Realignment Approved by BoG

[Classic Devil]

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.

Yeah. The league clearly decided to prioritize time zone consistency over maintaining western rivalries, although they went out of their way to maintain eastern rivalries (in having Florida leapfrog the Atlantic division rivalries).

Columbus and Detroit could have been a great rivalry, if Columbus were ever any good. Columbus and Pittsburgh are pretty close to each other though, so that will suffice as a replacement, even if it lacks the whole Ohio/Michigan thing.

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

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

I still love it. This whole "Wahhh but they have a 3% Better chance of making the playoffs" is baloney.

As for Wild Cards, I would prefer to see a single game playoff for that last spot. That would a great way to start the second season, with a blood battle to the death!

This format will breed rivalries. If I had it my way, we would go the play your division/conference rivals more route. Nothing is more boring than a Devils (or insert east team) vs. West team game. On the other hand, I could watch the Devils play the Flyers for 10 games straight.

As for the playoffs, we should tie the whole East vs West finals thing to a tree and finally shoot it. There is no point in a east west SCF. None. I want to see the final 4 reseeded as originally planned. That way, if a wild card comes up and gets to the final 4, we can very possibly get 2 division rivals playing for the cup in the SCF. Devils/Rangers or Boston/Montreal would be just as possible and way better than Devils/LA or NYR/Ducks no?

 

[Jedi]

I thought the current system was as close to ideal as possible. Also why can't they put Columbus in the west to keep it 15/15? Not ideal for Columbus time zone wise but its better than a mathematically unfair playoff bracket, which is just preposterous.

I also don't see anything about Final Four reseeding - did they ditch that idea? That was the best idea they had, allowing for a rivalry SCF.

Anyway, the ESPN NHL homepage has an insider article with the Devils as the picture:

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=custance_craig&id=9055559

And another article too:

http://m.espn.go.com/nhl/story?storyId=9055559

Anyone know what the contents are? What's this have to do with the Devils?

 

[Devils86]

Yeah. The league clearly decided to prioritize time zone consistency over maintaining western rivalries, although they went out of their way to maintain eastern rivalries (in having Florida leapfrog the Atlantic division rivalries).

Columbus and Detroit could have been a great rivalry, if Columbus were ever any good. Columbus and Pittsburgh are pretty close to each other though, so that will suffice as a replacement, even if it lacks the whole Ohio/Michigan thing.

Columbus/ Detroit???....Columbus/Anybody???...This isn't the Big Ten and with Comcast so invested with NBCSn there was no way they were going to split Pitts/ Philly to allow Columbus to have anything

 

[NJDevs26]

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.

A regular basis? They'd have to make exactly one extra trip West. You only play other conference teams three times, so that's twelve road games (if you put Colorado in the West and Columbus in the Central to have two fifteen-team conferences). They get eight games out there now with the home-and-home format. They only play Detroit three games next year as is, they would play them two in the other conference. That's one extra home game every 'two' years.

The only real problem is all their division road games would be a time zone away, but even given that if you ever get a team in Quebec (or Toronto 2 for that matter) that's 17 East teams. Someone's going to have to move back West anyway and it ain't going to be Detroit or anyone else currently in the East. There's always going to be teams that suffer with the location of teams staggered the way it is. This realignment Tampa and Florida more or less walked the plank. So did Chicago, in a way.

For some reason though, Columbus and Detroit seemed like a package deal at this time. Maybe they don't want to seperate Michigan and Ohio though they're not in the same division either. Or they just didn't want to have Detroit (a team 'farther' West than Columbus) look like they were getting favored treatment by moving to the East and not Columbus, even though everyone already knows this re-alignment was Detroit-centric.

 

[muller]

in the current playoff format, divisions are meaningless. it destroys local rivalries. the realignment brings back the meaning behind the old patrick division rivalries. this is a good thing and it's about time they went back to this even if it's a modified version.

 

[muller]

and if one florida teams goes to quebec while the other goes to seattle, that solves the east-west uneven thing as well as the adams division flyover problem.

 

[NJDevs26]

Tampa Bay's not in imminent danger of relocating, neither is Florida really though they're a bit more likely I don't know what their arena lease situation is. They didn't do this counting on the Florida teams moving.

 

[RandoDoomer]

So am I reading this right? Say a wildcard team from Div.B beats the Div.A top point-getter, then beats the other Div.A team in Round 2. So the Div.B team is crowned "Div.A Champs"?

If the division top seed is considered the "division champs", then the division don't really carry much more meaning than they do now.

If they're hellbent on "bringing back the glory of divisional playoffs", go the whole 9 and kick it old school. Top 4 in each division make the playoffs and fight it out. Division winners play each other to advance to the SCF. if you're a good team in tough division and miss the playoffs, oh-freaking-well. If they want to assure the 8 best teams make the playoffs, leave well enough alone and keep it like it is now.

