NHL Realignment Project – Week 42
I’m Having Contractions
Back by popular demand, I’m going to be putting forth a realignment scenario that involves… Gary, hide your eyes… contraction.
The more I think about it, the more I realize it just won’t ever happen. The following forces would rise up to fight it:
- The league — it doesn’t want that kind of egg on it’s face
- The NHL Players Association — they REALLY don’t want it, because it would force them act like normal human beings and have to deal with a massive job layoff
- The many cities that want NHL franchises
- The smattering of billionaires out there that want to milk said cities for subsidized funds that they put towards what really is just a fun toy to show off to their other billionaire friends
But, since I am King of North America, let’s ignore all those factors and just do it one more time. Here we go…
The Map:
NHL Realignment Map – Week 42
The Breakdown:
Since I am a great and kind king (unless you’re a Coyotes or Columbus fan), I’ve tossed Gary a bone by sticking with his 4-Conference set up, and tossed the players (well, the 93.3% percent that didn’t get pink slips) one as well by even-ing up the number of teams in each conference and keeping the travel reasonably limited to north-south in nature.
| NHL West | ||
| Anaheim Ducks | Los Angeles Kings | |
| Calgary Flames | San Jose Sharks | |
| Colorado Avalanche | Vancouver Canucks | |
| Edmonton Oilers | ||
| NHL Central | ||
| Chicago Blackhawks | Nashville Predators | |
| Dallas Stars | St. Louis Blues | |
| Detroit Red Wings | Winnipeg Jets | |
| Minnesota Wild | ||
| NHL North | ||
| Boston Bruins | New York Rangers | |
| Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | |
| New Jersey Devils | Washington Capitals | |
| New York Islanders | ||
| NHL East | ||
| Buffalo Sabres | Pittsburgh Penguins | |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Tampa Bay Lightning | |
| Florida Panthers | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Philadelphia Flyers | ||
Gained Teams:
Nobody
Lost Teams:
Phoenix, Columbus
Scheduling:
Conference Games: 3 home & 3 away vs. 6 teams = 36 games
Inter-Conference Games: 1 home & 1 away vs. 21 teams = 42 games
An additional Home-and-Away versus a single opponent in each of the conferences not your own (to rotate through the league every 7 years): 1 home & 1 away vs. 3 teams = 6 games
TOTAL = 84 games (a.k.a. still not enough for Gretzky’s single season records to be threatened)
Playoffs:
Top four in each conference qualify. First two rounds determine Conference Champions. Third round is the semi-finals (with the team with the best regular season record choosing his opponent). Fourth round is the Stanley Cup Finals.
Bonus Note:
Dear, Columbus and Phoenix, I promise you get to keep your teams next week. I’ve been mean enough for long enough. Everyone deserves a break, right?
(H/T to oilersnation.com for the original map)
Don’t forget to share our lil’ project with your hockey fan friends. And, as always, thanks for reading. Until next Sunday!
— TF
Make sure to check out the entire NHL Realignment Project ».