I was pretty stoked about the upcoming Pacific Division and return of the Winnipeg Moose next season in the AHL. However, I forgot the board of governors probably wanted to emulate the NHL’s clunky four-division set up which is what they did. So come September, the two remaining teams in Texas will be in the same division as the five California teams. We remain in the Western Conference, thus we’ll still be receiving visits from Chicago, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Winnipeg, Des Moines, Charlotte, Cleveland and Rockford. Farewell Toronto, Hamilton (moving), Syracuse, Rochester and Utica, they have to compensate for the five relocating teams going to the Left Coast.
My gripe? A significant chunk of the Stars’ away games won’t start until 9-9:30 PM and I probably won’t know the score before bed. Yeah, yeah, first-world problems.