my guess.

I think there are a lot of Pens fans looking forward to having CBJ in the East. Don't get me wrong, Philly is and probably always will be our biggest rivalry but CBJ is now the geographically closest team for us and I think that'll be really good for building a rivalry, especially if there's some fan crossover in the arenas. It'll probably take a few years but once CBJ starts icing a competitive team I think it'll happen. I'm certainly looking forward to it more than I am the media manufactured Pens/Caps rivalry.

 

[Matthew]

I don't really follow this aspect of hockey closely at all, so can some people give a brief summary of why Quebec seems to be an HF LOCK to get a franchise soon?

 

[Samkow]

I don't really follow this aspect of hockey closely at all, so can some people give a brief summary of why Quebec seems to be an HF LOCK to get a franchise soon?

-Quebecor is loaded.
-The Canadian dollar is stronger than it was 15 years ago.
-Hyper nationalism by some of the 60% of the board that's Canadian.
-Everybody forgetting (choosing to forget?) that nobody wanted to play there 15 years ago because of the language issue.

 

[Skraut]

I don't really follow this aspect of hockey closely at all, so can some people give a brief summary of why Quebec seems to be an HF LOCK to get a franchise soon?

They're building a new rink

They lost the team last time due to a weak Canadian Dollar. Have very passionate fans, and since every other Canadian team is raking massive profits thanks to the salary cap, it only makes sense.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I don't really follow this aspect of hockey closely at all, so can some people give a brief summary of why Quebec seems to be an HF LOCK to get a franchise soon?

It is also one of the coolest, most interesting places, and therefore should host a team in the coolest, most interesting sport. No

 

[major major]

They're building a new rink

They lost the team last time due to a weak Canadian Dollar. Have very passionate fans, and since every other Canadian team is raking massive profits thanks to the salary cap, it only makes sense.

As a Canadian-American, let me add something that gets rarely mentioned: Hockey in Canada is even more popular today than it was twenty years ago. The strong Canadian Dollar is perhaps most of the improvement in the business standing of Canadian franchises, but there are also far more sellouts, and revenue is much higher. Almost every building is sold out now, with Ottawa, at 99% capacity, being the lone exception. Twenty years ago Montreal wasn't even always sold out.

 

[CapnCornelius]

As a Canadian-American, let me add something that gets rarely mentioned: Hockey in Canada is even more popular today than it was twenty years ago. The strong Canadian Dollar is perhaps most of the improvement in the business standing of Canadian franchises, but there are also far more sellouts, and revenue is much higher. Almost every building is sold out now, with Ottawa, at 99% capacity, being the lone exception. Twenty years ago Montreal wasn't even always sold out.

I'm not sure I buy that it is more popular today than 20 years ago.

Canadian teams have had a nice run, but what happens if/when some of the teams in the smaller cities (i.e. not Toronto and Montreal) go through a prolonged playoff drought? Go back and look historically--when Vancouver and Ottawa struggled, they didn't do as well at the gate.

What happens if the Canadian dollar recedes to 1990's levels?

Let's keep in mind that even a city like Quebec City is not large by American standards. The MSA has a population of approximately 765,000. Compare that to Portland, one of the smaller markets in the US that has been discussed which has a MSA population of 2,260,000. That means, for a team in Quebec to succeed, it starts out needing a vastly higher percentage of people to be interested in supporting the team.

This is why I laugh when someone makes a statement like "LA isn't a hockey town." Who cares? It doesn't matter if only 10% of the population cares about the team, that's still more than enough to make it economically viable.

The reality is that maybe Quebec can be successful. If so, it is one of the last Canadian markets that can. After that you have to start canibalizing from the Leafs in Ontario because teams in Halifax or Regina do not make sense for a major professional league.

Let's not forget, the league has always been dominated by the U.S. markets going back to the Original Six. While Canadian teams have done well at the gate in the regular season, part of hockey's recent economic success is the success of teams in large metropolitan markets in the post-season--Chicago, Boston, LA.

 

[major major]

I'm not sure I buy that it is more popular today than 20 years ago.

Canadian teams have had a nice run, but what happens if/when some of the teams in the smaller cities (i.e. not Toronto and Montreal) go through a prolonged playoff drought? Go back and look historically--when Vancouver and Ottawa struggled, they didn't do as well at the gate.

What happens if the Canadian dollar recedes to 1990's levels?

What happens when some of the teams in smaller cities suck? We don't have to use a crystal ball to figure that out. Just look at Edmonton and Calgary!

I do agree that dollar devaluation is a bigger threat, but they had to do it in the 90's in response to economic catastrophe. Its not likely, or at least not more likely than economic problems hurting a franchise like Columbus or St. Louis.

 

[Samkow]

What happens when some of the teams in smaller cities suck? We don't have to use a crystal ball to figure that out. Just look at Edmonton and Calgary!

I do agree that dollar devaluation is a bigger threat, but they had to do it in the 90's in response to economic catastrophe. Its not likely, or at least not more likely than economic problems hurting a franchise like Columbus or St. Louis.

If Alberta isn't printing money like it is now due to oil, do Edmonton and Calgary still sell out with these crappy teams?

 

[major major]

If Alberta isn't printing money like it is now due to oil, do Edmonton and Calgary still sell out with these crappy teams?

Maybe not. My point was that popularity has increased, but its only one of the factors leading to higher attendance.

 

[NotWendell]

I think there are a lot of Pens fans looking forward to having CBJ in the East. Don't get me wrong, Philly is and probably always will be our biggest rivalry but CBJ is now the geographically closest team for us and I think that'll be really good for building a rivalry, especially if there's some fan crossover in the arenas. It'll probably take a few years but once CBJ starts icing a competitive team I think it'll happen. I'm certainly looking forward to it more than I am the media manufactured Pens/Caps rivalry.

Although we're not in the same division, I can really see Buffalo and Columbus learning to hate each other.

 

[Matthew]

Although we're not in the same division, I can really see Buffalo and Columbus learning to hate each other.

They are easy to hate because of their invading fanbase. Usually a lot of reports of the overly obnoxious* Buffalo fans around here when they visit Nationwide.

*Does not indicate all their fans are like this, obviously.

 

[Robert]

Although we're not in the same division, I can really see Buffalo and Columbus learning to hate each other.

Playing more games will help that... Hate is a harse word but if the teams feel the same way has the Sabres/Flyers you will be correct. True hate will be known after they play each other in the playoffs....

 

[NotWendell]

The NHL could be giving the CBJ the lifeline it needs to turn this franchise around.
Next year: novelty of new Eastern teams in NWA
Following year: All-Star Game?
Following year: Playoffs?

 

[Robert]

The NHL could be giving the CBJ the lifeline it needs to turn this franchise around.
Next year: novelty of new Eastern teams in NWA
Following year: All-Star Game?
Following year: Playoffs?

This move to the East is big imo.... for many reasons of which playing the original six and first NHL expansion teams more often are not a small part...

Personally, I can't wait for next season...