Does the new NHL Re-Alignment Favor Western Hockey Teams?
— Jay Flemma
How surreal is it that the future of NHL hockey for the next few decades was determined in Pebble Beach, California? Or was it appropriate? After all the westerly time zone teams seem to get a big break with a new team alignment and playoff system that divides the league into four conferences based on time zones, all of which will play among themselves for the right to advance to the Stanley Cup semi-finals.
Indeed, it’s back to the future for the NHL as the various conferences roughly resemble the divisional set-up of the ’70s-through-early-’90s when the league was divided into the Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe Divisions in the Wales and Campbell Conferences. Back then, each division had its top four teams make the playoffs regardless of how strong or weak the respective divisions. It frequently led to inequities…or injustices.
“Invariably, there would be weak divisions getting four automatic bids to the playoffs regardless of how good or bad their records were,” explained AWITP contributor Bruce Moulton, a lifelong hockey fan who was in Madison Square Garden to witness Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals between the victorious Rangers and the Cinderella but overmatched Vancouver Canucks. “One year, one division had three under .500 teams make the tournament while other divisions saw teams over .500 break out their golf clubs.”
Now the four conferences are divided along similar lines, with some ancient rivalries renewed. Here is the breakdown:
A /// B
Carolina Hurricanes /// Boston Bruins
New Jersey Devils /// Buffalo Sabres
New York Islanders /// Florida Panthers
New York Rangers /// Montreal Canadians
Philadelphia Flyers /// Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins /// Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals /// Toronto Maple Leafs
C /// D
Chicago Blackhawks /// Anaheim Ducks
Columbus Bluejackets /// Calgary Flames
Dallas Stars /// Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings /// Edmonton Oilers
Minnesota Wild /// L.A. Kings
Nashville Predators /// Phoenix Coyotes
St. Louis Blues /// San Jose Sharks
Winnipeg Jets /// Vancouver Canucks
Hockey expert Katie Baker of the super-smart sports writing site Grantland.com agrees with Moulton’s assessment that the balance of quality in the teams making the playoffs could be skewed from time to time.
“In general, I think it solves some real problems of the old system — namely, some teams playing a large number of their games as many as three time zones away,” she observes. “But [it] creates new quirks of its own that will take some getting used to — such as, as you point out, the fact that a #5 team in a strong conference will miss the playoffs while a weak conference will have #1-4 get in. (Although, this happens under the old format too…)”.
New York and Pennsylvania teams have the most to grouse about, along with the Carolina Panthers. In fact, numerous AWITP sources and contributors assert that the Penguins were one of the four dissenting votes at the meeting that approved the new plan. Presently the toughest division and perennially a gauntlet, the Penguins, Flyers, and the NYC teams now get Ovechkin and the Capitals to deal with as well. Factor in one other undisputed truth – those teams have the most money and spend with both hands – and the bloodletting will be worst in that division.
“Great! Just great!” wailed Flyers fan Esteban Logano. “It’s bad enough we have to deal with that [expletive deleted] Cindy Crosby, who I hope dies in the street like the pig he is. Now we get O-bitch-kin? Look for my dead ass at the foot of the Ben Franklin Bridge with Eagle fan and Phillie fan.”
[Author’s Note: Sounds good to me, just try not to make too much of a mess. In fact, just shoot yourself instead; we can harvest your organs. (Well, except your liver…)]
The New York Post’s Larry Brooks agrees.
“The road to the playoffs for the New York-centric teams just got exponentially harder….there will be fratricide in the as-yet-unnamed conference.” Brooks also laments the passing of the Original Six rivalries the Rangers have lost as they will only see Boston and Montreal invade the Garden one time per year.
“Brooks is right about that,” confirmed Moulton. “I’ll miss hating on the Habs and Bruins, but other old school regional rivalries are revived, and this system preserves great ones like Blackhawks-Red Wings, Bruins-Canadians, Rangers-Isles, and Penguins-Flyers.”
Then Moulton got pragmatic, and the sports commentator replaced the fan once again.
“But this also helps teams cut down on travel, so I don’t have a problem with it. It’s more fair to teams that were criss-crossing the country like American Airlines flight crews.”
Fans of western time zone teams, indeed, hailed the new system. Jeff Brauer, one of America’s pre-eminent golf course designers and a life-long hockey fan with years of Stars games under his belt celebrated the new arrangement.
“For DFW the realignment is just terrific!” he hooted gleefully. “My Stars were the highest mileage team in the NHL and will reestablish traditional rivalries with Detroit, Chicago, Minny, and the Blues. We lose a good one with San Jose, but it’s worth it. As a fan, I will have less post-midnight games to watch on the west coast.”
Brauer knows his stuff. After designing Cowboys Golf Club for Jerry Jones, he partied with him at Stars games numerous times, shouting “STARS!” joyfully during the National Anthem as that tacky star rose to the rafters in one of hockey’s wackiest, but most infectiously fun traditions.
Katie Baker echoes Brauer’s analysis, writing in her Grantland.com article:
“The Stars, whose home rink is in the central time zone, were grouped into the Pacific Division, which meant lots of late start times and long road trips. Under the new plan, Dallas will have to travel to play Pacific teams only once each per season, and it will now play host much more often to popular teams like Chicago and Detroit, and teams with Dallas-related back-stories such as the St. Louis Blues under Ken Hitchcock or the Minnesota Wild. For a team hoping to rebuild its fan base under new ownership, this is a good thing.”
Some analysts – such as Brooks – ponder whether dominant teams in weaker divisions may become mini-dynasties such as the ’70s Islanders or ’80s Oilers. While your author doesn’t like the risk that some teams from weaker divisions, such as the Bruins or some upstarts from a weak pacific time zone, may get penciled into the semis year in and year out, Moulton has no problem with it.
“If you’re Phoenix or the Panthers, I see it as a problem,” he begins. “But hey, do some good drafting, get on board with a team mentality, and execute the team-first game plan and, with great goaltending, you can rise to the top for five six years, and you’ll be okay. At least it might stop teams from trying to buy championships.”
Still, your author isn’t down like a frown Charlie Brown, because as a pragmatist and merit-ocrotist, I’d like to see the 16 best teams make the playoffs. Didn’t someone think of giving the top two in each conference a bid and then the next best eight teams get wild cards? Or even something remotely similar? Or is that just too good an idea? Has geographic diversity trumped common sense? Sadly, in the simoniacal, dollar-think of Gary Bettman, of course it has. But that’s what sports league commissioners do. They follow the money and trample everything else.
Besides, this system potentially helps the President’s Cup winner since deserving teams that might knock them off may unfairly get, as Logano so inelegantly put it, “boned.” In the short term, Boston, Detro, and Dallas win, Atlantic Coast teams lose, and we get to rail against the inequity, but it will take five to seven years of data to truly analyze the effect of the changes.
So as the sparks fly upward, it’s now a game of local domination first. Perhaps the winner of the Atlantic coast battles will get mildly easier Semis and Finals as a result. The battle hardened teams that survive the wars might be better prepared…or they might be too exhausted. We’ll just have to wait and see. After all, any NHLer worth his salt would fight through a wall with his bare hands and teeth and come out the other side covered in lime and chalk and look good doing it for a chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. Sports immortality is worth it.