This whole half-ass divisional PO thing doesn't sit well with me.

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

in the current playoff format, divisions are meaningless. it destroys local rivalries. the realignment brings back the meaning behind the old patrick division rivalries. this is a good thing and it's about time they went back to this even if it's a modified version.

This. Agree 100%.

The current playoff system is flawed. Divisions are meaningless. Also I hate the fact that tema who shouldn't be in the playoffs and are bubble teams get to hop over 5 playoff spots into 3rd place Bc they are the best of the worst in their division. The divisional playoffs would solve that among other current problems.

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

So am I reading this right? Say a wildcard team from Div.B beats the Div.A top point-getter, then beats the other Div.A team in Round 2. So the Div.B team is crowned "Div.A Champs"?

If the division top seed is considered the "division champs", then the division don't really carry much more meaning than they do now.

If they're hellbent on "bringing back the glory of divisional playoffs", go the whole 9 and kick it old school. Top 4 in each division make the playoffs and fight it out. Division winners play each other to advance to the SCF. if you're a good team in tough division and miss the playoffs, oh-freaking-well. If they want to assure the 8 best teams make the playoffs, leave well enough alone and keep it like it is now.

This whole half-ass divisional PO thing doesn't sit well with me.

If a wildcard spanks an entire division they absolutely should be called the division champs. More salt in the wound for division that was embarrassed and a badge of honor for a team who got in on the skin of its teeth and then spanked an entire division.

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

I thought the current system was as close to ideal as possible. Also why can't they put Columbus in the west to keep it 15/15? Not ideal for Columbus time zone wise but its better than a mathematically unfair playoff bracket, which is just preposterous.

I also don't see anything about Final Four reseeding - did they ditch that idea? That was the best idea they had, allowing for a rivalry SCF.

Anyway, the ESPN NHL homepage has an insider article with the Devils as the picture:

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=custance_craig&id=9055559

And another article too:

http://m.espn.go.com/nhl/story?storyId=9055559

Anyone know what the contents are? What's this have to do with the Devils?

I think they ditched reseeding too, which is unfortunate Bc or was absolutely the best idea from the whole plan. East vs. West needs to die, it's pointless and boring.

 

[Smog]

Allows for expansion in Kansas City. I'm all for it.

 

[Devils86]

Like the playoffs much better.,,,,not the new regular season schedule. the Rangers/Devils have never played each other less than 5x in a year. Starting next year they will only play 4x every other year. There will be lots of deadspots in the schedule. I am not a fan of the balanced schedule. What they accomplish in the playoffs is offset by what is lost during the season

 

[NJDevs26]

I think they ditched reseeding too, which is unfortunate Bc or was absolutely the best idea from the whole plan. East vs. West needs to die, it's pointless and boring.

I'd rather keep the idea of winning a conference in play. Besides, what are they supposed to do with the Wales and Campbell trophies, hand them out to winner A and winner B? I'm glad they ditched the idea of calling the divisions conferences too, that made zero sense.

If a wildcard spanks an entire division they absolutely should be called the division champs. More salt in the wound for division that was embarrassed and a badge of honor for a team who got in on the skin of its teeth and then spanked an entire division.

That's silly. If you're going to call them division playoffs then make them true division playoffs. If not then just have one big conference playoffs, the way it is now. They're trying to be an all shapes and sizes playoffs - well we want division rivalries (many of which are shoehorned together, like Columbus/Carolina with the majority of our division or Florida/Tampa with the majority of theirs) to dominate, but we also want to be sure the best teams get in. In the process they lose credibilty and hockey fans aren't able to explain the playoff format to the casual fan.

Between the two, I'd rather the best teams get in and have one big conference playoffs. There's far less of a chance of an 'inferior' division winner getting the #2 seed in mega-divisions anyway than there is now with the #3 seed jumping 5 spots higher than they should.

 

[RandoDoomer]

That's silly. If you're going to call them division playoffs then make them true division playoffs. If not then just have one big conference playoffs, the way it is now.

Right. It's not really a divisional playoff if there's the possibilty of a team from the other division winning your division. Right now, the "division champs" thing is largely meaningless and only really a seeding thing. And in this new system, it's just as meaningless if any team in the conference can win either division title.

I don't know why they're so worried about a bad team in a bad division making the playoffs. We've all seen supposedly "bad" teams squeak in and make runs. It turns into a good story for the league, cinderella story and what not.

I have no problem with the realignment itself, as long as we play our traditional rivals a fair amount of times, but this half-assed, divisional-playoffs-that-aren't-really divisional playoffs thing I don't care for.

