Home HockeyBuzz Register Login
"My Take On The Preds"
TN • United States • 40 Years Old • Male
The NHL did a great thing by putting a large chunk of divisional games so early in the season this year. It really gets the rivalries going and gives each team a great opportunity to see what they are competing against in their division. For a long time I was wondering why they NHL didn’t do more of this...to me it seemed so easy a solution to add meaning to these early season contests.

Luckily, for the Preds, they seemed to get out of their early season funk just in time to start this eight game stint against Central foes. In the first three games the Preds have recorded five of a possible six points with the only loss coming in OT in Detroit.

It seems the Preds aren't the only team in the Central firing on all cylinders right now though. The Red Wings just had a nine game win streak snapped by the Chicago Blackhawks who themselves have won three in a row and five of their last six (their only loss being to the Preds). The rest of the NHL needs to be put on notice...there is some good hockey being played in the Central. No longer can the Preds, or any team for that matter, look at the Blue Jackets, Blackhawks and Blues as an easy two points. All these teams have made big time improvements and are all boasting some of the best young talent in the NHL.

While part of me loved being able to rack up the points on lesser team in division I think there is something to be said for playing against tough competition. The old saying 'iron sharpens iron' comes to mind.

Game Two of a home and home against the Blue Jackets as the Preds travel to Columbus for a 6 pm central face off (coverage on FSN and 104.5 The Zone). The games between the Preds and Jackets are always physical and I expect to see the Jackets want to drop the gloves early to get their crowd into it. The Preds need to stay patient and dictate the play early. I am really looking forward to this one! (another note to NHL schedulers...let's play a few more home and homes)

Nice article in the Tennessean today about Tootoo...nice to see him get some recognition for his offensive play (I talked about this in yesterdays column).

Who Gets The Start? Mason has been playing some great hockey but Trotz has got to be concerned with getting Ellis some playing time. We don't want him getting too rusty on the bench. The Preds don't play back to back games until December 18-19. Tonight might be the perfect time to get Ellis a spot start.
November 12, 2007 1:58 PM ET | Delete
Well I give you credit for enjoying all the divisional games. I can't stand it. I would much rather see some variety as opposed to the same old players all time. Personally, I really hope they implement two games vs the opposing conference next year and lessen divisional play.
November 12, 2007 2:14 PM ET | Delete
That may be a tough sell since the NHL is really pushing to build some regional rivalries. That being said I would love to have Crosby and company every year.
November 12, 2007 3:04 PM ET | Delete
i would love it if they dropped the divisional to 6 games instead of 8, and then applied that extra 10 games total to teams in the opposite conference. i mean i would hate to be in the west and only get to see crosby, briere, drury, brodeur, etc only once every 2 years.
November 12, 2007 3:05 PM ET | Delete
i miscounted, would only be 8 additional games. wow im braindead today...
November 12, 2007 3:30 PM ET | Delete
Hey- even Ninjas are allowed a mistake now and then!
November 12, 2007 4:03 PM ET | Delete
My vote is also for a max of six divisional games. I want a chance to see other teams live and in person. It makes for great competition and bragging rights when teams from opposing conferences meet. Word is that next season's schedule will reflect a reduced divisional schedule in favor of more Eastern/Western conference matchups. (Also, the NHL needs to market and leverage the star-power draw of a host of players other cities rarely get to see.)
November 12, 2007 4:19 PM ET | Delete
I love the divisional competition, but also feel that the schedule and divisional groups need to be restructured. For one, I think the east versus the west is bogus. It should be north versus south. Have all of the Canadian teams in the north conference, and then the rest of the conference would be the north east tems. The south conference would be everyone else. The advantage of that...Every team would have to travel east to west. Its not fair that teams in the northest can go 3 months without ever having to take more then an hour flight. The current Western Conference teams log at least twice as much travel time as the Eastern Conference Teams. So now that the conferences are set, I move on to the schedule. Have every team play 6 games against their own divisional rivals. Thats 24 games total. Then have every team play 4 games against the other 10 teams in their conference. Thats 40 games. Then have each team play one game against each team in the other conferrence each year. Thats 15 games. The prmise that you play a home game one year, and an away game the year after. So that totals up to 24 40 15 = 79. So what to do with the other 3 games. Simple. Have each team play one game against one team in each of the three divisions in the opposite conference. it too would be a home and away schedule alternating every other year. So after 2 years you would move on to a new team in the division. So for those of you wanting to see Crosby, if you were in the South Conference, you would see him at least once every other year..Your team would play him every year. and your team would get to play against him in a home and away 2 out of every 10 years.
November 12, 2007 4:19 PM ET | Delete
Message Posted
November 12, 2007 5:41 PM ET | Delete
North /South interesting but it's 5000 miles between Vancouver and Quebec! Then you've got Edmonton and Calgary. Same problem for US west coast and east coast teams. Besides, it would be unwise to put all Canadian teams in the same division for other reasons too - no need to create nationalism in the NHL, especially considering that the majority of the players are Canadian. I prefer to look at the geography of hockey in a "North American" light as opposed to US or Canadian. Some kind of realignment is feasible, but please, not an all Canadian division.
November 12, 2007 6:08 PM ET | Delete
I'd rather have rivalries that playing each Eastern team at least once. Honestly, I don't care if I ever see Crosby. I'd rather have him at a safe distance on the NHL Center Ice Package than in the Blues offensive zone.
November 12, 2007 6:08 PM ET | Delete
I've never heard the North - South alignment before. I'll give you points for making it interesting but the big trips from east to west would be even worse than it is now for some teams. I would think the Canadian teams would love to see each other more often but I doubt this would go.
November 12, 2007 6:52 PM ET | Delete
I agree that the east west travel would be worse for some teams, but it would be better for others. Right now, there are some teams, and Nashville is one of them, who travel way more then anyone else. I mean, Nashville to LA, to San Jose, to Calgary, to Edmonton, to Vancouver, to Detroit, to St. Louis and back to Nashville sounds brutal. Contrast that to what Buffalo might do. I agree that the minimizing the travel should be the goal. But I think that travel should be equal for every team. Eastern teams have a clear advantage over the west in tis regard. I think if you could have all of the teams travel equally, you could make up for the extra east west travel with better scheduled. Home many times have you seen H, H, A, H, A, A, H, A, H as a schedule. Couldn't you find a way to go H, H, H, H, A, A, A, A. Its the back and forth that kilss the teams. I look at Nashville right now. We were at Detroit this past thursday, then home for Columbus, then away for Columbus, then Home for the Hawks and blues, then away to the blues before being home for the wings. I mean, back and forth is what kills the players, not the miles.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to leave a comment.

Blog Archive