Habsfan84 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 The league has approved a four conference format. It is expected details will be announced shortly. Get ready for new rivals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 The league has approved a four conference format. It is expected details will be announced shortly. Get ready for new rivals. The Habs are in the same conference as their 4 current divisional rivals, plus Tampa and Florida who they'll probably play less than they do now because of the home-and-home with every team in the league element. I'm not sure new rivalries will be stemming from this as much as the league hopes...unless you get the same opponent in the playoffs a few years in a row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 The NHLPA must approve this as well, something I didn't know. For those unfamiliar with the new conference process, here are the changes: http://www.usatoday....ment/51663386/1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 The Habs are in the same conference as their 4 current divisional rivals, plus Tampa and Florida who they'll probably play less than they do now because of the home-and-home with every team in the league element. I'm not sure new rivalries will be stemming from this as much as the league hopes...unless you get the same opponent in the playoffs a few years in a row. They will play Florida and Tampa 6 times each rather than currently 4. Also with division playoffs there are only 6 teams Habs can play in first 2 rounds rather than 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yep. These 7 teams are going to get very sick of each other, facing each other in the playoffs year after year. We used to marvel at how often Montreal and Boston would face in the playoffs. Not it's statistically vey probable that they continue to do so. The conferences make sense. The only two that really stand out as being strange to me are Colorado and Winnepeg (because it's weird to see them with Dallas lol). Montreal's conference contains two doormats so they'll only have to be better than one other team to make the playoffs, and one of them is the Leafs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 With four conferences and teams likely being reseeded for the final four, what becomes of the Prince of Wales and Campbell Trophies? Designate one for the winner or the 1 vs. 4 series and the other to the 2 vs. 3? Will teams raise conference champion banned for just making it to the final four? Yahoo blog actually brings up some good questions. Oh, and they better have a provision that the #5 seed an 8 team conference can replace the #4 team in a 7 team conference, or this whole thing is undeniably unfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I hate the playoff system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Oh, and they better have a provision that the #5 seed an 8 team conference can replace the #4 team in a 7 team conference, or this whole thing is undeniably unfair. Disagree.... not with a schedule that is so unbalanced that you play everybody in your division 6 times, and everybody else once. What if the 7 team division has 2 or 3 amazing teams in it, or the 8 team division has 2 garbage teams in it. It will effect the points greatly in this unbalanced schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbp Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Okay I am just wondering what people think of this... I really don't like it at all, but I want to see other peoples opinions on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForumGhost Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I dunno if it will be better or worse, but I'm all for a shakeup just for fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueKross Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Okay I am just wondering what people think of this... I really don't like it at all, but I want to see other peoples opinions on this. The playoff format is a little suspect. I am not sure why they needed to call them conferences? Personnally I would left the division idea and had two conferences. For the playoffs, I would seed the top two in each (conference) division 1/2/3/4 and the other four spots based on record similar to what we do now. What I find interesting is where the eight and seven team conferences are located. It lends itself to the direction we may be taking in the future. Two franchises in east --- Quebec City/ Hamilton/ Toronto2/ Indianapolis to complete the eight team division--- if something happened to Phoenix--- KC/ Seattle/Spokane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 They will play Florida and Tampa 6 times each rather than currently 4. Also with division playoffs there are only 6 teams Habs can play in first 2 rounds rather than 14. True enough. Still, a pair of extra FLA/TB games isn't going to do much for building a rivalry I don't think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForumGhost Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I like that in the regular season, we play every team twice, home and away. Making the playoffs might be tougher for use though since we won't get to tromp over Rhode Island, Winnipeg, etc.Of our conference, most of the teams are on the bubble. I would be tempted to say Florida, Ottawa and Toronto are push-overs, but this season has not shown that at all. I hope that Ottawa and Florida are flashes in the pan. I hate Toronto more than them, but let's be honest -- a playoff run with Toronto would be much more interesting than without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 True enough. Still, a pair of extra FLA/TB games isn't going to do much for building a rivalry I don't think. Think about them