Comments on: Dreger: 50-50 chance players support realignment proposal

By: ussportsfanuk

ussportsfanuk — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:52:01 +0000

Maybe the whole East-West thing needs to be forgotten? I have done a four conference realignment plan on my blog and it seems less of an issue. It also retains all the big rivalries.

By: polegojim

polegojim — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:39:02 +0000

Seriously? Sorry to hurt your feelings… it’s just a fact.

I don’t dislike hte Cards…they CAN’T keep it together and have become a stereo-type for ineptitude.

FIRED the head coach who helped them get there… last year… why was that? 5-11 / 8-8 / 5-11

where running backs and quarterbacks go to retire and round out their career…

who practice ‘retreading’ more than GoodYear

Had a couple flashes in 70 years…

Maintains a healthy head coaching carousel trying to find answers as if it were a religion…

By: xjokerz

xjokerz — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:02:02 +0000

Get over it blue jackets. 1 your team blows 2 the wings have been in the west which Seems forever. Pansy’s

By: kingsforever

kingsforever — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:27:25 +0000

BREAKING “they may say yes, they may say no, it’s a maybe”

By: dprouse

dprouse — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:57:11 +0000

50/50 – now there’s a bold prediction! It reminds me of “Zero Dark Thirty”, when the room full of bureaucrats made their butt-covering “60%” predictions. Thanks for the useful intelligence report, Dregs.

By: tmoore4075

tmoore4075 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:35:44 +0000

BINGO! Most of the people who say they should just deal with it, it’s the way it is, are probably fans of Eastern teams who have it pretty good. I’ve been a fan for 20 years having those late playoff games. Pittsburgh or Boston could be done playing an OT game before the Wings were halfway done with the first period in San Jose. Deal with it for just 3 years and I bet those fans change it. Wings have been doing it for a lot longer than that.

By: tmoore4075

tmoore4075 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:32:30 +0000

Wild have it bad for sure. So do the Stars. The thing for the Wings, and me and many fans, is the playoffs though. I’m fine not being able to stay up for the late games a few times a season. Playoff time though, those 10pm or 10:30pm starts suck big time. That’s why I was fine with last years proposal. Yeah they didn’t get the East but schedule got better with less West and more East and the latest start time for a road playoff game would probably be 8:30. That’s why if they stick with this wild card idea I don’t want them in the Midwest. Like I said above they could still end up in California for round 1. Been a fan for 20 years and it’s starting to get a little old.

I still feel last years proposal was better for everyone. Helped the Wings, Jackets, Stars, Jets and Wild. Made playoffs travel and start times better and left room for changes if needed. IE Coyotes move to Seattle or Quebec and then expand to Markham and to whichever city didn’t get the Coyotes. I have a feeling realignment will be addressed in a few years again regardless of how this plays itself out.

By: lionstigersandwingsohmy

lionstigersandwingsohmy — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:02:03 +0000

I liked the realignment plan a lot better when it was only 4 divisions, now that the conferences have been reintroduced I don’t like it as much. My reasoning is that without the conference designation, there were 8 more potential opponents for the finals. I hate having Detroit in the west with all the 10:30 start times, but at this point I would be happy with just moving Detroit or Columbus to the east and leaving the format the same. For those of you who say move Nashville, take a look at the map. Nashville is the farthest west of the three that are talked about moving to the east. They are also in the central time zone. Now I have a sugestion to the league, not that they will ever hear it. How about an agreement for start times for eastern and western teams when they play each other. East could start thier games a little later and west a little earlier. I am sure it sucks almost as bad to have your team playing before you get out of work.

By: ussportsfanuk

ussportsfanuk — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:22:33 +0000

Well they would only play a maximum of 4 games west of the Central time zone in the playoff format I suggested, surely the Red Wings can ope with a maximum 4 games? Also, if they got to the Stanley Cup Final then they would play and Eastern Conference team so no time issues there.

By: pastabelly

pastabelly — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:08:25 +0000

I don’t really think they are using a map when they put these conferences together.

By: greatminnesotasportsmind

greatminnesotasportsmind — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:04:08 +0000

If anything, I’ll argue the west will be harder. You could play better teams more often in the west. For instance, you could play Minnesota, Chicago, and St. Louis as opposed to 3 random teams in the east.

By: clefty1

clefty1 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:00:40 +0000

Being a Wings fan I sure would like to see fans of other teams have to deal with the late starting regular season and playoff games. I bet they would change their tune real quick.

By: clefty1

clefty1 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:57:08 +0000

The Wings cross three time zones to get to the west coast.

By: clefty1

clefty1 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:53:30 +0000

Your plan does not solve the late playoff starts (10/10 30)….

By: greatminnesotasportsmind

greatminnesotasportsmind — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:16:35 +0000

As a Wild fan, I’d kill for only going to Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary only twice a year. In a normal season we go there 3 or 4 times a year. Plus a trip out to San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Detroit has it easier than they do.

By: yourmomcantspell

yourmomcantspell — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:07:09 +0000

The playoffs are the main drawback I see when looking towards realignment. I wish the top 8 from both the east and west made it and kept the same format as the playoffs now. Hockey playoffs are the most intense competition in professional sports and I don’t see the reason to mess with a good formula. I have a feeling that the rivalries will get old, especially if the same 4 or 5 teams make it year after year. I would suggest to let all teams play equally among their respective conference and let it sort itself out.

