Back in the day's of yore, during the first Obama administration, the NHL presented a realignment plan that divided the league into 4 conferences in which the top 4 teams would make the post season, with the four champions then playing in a semifinal on their way to the Stanley Cup. I loved this
Loser Domi had some issues with it. She noted that several teams in Canada are now in the same division as the two Florida teams. They would fly over 8 teams from another conference to get to their rivals. This is geographically asinine.
The Players didn't care for how the conferences were aligned. Teams in the 7 teams conferences had a better chance at getting into the playoffs. The Red Wings didn't like it because they are babies who were upset they didn't get to play with the Eastern Conference. The Board of Governors went back to the drawing board, and came back with steamed garbage.
Now, there is a wild card for teams 7 and 8. Not only that, but it would still be two conferences, so the Stanley Cup finals would still be west versus east, excluding a fun possibility of say, New York versus Montreal, and removing the regional intensity of the early playoff rounds. That pretty much eliminates my favorite part of the proposed realignment.
Oh, and the divisions?
Oh good. Still stupid. So basically, they solved the problem by eliminating the cool part and keeping the stupid part.
I'm so happy that the Players and Red Wings have what they wanted though, that's the important thing. Who cares what fans are interested in (hint: not the NHL, not now, not ever)?
Hopefully when the NHL inevitably expands, there is a little bit of innovation and some common sense. I hope someone has already addressed this.
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