New Realignment

After allowing representatives from various teams the opportunity to voice their opinions on which direction the league should go in regarding realignment, the Board of Governors have approved a brand spanking new, four conference alignment.  Here's how it shakes down (the conferences haven't been named yet):

Conference "A": Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver

Conference "B": Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg

Conference "C": Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto

Conference "D": Carolina, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington

You play everyone in your conference 6 times and everyone else twice (one home game, one away game).  I like the continued importance of "divisional" play.  What I also like is that every single season (until the next realignment) the Wings and Hawks visit the Hub.  It was a near crime that there could be a year not all six of the Original 6 teams would visit the Hub.  Unfortunately we only play Conference C (the other East conference) two times instead of four.  The little rivalries that have developed with NYR, Philly and Pitt will suffer, but I'll live.

The top four teams of each conference make the playoffs, so the same amount as the current format.  The first two rounds are played against your conference foes and I love this.  The B's / Habs rivalry has been so good lately because we've been lucky enough for them to have met in the playoffs.  With the heavy influence and emphasis placed on conference play, old rivalries will continue to flourish and I'm sure we'll see many new ones sprout up.

The first alignment plan was just a one for one swap: Winnipeg for either Detroit or Columbus.  If you think about it, it doesn't solve many of the problems that some teams face.  Mainly travel and the start time of games... plus that would've split up one of the better rivalries in the game.  Conference "A" and Conference "B" are aligned more appropriately with their time zones and should help garner more fans.  Not every fan base is as dedicated as Detroit and Chicago and stays up 'til midnight watching there team.

Overall, I'm a fan.  The great Northeast division remains intact and we welcome the two Florida teams to the fold.  Right now, that makes the conference even better as the Florida Panthers are leading the Southeast division right now and we all know what Tampa Bay brings.  Hell we now have 6 opportunities to get out of frozen New England and watch the B's in Florida in our floaties and our floral pattern swim trunks.  Not too shabby!!