A Glance At NHL’s Realignment Plan

December 6, 2011 10:42 AM

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Sami Lepisto (20) and goalie Corey Crawford (50) watch for the puck during a Detroit Red Wings powerplay in the first period of an NHL preseason hockey game in Chicago on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Cherney)

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(CBS) The NHL approved a radical realignment plan Monday that will have a wide sweeping impact on both the regular season and playoffs.

The league will now have four conferences instead of six divisions. Each conference will have seven teams, with the top four teams from each conference making the playoffs. The first two rounds of the playoffs will consist of solely intraconference matchups, with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed playing the No. 3 seed. After the first two rounds, the four conference champions will move onto the NHL semifinals and then, of course, the final two teams will square off in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The drawback of this realignment plan is that teams from the same conference can’t meet in the semifinals. The Blackhawks and Red Wings are in the same conference, meaning they can’t meet in what was previously known as the Western Conference Finals.

The plan also calls for teams to play five or six games a year against teams in their own conference and a home-and-home series against all non-conference teams.

The conferences do not have names yet, but this is how they shape up:

Conference A

Carolina Hurricanes
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals

Conference B

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Blue Jays

Conference C

Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

Conference D

Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks

While the plan has been approved by the league, it has not been officially implemented yet. The NHLPA is reportedly showing some resistance.

Green Bay Bears Fan

Apparently the Blue Jays are tired of being behind the Yankees, Red Sox and now Rays, so they are switching to hockey.
dhhhhhhh

And Minnesota has gone missing! 7*4=28. Where are teams 29 and 30? A little help with the facts, please!
Jack

Yeah I like how Vancouver and Minnesota have been tossed out of the NHL

5 Easy Pieces Waitress

Me too. I’ve had QUITE enough of their smartness and sarcasm.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/06/sassone-breaks-down-nhl-realignment/ Sassone Breaks Down NHL Realignment « CBS Chicago

[...] == "undefined"){ addthis_share = {"templates":{"twitter":"{{title}} {{url}}"}};}(WSCR) With the NHL radically changing its conference alignment, Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald joined The McNeil and Spiegel Show to break down the [...]
Larry Horse’s Arse Horse’s Arse

Yet another poorly written article on this website. How in the world do these people have these jobs? Amazing. It’s not even worth commenting on the substance of this article because the form of it is so bad.