Realignment Approved by BoG

[NJDevs26]

I probably should know this but this won't be where teams play their division rivals 8 times right? I ****ing HATED that

It's the complete opposite of that really, more like an NBA schedule. We only play division teams 4-5 times a season. So essentially we'll wind up playing the Flyers/Rangers/Isles/Pens 16-18 times total in an 82-game season (thirty division games total since it's now an eight-team division). Which makes their insistence on 'quasi'-divisional playoffs ironic.

People are overstating the fact we'll have the 'same playoff matchups' over and over like it used to be though. The divisions when that format did exist were five teams. The divisions now are 7-8 teams. You're not always going to get the same matchups, presuming the Isles and Columbus don't keep missing the playoffs forever. You're especially not going to get the same matchups with the crossover series.

 

[apice3*]

Someone tweeted this but it does sound like teams are voting solely to back Bettman rather than backing the realignment

 

[Rob Nieds work ethic]

Someone tweeted this but it does sound like teams are voting solely to back Bettman rather than backing the realignment

This would probably explain that Lou was against it but the Devils still voted yes.

 

[NJDevs26]

I'm sure most of the West teams plus Detroit are all in favor of realignment, especially since it ups the East's travel tenfold (and gives West teams a better chance to make the playoffs). It's harder to explain why East teams would be in favor of it since presumably it decreases their competitive advantage, but I'm sure the Northeast teams and Florida don't mind Detroit and the $$$ coming to their divsion. Plus Detroit-Toronto-Montreal-Boston being in the same division is an Original Six orgy.

 

[glenwo2]

If they were going to go with fairly recent stars, I can't imagine Messier getting the nod over Lemieux. But I guess this IS the NHL we're talking about...

How about our division being called 'The Marty' Division?

 

[apice3*]

The no and the abstaining are probably the two Florida teams. They get royally screwed over. Their travel increases and the chances of making the playoffs decrease. Don't see how realignment helps them.

 

[glenwo2]

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice
Kovalchuk, who expressed dislike for the realignment plan 2 weeks ago, wasn't even aware NHLPA approved it last week.

I'm sure he's just as annoyed as Lou is regarding this situation.


BTW, you have to wonder if Vanderbeek simply disregarded Lou's opinion(big shocker there.... ) and just voted 'yes' to simply go with the flow as the saying goes?

 

[NJDevs26]

Lou's a member of the BOG, how is Vanderbeek going to veto him? I remember Lou being involved in the BOG meeting before that ill-fated November CBA blowup. Honestly if VBK had half the influence some of you think he's had since Kovy Lou wouldn't still be here. Lou wants to run things his way or he'd walk.

I think Lou just knew he was going to get outvoted by the West (14 automatic yeses), Detroit and whatever other East teams are going to vote yay for various reasons (starting with money) anyway and just went with the flow. No point in a 'protest vote' when something's a fait accompli. Unless it just completely defies sanity to vote yes which is why I agree the two Florida teams were probably the abstention/no votes.

 

[rtr1105]

Completely ridiculous. And 85% of it is the fact that the conferences are now uneven. Why fix something that isn't broken? There better be expansion teams on the way. And I don't care who the divisions used to be named after, they're just names. We don't need to go back to that format, especially since it won't work anymore.

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

Wow, some of you guys really hate change... Who here still uses a rotary phone?

#1 I LOVE IT! Especially the playoff format & the wild cards. I hope the NHL still goes forward with reseeding the final. I would kill to see a NJ-NYR or Bos-Mtl SCF.

#2 Bring on the expansions! Quebec & GTA deserve teams! Winnipeg was a perfect example.

 

[rtr1105]

Wow, some of you guys really hate change... Who here still uses a rotary phone?

#1 I LOVE IT! Especially the playoff format & the wild cards. I hope the NHL still goes forward with reseeding the final. I would kill to see a NJ-NYR or Bos-Mtl SCF.

#2 Bring on the expansions! Quebec & GTA deserve teams! Winnipeg was a perfect example.

Let's just say there aren't any expansion teams coming. Then how do you feel about this? I'm just curious to hear.

 

[NJDevs26]

I do think NHL fans, as a whole are averse to change - especially change coming from Bettman. That said, you have to admit while they fixed some problems with this system they created other, new ones - specifically with the playoff system. I have basically zero problem with the divisions themselves, other than having 16 East teams and 14 West teams.

 

[ILikeItVeryMuch*]

And when Quebec and Seattle come in through expansion Quebec will have to go out West, creating another wah wah wah we have to travel so far on first class jets scenario, which would require another change.

They could have just swapped Winnipeg with Columbus, instead they used Route 9 instead of the Garden State Parkway.

 

[NJDevs26]

And when Quebec and Seattle come in through expansion Quebec will have to go out West, creating another wah wah wah we have to travel so far on first class jets scenario, which would require another change.

They could have just swapped Winnipeg with Columbus, instead they used Route 9 instead of the Garden State Parkway.

Swap Winnipeg with Detroit. You were 'never' getting any kind of realignment done without Detroit in the East. I don't get why Columbus had to come too though.

