NHL Realignment Project – Week 49: Gary's Dream, With Sauce

The previous week had outlined a version of the NHL that Gary Bettman could conceivably steer the league towards. Its biggest caveat was the trouble Markham had run into with its arena plans. Pull Markham out of the equation, limit the relocation and expansion efforts to cities with arenas already approved or built, and the result is a slightly tweaked version of Gary's dream.

To the league, the author noted, it would be something closer to a nightmare, because without the richest city in Canada it would not be able to milk nearly as much out of expansion fees.

Three arenas, three cities

The Sprint Center in Kansas City, the New Colisée in Quebec City and the not-yet-named arena in Seattle were the sites of the expansion and relocation efforts in this installment. Buildings first, maps second.

Four conferences, two time zones each

As in the previous week, the assumption was that the short-lived realignment proposed the year before revealed an interest in four conferences, which reflects and reinforces a 32-team league with eight teams per conference.

The proposed playoff format was expected to piss off a ton of fans and make another ton very happy, but the trade-off of a fairer travel load across the league and the preservation of most major rivalries might be worth it. Besides, the author was willing to bet that most fans would be more than fine with a realignment and a reworked playoff format if it meant getting to watch some damn hockey again.

Rivalries, travel and heritage

• Rivalries: the obvious ones stayed, and even secondary ones like Buffalo and Toronto were maintained where possible. Some of the Hull Conference teams could evolve into good rivalries too, like Dallas and Nashville, and obviously Kansas City and St. Louis.
• Travel: four conferences cut down the burden on the teams that carry the heaviest load now, mainly Dallas, Winnipeg and Minnesota, while the lightest-travelled teams take on a little more and remain better off than the frequent-flier champions.
• Heritage: the conferences are named for some of the greats, and having only four will spark countless debate about the choices, with Richard, Plante, Kennedy, Bossy, Smith and Lafleur among the names left out.

The schedule and the bracket

Each team plays its seven conference-mates twice at home and twice on the road for 28 games, the 24 teams in the other conferences once at home and once away for 48, and three opponents in an additional home-and-home series for six, with the pairings switched each season.

The top four teams in each conference qualify for a final four style tournament, all series best of seven. Round one is the conference semifinals, 1 versus 4 and 2 versus 3 on overall record, round two is the conference final, and round three is the Stanley Cup semifinal, with the best overall record among the survivors picking its opponent.

Every conference now spans two time zones and none spans three. Some of the old guard on the east coast won't like it, but fair is fair.