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Realignment Rumblings

Posted on January 14th, 2009 by The FlyerFly

Lately, there seems to be some renewal of realignment talk, especially since the rivalry between the Capitals and Flyers has been so hotly resurrected.

Veteran Flyers fans remember the good ol’ days of the Patrick Division when the Flyers and Capitals would face off against each other almost constantly. Back then, the NHL consisted of only 21 teams, prior to the addition of the San Jose Sharks to the NHL lineup in 1991. As a result, teams played their division rivals more often, and the rivalries were arguably more intense then they are today. Add in the rough and tumble style to the game in the 70′s and 80′s, and you had a recipe for some of the most exciting hockey this Flyers fan can remember.

The distain that Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau recently expressed for the Flyers has heated up the realignment debate even further. Caps fans are licking their chops at any chance they can get to avenge their 7th game OT loss to the Flyers in the first round of last years’ playoffs.

As a Flyers fan, I say bring it on.

The chance to see the Flyers face Ovechkin and the bongo-playing Alexander Semin (if you saw his recent fight with Marc Staal you know exactly what I mean) would be a pleasure. Besides, I am getting sick of watching the Flyers play the Penguins and having to hear everyone join in on the Sidney Crosby suckfest. I’d much rather have the announcers direct their loving gazes at Ovy, who in my opinion is far more deserving.

A fellow blogger over at Broad & Pattison has come up with a rather interesting idea for realignment that not only puts the Capitals back in a division where it can appreciate and relish its rivalries once again, but it also blows up the disastrous Southeast Division (something most faithful fans would agree is necessary). It also would put teams in far more geographically sensible groupings to keep teams’ travel requirements down. And finally, but most importantly, it would bring back the old conference and division names we all miss.

Here’s the article, and here’s the jist of it…

Prince of Wales Conference (14 teams)

Patrick Division (7 teams)
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals
Boston Bruins

Adams Division (7 teams)
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets

Clarence Campbell Conference (16 teams)

Norris Division (8 teams)
Colorado Avalanche
San Jose Sharks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Anaheim Ducks
Phoenix Coyotes
Vancouver Canucks

Smythe Division (8 teams)
Nashville Predators
Atlanta Thrashers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Panthers
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Carolina Hurricanes
St. Louis Blues

My main gripe would be the uneven number of teams in each conference. That could be easily remedied though by simply contracting and getting rid of 2 garbage teams that are not holding up their own weight. God knows the NHL has enough of those. But it is also an admittedly selfish structure, as Flyers and Caps fans would get what they want, while two major rivalries are effectively diminished; Montreal-Boston and Dallas-Colorado.

But overall, this seems to be one of the more agreeable ideas for realignment that has come up recently…at least for the fans. Unfortunately, that usually means that the GM’s and team owners will hate it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 10:16 PM and is filed under "Fly" On The Wall, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Realignment, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.