 

[glenwo2]

Lou's a member of the BOG, how is Vanderbeek going to veto him? I remember Lou being involved in the BOG meeting before that ill-fated November CBA blowup. Honestly if VBK had half the influence some of you think he's had since Kovy Lou wouldn't still be here. Lou wants to run things his way or he'd walk.

I think Lou just knew he was going to get outvoted by the West (14 automatic yeses), Detroit and whatever other East teams are going to vote yay for various reasons (starting with money) anyway and just went with the flow. No point in a 'protest vote' when something's a fait accompli. Unless it just completely defies sanity to vote yes which is why I agree the two Florida teams were probably the abstention/no votes.

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice
Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said a couple of weeks ago he preferred alignment stay similar to what it is now, but Devils voted "yes".

You may be right about that. It wasn't Vanderbeek who "went with the flow" but it was Lou.


Whatever.

The only good thing about this is that the Devils will have less instances of playing like crap since they will be facing division rivals more often than not.

 

[njdss4]

Barf. I hate it. I hate it all. They're screwing with the PERFECT playoff system just to accommodate incoming expansion, but they won't even admit to it yet. Wild cards are dumb as ****, and divisional matchups will get boring and stale very quickly.

 

[Devils1029]

Wouldn't it be funny if, in the state of condition Florida and Tampa are in that they don;t move to Quebec and Toronto part two and truly then geographically fit in that division?

 

[Saugus]

The playoff set-up was absolutely perfect, why did they have to **** it up? I'm truly disappointed about this.

Because the league doesn't know how to leave well enough alone. The playoffs were perfect as they were, they didn't need to be changed.

I think he meant we'll be "Mid-Atlantic" or something. "Fan-friendly" pretty much guarantees it won't be the Patrick division.

Which is a bunch of crap. First the NHL tried to be more like basketball with the regional names, now it's trying to be like the NFL with the wildcard crap.

The no and the abstaining are probably the two Florida teams. They get royally screwed over. Their travel increases and the chances of making the playoffs decrease. Don't see how realignment helps them.

The snowbirds arriving en masse from Canada for their games will boost their revenue, if nothing else.

 

[NJDevs26]

I don't get everyone's aversion to the term 'wild card'. It doesn't change the fact that eight teams make the playoffs from each conference, many of whom aren't division winnners.

The best eight teams make the playoffs in the current format other than the extremely unlikely event of a division winner having a worse record than a non-playoff team. The best eight teams make the playoffs under the new format other than the extremely unlikely event that a sixth-place team in one division has a better record than a third-place team in another division.

It's not wild cards that are the problem, it's the way the teams are bracketed.

 

[slammer]

not a fan of this. i liked the system as it was so far.

i am cool to have washington on a division...but CARLINA? for ****s sake...now all the teams i deeply HATE are division-rivals -_- just Florida is missing.
i dont want to play carolina that often...i cant stand see skinner and Eric Staals Ratface that often

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Expansion is going to be weird since most of the proposed locations have been in the Eastern time zone. I don't see how QC and Toronto can get teams without completely screwing up the divisions.

 

[MartysBetterThanYou]

not a fan of this. i liked the system as it was so far.

i am cool to have washington on a division...but CARLINA? for ****s sake...now all the teams i deeply HATE are division-rivals -_- just Florida is missing.
i dont want to play carolina that often...i cant stand see skinner and Eric Staals Ratface that often

This is precisely why (besides geography) they put Carolina in the Atlantic. Besides the Caps, Carolina's two biggest rivals are Buffalo and NJ. Carolina was going to wind up with a division with one of them inevitably.

Though I am excited for those heated Jackets-Isles games

 

[Uli Hiemer]

yuck i just realized this means more dubinsky.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Plus I don't see how hard it would have been to keep Columbus out West, have fifteen teams in each conference and give every team a truly 'equal' chance to make the playoffs. Maybe they wanted to screw the East teams intentionally because we have it better with travel

As a Blue Jackets and Devils fan living in Columbus, it would have been extremely unfair to "just leave Columbus in the West." If the Red Wings moved east and flipped them with Winnipeg,not only is Columbus the only Eastern time zone team stuck traveling to the west coast for 10:00 PM starts on a regular basis, you've also taken away the biggest visiting team attendance draw to Columbus.

I'm happy with this alignment right now. Columbus gets a whole new set of teams to play and draw from and I get to see the Devils come to town 2-3 times per year.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

As a Blue Jackets and Devils fan living in Columbus, it would have been extremely unfair to "just leave Columbus in the West." If the Red Wings moved east and flipped them with Winnipeg,not only is Columbus the only Eastern time zone team stuck traveling to the west coast for 10:00 PM starts on a regular basis, you've also taken away the biggest visiting team attendance draw to Columbus.

I'm happy with this alignment right now. Columbus gets a whole new set of teams to play and draw from and I get to see the Devils come to town 2-3 times per year.

It's criminal however that Detroit and Columbus are not in the same division being less than 3 hours apart. The Penguins will have to become the rivalry now I guess.