 

[NJDevs26]

I don't know why they're so worried about a bad team in a bad division making the playoffs. We've all seen supposedly "bad" teams squeak in and make runs. It turns into a good story for the league, cinderella story and what not.

I have no problem with the realignment itself, as long as we play our traditional rivals a fair amount of times, but this half-assed, divisional-playoffs-that-aren't-really divisional playoffs thing I don't care for.

As far as the first point, I think having a straight 4-4 playoffs would even be worse than this mish-mash format in a way. A fifth place team in one division could 'easily' have more points than a fourth place team in another, then you open up another Pandora's Box if you do try to have strict division playoffs cause then teams with more points will be missing the postseason all the time. That's the one area I agree with the league on, get the best teams in. It's almost impossible for a sixth place team in one division to have more points than a third-place team in another, so the best teams will get in which is good. Just don't call them division playoffs and have division playoff championships the way the Devils did in '87-88 when it was a true division playoff.

With the second point, that's the other area where the NHL is basically trying to be an all shapes and sizes league...there are actually far fewer games against each division team. Yeah you have 30 division games, but against 7 teams. We play the Flyers/Rangers/Pens/Isles 24 times under a normal format now, we'll play them 16-18 times under the new one. But that's where the first two rounds of the division playoffs come in, and forcing 'mostly' division matchups. Again trying to compensate for taking away six of one thing by adding six of another.

 

[RandoDoomer]

With the second point, that's the other area where the NHL is basically trying to be an all shapes and sizes league...there are actually far fewer games against each division team. Yeah you have 30 division games, but against 7 teams. We play the Flyers/Rangers/Pens/Isles 24 times under a normal format now, we'll play them 16-18 times under the new one. But that's where the first two rounds of the division playoffs come in, and forcing 'mostly' division matchups. Again trying to compensate for taking away six of one thing by adding six of another.

True. They're claiming the playoffs will be better because you're (probably) gonna play a rival, but in the same breath they're weakening those rivalries since you're playing them fewer times during the season.

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

I'd rather keep the idea of winning a conference in play. Besides, what are they supposed to do with the Wales and Campbell trophies, hand them out to winner A and winner B? I'm glad they ditched the idea of calling the divisions conferences too, that made zero sense.



That's silly. If you're going to call them division playoffs then make them true division playoffs. If not then just have one big conference playoffs, the way it is now. They're trying to be an all shapes and sizes playoffs - well we want division rivalries (many of which are shoehorned together, like Columbus/Carolina with the majority of our division or Florida/Tampa with the majority of theirs) to dominate, but we also want to be sure the best teams get in. In the process they lose credibilty and hockey fans aren't able to explain the playoff format to the casual fan.

Between the two, I'd rather the best teams get in and have one big conference playoffs. There's far less of a chance of an 'inferior' division winner getting the #2 seed in mega-divisions anyway than there is now with the #3 seed jumping 5 spots higher than they should.

I would be ok with handing out the Wales and Campbell to the 2 Finalists. I really want the East v. West thing to finally a die. Reseeding the final 4 would make for exciting matchups & at that point, travel shouldn't matter anymore.

As for the wildcards, it allows for the best deserving teams to be in the playoffs. I see nothing wrong with the crossover element and actually find it exciting because it can cause tension and drama and keep the format fresh for years to come.

I like change. I like the shoot out, I like the realignment and I hope dearly for reseeding, wildcard crossovers and would love to see a single game wildcard elimination. I'm all in.

Like the playoffs much better.,,,,not the new regular season schedule. the Rangers/Devils have never played each other less than 5x in a year. Starting next year they will only play 4x every other year. There will be lots of deadspots in the schedule. I am not a fan of the balanced schedule. What they accomplish in the playoffs is offset by what is lost during the season

The original alignment plan was to play division teams 7-8x during the season, did they scrap that? I was excited to see more or Philly, Rangers, Pens and division teams I actually want to see while seeing less of Minnesota, Colorado, Ottawa etc. I'm not a fan of the new balanced schedule. Honestly, who gets excited for Calgary or Edmonton games? Certainly not me.

 

[Officer Rod Farva]

Glad to see the NHL cares more about travel than the playoffs. 8 team divisions compared to the west's 7 teams is a joke. But then again I expect nothing less from a 2nd rate league

 

[NJDevs26]

In fairness, baseball had an imbalance between leagues for two decades and nobody seemed to complain about it then.

 

[Officer Rod Farva]

In fairness, baseball had an imbalance between leagues for two decades and nobody seemed to complain about it then.

yeah and it was still really stupid.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

using MLB standards, the West should not have a trapezoid then.

 

[MartyOwns]

using MLB standards, each game would take 14 hours, 9 of which solely dedicated to spitting or scratching

 

[Mory Schneideur*]

yeah and it was still really stupid.

I don't see what the big deal about having uneven divisions is.