I caught the gist this morning from my EPSN widget. Personally, I can live with it since the Atlantic Division remains intact in the “D” Conference so the Flyers will maintain their rivalry against Armpittsburgh and New Jersey. You could say the Atlantic, Northeast and Central get expanded while the Southleast, Northworst and Pacific (they used to be Pathetic) Divisions are gone.
Having two seven-team conferences and two eight-team conferences is another matter. Somehow the Western teams have more competition which means I’m sure to hear the accusations of a weak East, blah blah blah…see Hockey News‘ picks for the Stanley Cup last Spring. Going with the AHL’s recent rules which allowed a strong number five to push out a weak number four across divisions would be the remedy.
Now do I like it? Not really but it doesn’t surprise me. Bettman doesn’t have the courage to re-align the teams correctly to compensate for Winnipeg. Detroit rejoining the East was too daring. Columbus would be tricky yet most of Ohio is mentally northern Kentucky, thus a good fit in the Southeast. Despite Nashville’s time zone, the Preds reside in a city culturally closer to Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham. The NHL should move them. Then Minnesota takes Nashville’s Central spot and Winnipeg joins the Northwest. None of these teams would shake up the economic landscape as badly as Detroit leaving. Instead Bettman opts for a middling solution to match his commissioner skills.
Let’s see how long this holds up until Phoenix moves to say Hamilton or Quebec.