With Atlanta’s move to Winnipeg comes realignment — just not yet. Though the NHL has already categorically stated that they will not be realigning teams for the 2011-2012 season, it is almost a given that a decision to realign the teams after the conclusion of next season will be made in short order.
The question is whether or not the NHL will adopt what former league executives in the 1990s referred to as “radical” realignment — drastically shape shifting the look of the league, killing some old rivalries and sparking new ones, or if the NHL will take a more cautious approach, perhaps moving one or so teams in order to better balance the travel schedule.
Though the NHL may be the most likely of the popular North American sports leagues to drastically realign themselves, it seems more-and-more likely that the latter approach — the approach of just moving a team or two is what will happen.
Imagining the realignment of a sports league is, of course, a wet dream of many sports fans everywhere. Even more so for me because I am, you know, a massive dork. When I was 12 years old I sent a letter to the NFL massively realigning the NFL divisions and offering up my opinion on the upcoming schedule. Ever wonder what it would have been like to have the green bay Packers, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles in the same division? Me too. Apparently the NFL didn’t agree with 12-year-old me’s philosophy that divisions should be color coordinated.
Anyway, I’m older and wiser and at least one female has found me allegedly tolerable enough to marry. As a result, I can go about this sort of realignment thing minus the shame of pre-teenagedom, and so on. In other words, this realignment might make a little more sense.
So! If it were me, if I were Gary Bettman or Brendan Shanahan or whichever muppet gets to rubber stamp the realignment in the next 12 months-or-so, this is how I’d do it:
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Coast
Boston Bruins
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Montreal Canadiens
Though not all of these teams technically “touch” the Atlantic Coast, they’re all close enough that their fans can still shout vitriolic insults about each others cities to opposing fans who may be approaching by boat. What I mean to say is: close enough. This division maintains the luke-warm Devils/Rangers rivalry, and the fiery hot Canadiens/Bruins rivalry, while bringing potential for an all new New York/Boston rivalry with the Rangers and Bruins having to square off so frequently. We also include the Islanders because, well, they still exist and have to go somewhere.
Great Lakes
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Columbus Blue Jackets
Pittsburgh Penguins
Buffalo Sabres
Again, every team isn’t exactly within spitting distance of the Great Lakes, but close enough. Pittsburgh/Buffalo is an untapped sports rivalry that has had some great games in multiple sports but has never really been fully explored. I think there’s some great room there. Though this does regress the “Keystone State” rivalry between Philly and the Pens, I feel like Philadelphia is much more of a beltway city while Pittsburgh is much more of a rust belt city. This division also moves Columbus over to the Eastern Conference where they get what you might call a fresh start.
South Coast
Philadelphia Flyers
Washington Capitals
Carolina Hurricanes
Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Panthers
This division has the potential to grow a great Philadelphia/Washington rivalry, and is the best I could come up with in terms of travel for the Lightning and Panthers, who feel like they are on neptune sometimes when trying to map out divisions for something like this. Carolina is sort of between the two and thus should have sufficiently tolerable trips whether heading north or south.
Western Conference
Mid-West
Detroit Red Wings
St. Louis Blues
Chicago Blackhawks
Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild
This division remains somewhat untouched. Though Nashville was a favorite to move east, I feel as though they are just starting to come into their own as an organization and so consistency is important. The Red Wings were also potential movers, but they are the anchor team of the Western Conference, and would create a significant talent disparity in trading Winnipeg to the west while moving Detroit the east. This maintains your Western Conference Original Six rivalry while putting Minnesota in their rightful place.
Northwest
Vancouver Canucks
Edmonton Oilers
Calgary Flames
Winnipeg (?)
San Jose Sharks
This one is essentially a no-brainer. You’ve got the four Northwestish Canadian teams, sure to build new rivalries with Winnipeg or grow the existing ones. San Jose joins in because — and I had to look this up — they are the northernmost of the California teams
Southwest
Los Angeles Kings
Anaheim Ducks
Phoenix Coyotes
Dallas Stars
Colorado Avalanche
Another one that is basically a no-brainer. The two southern-most California teams, two teams in the southwest definitively in Dallas and Phoenix, and Colorado, who has no home and though it veers more toward the center of the country has more of the western feel to it as a place and culture.
So! There you have it. A few conservative, but interesting changes. I think, then, the next big question is how would this impact the Sabres in the short and long term?
Certainly, it is probably an immediate blessing to have Montreal and Boston out of Buffalo’s division, at least from a competitive stand point. While the trade of Pittsburgh for Boston is probably close to a wash, especially considering Buffalo has recently struggled mightily with the Penguins, the trade of Montreal for Columbus is a wholesale win. Sure, we do lose some steam on two great rivalries with Boston and Montreal, but they’d probably fall back into “casual rivals” category where they belong, alongside the likes of the Rangers. Pittsburgh, as previously discussed, has great potential for a rivalry, and if you’ve ever seen a Sabres game in Columbus, Blue Jackets fans hate us for our road antics almost as much as Carolina fans. A great under-the-radar rivalry could develop as a result.
From a longer term perspective, the Sabres may become the premiere franchise in the entire division. Then again, it may backfire. Though Pittsburgh would probably be its main competition, you otherwise have three teams going through serious rebuilding efforts. With those rebuilding efforts also comes higher draft picks and potential superstars, leaving Buffalo as the possible only team in the division without a bonafide stud on its roster.
All-in-all , I think this sort of realignment would be the most beneficial for Buffalo. It keeps the buzzsaw of Detroit at bay, while opening up a bit of a wider window within the team’s own division competitively. For at least the forseeable future, the Sabres would be participating in a two team race to lead the division.
Matthew is a writer, editor and lifelong Buffalo Sports fan now living in Austin, Texas. He also runs the blog Hockey Heaven, a Buffalo Sabres fan blog, and you can reach him on twitter @matthew1stewart.
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