NHL Realignment: Rivalries Destroyed

All over the internet Pens fans have been in an uproar with the newest proposed division realignment which apparently "has been gaining steam." We may have a grudge against the new plan because we would be seeing much less of that other team from the other side of the state. The Pens and Flyers would meet only two times each season under the new realignment plan as the teams would be split up into two separate divisions. After the jump we will take a look at the proposed format and provide some thoughts on this plan. 

The Realignment Plan Examined


There are your four divisions, and objectively speaking, they make complete sense for most teams. 


As you can see, there will still be two conferences, and each will have two divisions. Each conference will have a division that consists of both 7 and 8 teams. 


Under this format each team will play every team that is not in their division twice, once at home and once away. This would be either 44 or 46 games depending on how many teams are in your division. The remainder of the games would be against division foes, and this number is substantially more than the 24 games each NHL team plays against teams in their division under the current format. 


Not only would we see new divisions under this scheme, we would also see a return to the division playoff format for the first time since the 1992-93 season. 


In this format the top four teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs. The first two rounds of the playoffs will be intra-divisional playoffs, with teams seeded from their respected division 1-4. The third round would be the conference finals between the two divisional playoff winners. 


POFA's Thoughts
First off, under this format we lose our beloved rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers as we would only see them twice a year and possibly in a 7 game showdown for the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.


This would be a huge blow to fans from both cities, as the rivalry has grown into a healthy hatred towards one another since the lockout. 


This could be easily fixed however, as a switch between Boston and Philadelphia would make just as much sense. This would mean a bit more travel for the Flyers, who could literally take a train to half of their divisional games in the proposed format. 


Carolina, Florida, and Tampa would still have the most travel in whatever division they would be placed in, so it makes sense that they are grouped together into one.   


This alignment also does something else. It takes away the Detroit Red Wings' "cry baby" card about their travel and how they have every God given right to be put in the Eastern Conference. Even if they remain in the Western Conference, their traveling problem will no longer be a problem due to how the scheduling would occur under this format. It would also keep their rivalry alive with the Chicago Blackhawks.


Losing the Flyers rivalry will be terrible, but realignment keeps teams within their timezones and will help build their fan base. If that happens, then the NHL will be even more competitive because teams will have the money and be less hesitant to spend beyond the salary cap floor.


The two Western Conference divisions actually make a lot of sense.