billsfanmiami(oh) Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 The board of governors approved the proposed realignment plan. For selfish reasons I'm glad because it will ensure the Sabres play in Columbus at least one a year. Thoughts? Link to the in depth explanation below. http://www.nhl.com/ice/m_news.htm?id=660138 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 My first impression (as things stand today), is that the Sabres are unlikely to finish higher than 6th in their division for the forseeable future. Overall it makes sense though. The 2 Florida teams have to be thrilled, as do Detroit, Columbus and Winnipeg. The FLA teams will get very good home crowds from all the US and Canadian snowbirds supporting their hometown teams down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I like the idea of 4 geographical divisions that for the most part, make sense. I think Carolina should switch Detroit to be with Tampa and Florida. I like the new playoff system as well with the 4 wild cards (2 per conference). Now what are they going to call each division? I vote for going back to the old Norris/Smythe/Patrick/Adams tags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowgirlsFan Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 My first impression (as things stand today), is that the Sabres are unlikely to finish higher than 6th in their division for the forseeable future. Overall it makes sense though. The 2 Florida teams have to be thrilled, as do Detroit, Columbus and Winnipeg. The FLA teams will get very good home crowds from all the US and Canadian snowbirds supporting their hometown teams down there. This Stars fan is thrilled too!! 9:30 pm local time starts for games in the Pacific time zones are tough!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PastaJoe Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I would have put Columbus and Pittsburgh in the Sabres division in exchange for the Florida teams. It makes more sense geographically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I would have put Columbus and Pittsburgh in the Sabres division in exchange for the Florida teams. It makes more sense geographically. They don't dare split up Philly-Pittsburgh. Another one that they would never split up would be Boston-Montreal, but I'm kind of surprised they didn't try to but the Bruins in with the NYC area teams. Since they're trying to stick to the time zone basis, the only other option I can really think of that they might have even considered would have been swapping Florida-Tampa for Columbus-Washington. Carolina is the closest team to Florida, so they belong in the same division. Columbus has no true rivalries, so moving them is an issue. The NY-NJ block needs to stay together, so you can't move any of them, just like Pittsburgh-Philly needs to stay together. Washington is the only remaining team that makes sense. They have a long history with Pittsburgh too though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PastaJoe Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 They split Detroit-Chicago, they could do the same with Pitt-Philly. They'd still play each other in conference. The NY division has a big geographic advantage, there's four teams that could bus to road games. They should at least have to fly to Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 They split Detroit-Chicago, they could do the same with Pitt-Philly. They'd still play each other in conference. The NY division has a big geographic advantage, there's four teams that could bus to road games. They should at least have to fly to Florida. If you went all out geographically, I think Boston would have to wind up with DC-Philly-NY-NJ. That makes too much sense. So obviously there's a bit more than geography driving this one. The Florida teams don't really fit anywhere. I'm sure they'll bounce around yet again when they change the system again in 2-3 years. Any expansion/re-location will demand it. No matter what people say about it already being watered down, this current system with non-balanced conferences will leave the door wide open to expansion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 If you went all out geographically, I think Boston would have to wind up with DC-Philly-NY-NJ. That makes too much sense. So obviously there's a bit more than geography driving this one. The Florida teams don't really fit anywhere. I'm sure they'll bounce around yet again when they change the system again in 2-3 years. Any expansion/re-location will demand it. No matter what people say about it already being watered down, this current system with non-balanced conferences will leave the door wide open to expansion. How the heck can the NHL expand? They need to contract! Or @ the very least. move southern teams to Canada! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 How the heck can the NHL expand? They need to contract! Or @ the very least. move southern teams to Canada! From the hockey stuff I've been listening to the past few months expansion is a sure thing. Quebec City, a 2nd Toronto team and Seattle are front runners. Toronto suburb Markham is building a NHL quality facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 From the hockey stuff I've been listening to the past few months expansion is a sure thing. Quebec City, a 2nd Toronto team and Seattle are front runners. Toronto suburb Markham is building a NHL quality facility. The owners get a huge infusion of cash in the form of expansion fees. The union gets more jobs. What's not to love from guys who have nothing but dollar signs in their eyes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullim4 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Seattle's going to get a team. The economics of the new Kings/Sonics arena demands it, and there are so many displaced Canadians here that they will have no issues selling tickets. I think it'll happen via relocation, if I had to guess I'd say Phoenix, Nashville, or Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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