NHL considering significant overhaul

[Rage Of Fury]

The NHL has been trying for weeks to tinker with its schedule configuration, but is now considering a significant overhaul of the face of the league that includes realignment and a reduction in the number of divisions from six to four.

Nothing is carved in stone at this point, but the NHL is floating an aggressive trial balloon to its governors for consideration. Earlier this week, six club executives, (a mix of governors, teams presidents and GMs), representing the six current divisions met in New York with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and brainstormed to produce a new-look alignment and schedule that they're taking back to other clubs in their respective divisions for feedback.

If there's enough support for it - 20 of the 30 governors would have to approve it - the changes that would take effect next season could be approved at a board meeting during the NHL All-Star Game festivities in Dallas in late January.

Sources tell TSN the proposal includes the following:

* A reduction in the number of divisions from six to four. There would still be an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference, but there were would one eight-team division and one seven-team division in each conference.

* The top two teams in each division would be guaranteed the top four playoff seeds within the conference with four wild card playoff berths going to the teams with the next highest point totals.

* The four new divisions would be configured primarily along the lines of time zones. The theory is not only would this benefit teams in terms of travel, but could also boost TV ratings because game times in the same time zone would be more favorable.

* The current Northeast Division (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo and Boston) would remain intact and add two other teams to form a seven-team division. Sources say Pittsburgh is one of those teams that would join the Northeast teams.

* The current Atlantic Division (the three New York area teams plus Philadelphia) would be melded together with four teams from the current Southeast Division (all but one of Washington, Carolina, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Florida).

* The eight-team division in the Western Conference would feature all teams in Pacific or Mountain time zones (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Colorado and Phoenix).

* The seven-team division in the Western Conference would feature teams that are in either the Central or Eastern time zones.

* As for the schedule, it is said to be a little more complicated than it currently is, because of the uneven number of teams in the divisions, but each team will apparently play its division rivals six times each and its conference rivals either three or four times each and non-conference teams once each.

The theory is there will be some reduction in travel because of the geographic alignment by time zone, but every team will see every team at least once over the course of the season.

It will be interesting to see what feedback is provided by the various clubs as the schedule has become a hot-button issue with many teams

Source: TSN.ca

I'm totally shocked, this came out of nowhere and I hope it does pass because I find these changes really interesting!

[Fred Derf Veteran]

I'm totally shocked, this came out of nowhere and I hope it does pass because I find these changes really interesting!

They've been talking about this for a while. Some teams want reduced travel time. Some smaller cities want guarantees that they'll see big city teams on a regular basis. Some in the West are annoyed that they won't see the Eastern stars at all this season (Sydney Crosby, Egveny Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, etc...)

They can never decide if they want more travel or less.

[Rage Of Fury]

They've been talking about this for a while. Some teams want reduced travel time. Some smaller cities want guarantees that they'll see big city teams on a regular basis. Some in the West are annoyed that they won't see the Eastern stars at all this season (Sydney Crosby, Egveny Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, etc...)

They can never decide if they want more travel or less.

Well I knew that a schedule change was coming sooner or later, but I never imagined that the NHL would change the divisions and switch teams around.

[djDaemon]

Well, being a long time fan of Detroit, I welcome these changes if they are adopted. Playing west coast teams means that often times I have to decide whether I want to watch the game that night, or be productive the following day at work. :laugh: This new division setup would mean that more regular season games would be played earlier in the evening.

Also, reducing the amount of travel to the west coast also means less wear-and-tear on the players, which is an often-ignored facet of the game. Detroit, among a few other teams in the West, have a much more difficult season due to the amount of mileage they must travel each season.

Anything that can possibly help with increasing viewership should be implemented, in my opinion.

[xpablo]

The #1 move after all these changes should be too replace Gary Bettman along with ColOn Campbell.

an overhaul of the rules needs to be reveiwed, too many penalties and this stupid shootout instead of tie games :no:

I think each team should also play eachother twice , once at home and once away.

[Matrix XII]

Wow I'd be in favour of this, the schedule needs a major overhaul for sure.

[Ayepecks]

I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I can't say I'd favor it until I see a full season set-up like this.

[BroChaos Veteran]

it definitely sounds interesting.

i'm just ****ed that i don't get to see ovechkin or Pittsburgh play this year.

[CatnipOligarchy]

guess im in the minority here, but i am not a fan of 8 team divisions

[Razorwing]

well with this move at least every team should play each other at least once.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Technically, they'd need to play each other twice (once at home and once away) to ensure that every hometown fan would get to see visiting stars (like Ovechkin & Crosby).