By: pastabelly

pastabelly — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:49:54 +0000

The NHL needs to deal with team movement and/or expansion before settling on these conferences. They might also have to deal with the issue of a second team in Toronto. In any case, Quebec will get a team sooner or later and that conference should remain at 7 until that happens. Moving Detroit there seems like a temporary fix that will create more trouble than it’s worth.

By: comeonnowguys

comeonnowguys — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:11:05 +0000

I could not agree more with your first two paragraphs.

By: ussportsfanuk

ussportsfanuk — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:00:33 +0000

Slight correction, they would only have to West of the Central time zone 8 times, not 14. Even better!

By: ussportsfanuk

ussportsfanuk — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:59:03 +0000

On my plan on my blog I have the Red Wings in the Norris Division with the Blackhawks stil and joined by the Maple Leafs. The scheduling could be done where the Red Wings, despite being in the West, would still play around 58 games in the Eastern time zone and would only have to go West of the Central time zone 14 times a year. It is better explained on my blog.

I think the NHL may just have to be creative with the scheduling and then teams may be able to find a compromise.

By: comeonnowguys

comeonnowguys — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:27:14 +0000

Travel times must be addressed!

That’s why we are taking nearby Detroit from the Blues and Blackhawks and replacing them with Colorado! It’s ok because St. Louis and Chicago never have start times at 9 p.m. or have games run to midnight.

By: wingz101

wingz101 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:11:49 +0000

Why is there even an issue? Detroit and Columbus are Eastern Teams. Both of them, Detroit more, have suffered tremendously because of extended travel and terrible start time for televised away games. It’s time to fix that.

The great trade off is the Western teams will finally get to see some of the major stars on a regular basis through the revived home and home. Crosby, Giroux, Malkin, Chara, Karlsson, Oveckin. The Habs, Rangers, Bruins, Leafs … you lose 3 Red Wing games you added a ton of better games and variety. It’s really a no brainer.

And consider this. The Coyotes are likely to endure forever. Bettman has pretty much made that clear. However a team that is much worse, the Florida Panther could easily fold and move to Seattle evening out the divisons. That to me is a more likely scenario than the Coyotes moving.

Quebec isn’t ready for a team but when the NHL does expand there, they will just need to find another Western location to join at the same time. Anyone who thinks the Leafs will ever allow another team to set up shop in Markham is nuts.

By: lovac2

lovac2 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:56:32 +0000

If Phoenix ends up in Seattle and they get teams in Quebec or Toronto, then another team or teams will have to go back West anyway. So, sooner or later, Detroit and Columbus could be going back west, so why even go to eastern conference now.

By: mclovinhockey

mclovinhockey — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:49:29 +0000

So break up the hawks and wings rivalry by moving the most historic team in the west with the biggest name in the west over to the east.
Make the west less competitive by eliminating the best team over there and make the fans less interested from the west because there will be a lot fewer stats in the west.

There is nothing about these proposals that are helping make sure the NHL will not be in more trouble next lock out.

By: dutchman1350

dutchman1350 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:31:19 +0000

The time zone change is the biggest issue. For teams in the EST playing a bunch of games that start at 10, 10:30pm, is not right for their fans, or local businesses. Restaurants and bars would get more people out, and kids can actually view away games. That is how you build fans (and winning).

By: greatminnesotasportsmind

greatminnesotasportsmind — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:19:08 +0000

Your right, the Wild don’t belong in the northwest. Here’s a fact for you, Winnipeg who plays in the Southeast and has division road games in Tampa and Florida log less travel than Minnesota does.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:49:30 +0000

yeah i guess the reason they shot it down before was because they didnt have any input in it, which is pretentious at best, but now the league is kinda forcing their hand and they are gonna get stuck approving something at this point. from a players persective, i dont think they should care so much about the division realignment or the rivalry ramifications of it as much as they should be concerned with their money and opportunity to get it. hard to lure a guy to a team like lets say a carolina where they are consistently on a bubble 8th or 9th spot when a team in the west could get the same guy because there is a better chance of making that 8th spot for the same money.

By: sjsharks66

sjsharks66 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:40:21 +0000

*cough* move columbus *cough*

By: tmoore4075

tmoore4075 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:39:34 +0000

I agree I think a lot of it was crap the last time out. They were just making a point. The last plan was better for the league as a whole and for the future of the league I thought. Left room for expansion in the East and lessened the travel burden for both Detroit and Columbus while at the same time Minnesota and Dallas as well. Those teams are forgotten a lot in this. Wild don’t belong in the NW and Dallas doesn’t belong in the Pacific.

What should really happen…Go with the alignment you had planned for before with Detroit and CBJ in the Midwest. Then expand to Markham and Quebec. I don’t like the idea of expansion but that’s how you make it even without pissing too many people off.

By: thailer35

thailer35 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:37:12 +0000

You mean the Cardinals who went to and almost won the Superbowl a few years ago?

You clearly know what you’re talking about.