though. Florida and Tampa fill the building when Toronto and Montreal come to town. As for the unbalanced thing... once Phoenix is sorted out, we may see an NHL expansion again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueKross Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Think about them though. Florida and Tampa fill the building when Toronto and Montreal come to town. As for the unbalanced thing... once Phoenix is sorted out, we may see an NHL expansion again Thats what I was getting at. They could have easily left both Detroit and Columbus in the most easterly conferences which would reduce their travel, but they chose to leave them in Western side. The theme here of less travel has been trumped by something else. THE FUTURE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trizzak Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 The conference with the New Yorks, Philly, Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina has significantly less travel than the other conferences. They could practically bus to the games. I would not be shocked if the 4 votes against came from Montreal's conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan84 Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 I really don't understand how the East has 7 teams in each of its conferences i guess is what they are calling it. It doesn't seem fair to the Western conference teams. The NHL must believe that their is a great possibility of Phoenix moving to the East to a say Quebec? Or does this mean that the NHL is looking to expand. While I don't think its a good idea 32 teams would work much better for this scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 According to today's paper, the playoff format is still unsettled. What gives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revvvrob Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Thats what I was getting at. They could have easily left both Detroit and Columbus in the most easterly conferences which would reduce their travel, but they chose to leave them in Western side. The theme here of less travel has been trumped by something else. THE FUTURE! it's really important to Chicago, Nashville & St.Louis to have Detroit in their conference - and if a team was moving east, no way Detroit would be OK with that team being C-Bus. overall - this is a good compromise and i like the revamp ... especially going to 4 divisions. as for playoff formats, everyone needs to chill - no reason to think this has to be the format for the next 30 years ... maybe only 5-6. in today's fluid, fast-changing world, it's good to do what is best for today while leaving yourself open for changes tomorrow, and this re-alignment and first 2 rounds of playoff structure does exactly that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 The conference with the New Yorks, Philly, Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina has significantly less travel than the other conferences. They could practically bus to the games. I would not be shocked if the 4 votes against came from Montreal's conference. Yeah they get a big advantage. But it is what it is, the atlantic coast of the US is home to many major metros capable of supporting teams, far more closely bunched than the midwest or pacific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 it's really important to Chicago, Nashville & St.Louis to have Detroit in their conference - and if a team was moving east, no way Detroit would be OK with that team being C-Bus. overall - this is a good compromise and i like the revamp ... especially going to 4 divisions. as for playoff formats, everyone needs to chill - no reason to think this has to be the format for the next 30 years ... maybe only 5-6. in today's fluid, fast-changing world, it's good to do what is best for today while leaving yourself open for changes tomorrow, and this re-alignment and first 2 rounds of playoff structure does exactly that. The thing Detroit really cared about, and what all teams care about as its far greater revenue than the extra expense of slightly longer flights is local TV revenue. The wings were getting screwed in their local tv contract by having so many 10:00 and later start times. Now they only make one trip per opponent to the far west coast, and all the teams in their division are at most 1 time zone away. This leads to bigger ratings and more local TV cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 This format apparently makes it easier for the Habs to make the playoffs. That's really all I give a rat's ass about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenadian Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Sounds like their "holding" a spot in the East for the Yotes (when they get moved) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I like this new format. Kinda reminds me a little of the old Adams division of the 80's (with the addition of the 2 florida teams of course!) This is al;so a good thing for the Florida teams cause like Commandant said, Florida and Tampa sell out whenever the Habs or the Leafs show up. More revenue for those teams. What I especially like is that we will be facing Boston, Toronto, Ottawa a lot more in the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trizzak Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yeah they get a big advantage. But it is what it is, the atlantic coast of the US is home to many major metros capable of supporting teams, far more closely bunched than the midwest or pacific. Then give us Carolina and Washington and give them Florida and Tampa. It may look weird, but both conferences would have similar travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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