NHL Division Realignment
Posted 11:34 AM ET | Comments 0
The move of the Thrashers to Winnipeg is all but complete at this point. Since this would mean one more team in the Western Conference than in the Eastern Conference, a division realignment is due.
Instead of taking my preference into this process, I decided to take two objective approaches. The first method I tried to have each division only include one time zone and when that was not possible I took location into account. The second process I tried to group teams together due to their proximity to each other.
My idea behind both these schemes is simple. The time zone realignment allows each team to play more in its own time zone. Thus making it easier on the organization, the players and the fans since they would deal less with ridiculous starting times.
The location proximity realignment clusters teams together that are in the same general vicinity. This definitely helps the organization the most since the cost of traveling would go down. However, the players would also benefit from less time on buses and airplanes. And even the fans would profit somewhat because they could attend away games much easier.
Time Zone Realignment #1
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Detroit to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Pittsburgh to Southeast
Time Zone Realignment #2
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Detroit to Northeast, Pittsburgh to Northeast, Montreal to Atlantic, Boston to Atlantic, Philadelphia to Southeast
Time Zone Realignment #3
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Pittsburgh to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Columbus to Southeast
Time Zone Realignment #4
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Columbus to Northeast, Pittsburgh to Northeast, Montreal to Atlantic, Boston to Atlantic Philadelphia to Southeast
Location Proximity Realignment #1
Colorado to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Detroit to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Pittsburgh to Southeast
Location Proximity Realignment #2
Colorado to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Pittsburgh to Central
Washington to Atlantic, Nashville to Southeast, Dallas to Southeast
You could go on and on with these things but I figured I would just do a few.
I'm not sure what one you're leaning towards so far but I think the most radical one, Location Proximity Realignment #2, is my favorite. As much as it would suck to lose Pittsburgh to the West (this coming from a Flyers fan), I feel like this realignment makes the most sense. It's never made sense to me that a city that is two hours away, Washington D.C., is not in the Atlantic Division. Also, it only makes sense that Pittsburgh is in the same division as Columbus since they are extremely close to each other. And to top it all off, this realignment turns the Southeast Division into a true Southern division.
If you need a visual representation of this, go to Google Maps and put tags on each of the NHL teams' cities. You will see that the teams that are in the same division now are clustered together quite nicely.
So what's your favorite?
Instead of taking my preference into this process, I decided to take two objective approaches. The first method I tried to have each division only include one time zone and when that was not possible I took location into account. The second process I tried to group teams together due to their proximity to each other.
My idea behind both these schemes is simple. The time zone realignment allows each team to play more in its own time zone. Thus making it easier on the organization, the players and the fans since they would deal less with ridiculous starting times.
The location proximity realignment clusters teams together that are in the same general vicinity. This definitely helps the organization the most since the cost of traveling would go down. However, the players would also benefit from less time on buses and airplanes. And even the fans would profit somewhat because they could attend away games much easier.
Time Zone Realignment #1
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Detroit to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Pittsburgh to Southeast
Time Zone Realignment #2
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Detroit to Northeast, Pittsburgh to Northeast, Montreal to Atlantic, Boston to Atlantic, Philadelphia to Southeast
Time Zone Realignment #3
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Pittsburgh to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Columbus to Southeast
Time Zone Realignment #4
Vancouver to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Columbus to Northeast, Pittsburgh to Northeast, Montreal to Atlantic, Boston to Atlantic Philadelphia to Southeast
Location Proximity Realignment #1
Colorado to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Dallas to Central
Detroit to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Pittsburgh to Southeast
Location Proximity Realignment #2
Colorado to Pacific, Winnipeg to Northwest, Pittsburgh to Central
Washington to Atlantic, Nashville to Southeast, Dallas to Southeast
You could go on and on with these things but I figured I would just do a few.
I'm not sure what one you're leaning towards so far but I think the most radical one, Location Proximity Realignment #2, is my favorite. As much as it would suck to lose Pittsburgh to the West (this coming from a Flyers fan), I feel like this realignment makes the most sense. It's never made sense to me that a city that is two hours away, Washington D.C., is not in the Atlantic Division. Also, it only makes sense that Pittsburgh is in the same division as Columbus since they are extremely close to each other. And to top it all off, this realignment turns the Southeast Division into a true Southern division.
If you need a visual representation of this, go to Google Maps and put tags on each of the NHL teams' cities. You will see that the teams that are in the same division now are clustered together quite nicely.
So what's your favorite?