Caps v Flyers (Mar 4) aka Realignment

Since tonight's Caps-Flyers game will be on NBC or NBC sports network or Versus or whatever there won't be a CSN scoring AOTI tonight.  Normally, we'd take the night off here but, after sort of taking last game off, I decided to do a bonus post about something hockey related.  What is that topic you may ask? Realignment!  Now some people might be sick to death of the realignment talks and others may have no idea what I am talking about.  In the interest of not offending either group I will simply say that right now Winnipeg, Canada is in the Southeast division and that is one of the many issues that make realignment a very important issue for the league at this moment. Just check out this map showing the distance between Winnipeg and their division rivals Tampa Bay.

   
Now instead of getting into all the complicated issues surrounding realignment I thought instead it would be fun to post something I had my girlfriend, a casual hockey fan, write up.  I got the idea over on Japersrink.com.  Basically, I gave her a map of USA/Canada and a list of the 30 teams in the NHL.  After awhile she began to get a little frustrated (feeling the pain of the league) and I suggested moving a few teams to new cities.  She didn't like the idea of taking away hockey teams from people so I gave her a short list of cities that could possibly support an NHL team in the future and she ended up expanding the league by two teams (I know how unlikely that scenario is but for the purposes of this I allowed it)  This is what her new version of the NHL would look like.  Hope you enjoy!

Basics:
- 4 conferences
- 8 teams in each
- 83 game season
  - 5 games against each conference rivals
  - 2 games against every other team

Playoffs:
- 16 teams
- Top 4 from each conference
- First 2 rounds are against your conference

 *teams marked are new additions to the league




Conference 1: Oh Canada!

Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Winnipeg Jets
Quebec City Nordiques*




Conference 2: Easter Coasters Best Teams Ever! 

Washington Capitals
Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Buffalo Sabres
Boston Bruins



Conference 3: Midfilders

Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
St Louis Blues
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Kansas City Shuffle*


Conference 4: Nice Weather Teams That Shouldn't Have Hockey Because They Don't Have Ice

Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Anaheim Ducks


So there you have it.  NHL realignment solved. Hope you enjoyed this short post and hopefully the Caps give us a good show tonight and pull off a win against the Flyers.  That would be cool.
-Dru