Last night the NHL Board of Governors approved a new four-conference format beginning in the 2012-13 season...because with two conferences of seven teams and two conferences of eight teams is better than two conferences with 15?
Much of the impetus to change the league structure was based the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg by theThrashers Jets, and compounded by the long suffering complaints from Midwestern / Southern teams about travel and losing out on television airings. What could have been a simple swap between Winnipeg and either Detroit or Columbus to keep some geographical semblance of order, has become far more complicated.
Gone are the Eastern and Western Conferences with their evenly divided five team groups, each playing their four division rivals 24 times in the season, and the rest of their conference in forty games, filling in the remainder with the opposing conference. Now, every team will play a home-and-home set, and if you are in one of the eight team conferences, you'll play your rivals an uneven amount of times.
Also, the playoff format is not decided, though it is expected the top four teams per conference facing each other in the first two rounds of play, and then the conference champs meeting to determine the Stanley Cup final. While that may eliminate the issue of the top division leader getting a playoff spot even if other teams in the conference have more points but are not atop their group, it gives a clear advantage the seven-team conferences have over the eights to get a playoff berth.
I'm not a fan of this because the Kings are in an eight team conference. Plus if that format would have been in place last year, Dallas would have made the post-season with 95 points, and the LA Kings would have missed it with 98. are not in a seven-team conference. Sites have a deeper look at the pros and cons, and have even taken a look at how things would shake out if the playoffs started today under the new system, and it's not pretty.
Much of the impetus to change the league structure was based the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg by the
Gone are the Eastern and Western Conferences with their evenly divided five team groups, each playing their four division rivals 24 times in the season, and the rest of their conference in forty games, filling in the remainder with the opposing conference. Now, every team will play a home-and-home set, and if you are in one of the eight team conferences, you'll play your rivals an uneven amount of times.
Also, the playoff format is not decided, though it is expected the top four teams per conference facing each other in the first two rounds of play, and then the conference champs meeting to determine the Stanley Cup final. While that may eliminate the issue of the top division leader getting a playoff spot even if other teams in the conference have more points but are not atop their group, it gives a clear advantage the seven-team conferences have over the eights to get a playoff berth.
I'm not a fan of this because the Kings are in an eight team conference. Plus if that format would have been in place last year, Dallas would have made the post-season with 95 points, and the LA Kings would have missed it with 98. are not in a seven-team conference. Sites have a deeper look at the pros and cons, and have even taken a look at how things would shake out if the playoffs started today under the new system, and it's not pretty.
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