My Latest NHL Realignment Nonsense: 28 Teams, 82 Games

Add my name to the list of idiot bloggers trying to rework the NHL. Basically, five markets lose their franchises and three markets gain them, or regain them.

Moving Is Not Moving

I am not saying a team is "moving", because that gets into the age-old debate of whether franchise records and stats travel with the team. So, no.

In my league, if you leave your media market, you are an expansion team. Pay expansion fees again. That way an owner who has been unable to generate success in a market does not get to parachute into a new market and enjoy the pillaging of that city and arena for a year or two and then sell the team. I bet the Islanders could loophole their way over to Brooklyn or Queens, which is less bad, but I digress.

28 Teams, Two 7-Team Divisions Per Conference

My new NHL has 28 teams divided into two conferences, each with two 7-team divisions. I have two versions of this plan: one with Winnipeg, Quebec City and Seattle getting teams, and the other with Winnipeg, Quebec City and Hamilton getting teams.

Either way, Florida, Tampa Bay, Columbus and Phoenix cease operations. Those cities could eventually reapply for teams, but only when the NHL is strong enough to expand sensibly.

Rebuilding the 82-Game Schedule

To piggy-back off the idea from an earlier post, the 82-game schedule would have to be reworked. I would break it down like this:

• One home and one away game against each non-divisional opponent, regardless of conference: 42 games.
• Three home and three away games against each non-division opponent within the conference: 36 games.
• One more home and one more away game against two non-conference opponents, one in each division: 4 games.

So each year, the two opponents in this last batch of four games would change, cycling through all opponents after seven seasons.

A Seven-Year Lock

Wouldn't it be great if the league was "locked" during that seven year run? No expansion. Ownership changes and new arenas in the team's current market are allowed, but that is it.

Bring On the Criticism

That is it. I am sure everyone will hate it, but that is the nature of the beast. When I get around to it, I will create a map with these two new league breakdowns, so anyone care to create Seattle, Quebec, Hamilton and Winnipeg logos?