I’m absolutely floored that they approved it.

I expected a lot of problems because quite frankly for all the talk about the Eastern bloc of owners, the Western bloc could just as easily decide to hold things up and threaten the East with the status quo (meaning 2 guaranteed trips to Winnipeg every year) if they didn’t agree to something else.

If Bettman really was the driving force behind it.. kudos to him, and it may in fact be the biggest achievement of his tenure when all is said and done (since the Cap hasn’t worked out like they planned).

Here’s hoping they bring back Smythe, Norris, Adams, and Patrick, or 4 analogs.

At least they won’t be Leaders and Legends.

Posted by Primis on 12/05/11 at 10:52 PM ET

So… Gretzky, Howe, Orr/Richartd, and…. what’s the 4th name if they go that way?  Lemieux?  Bossy?

Posted by Primis on 12/05/11 at 10:58 PM ET

One big negative, in the playoffs, each conference will have a team in the semi-finals in both the east and west.

Two great teams could meet in round 2 in this format.

For example, Philly and Pittsburgh are in the same Conference (division) and had a great season.

One is going to be eliminated in round 2, no matter how you look at it.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/05/11 at 10:59 PM ET

Two great teams could meet in round 2 in this format.

Like Detroit and San Jose?

Posted by Guilherme from Brazsil on 12/05/11 at 11:07 PM ET

Paul, am I missing something?  Aren’t Boston and Philly in different divisions?  They wouldn’t play each other until the 3rd round or am I completely off base?

Posted by pens fan in baltimore on 12/05/11 at 11:10 PM ET

Nope Herm, San Jose won’t be in Detroit’s “Conference”.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/05/11 at 11:11 PM ET

PFIB, you are right, I meant Penguins and wrote Boston, now fixed.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/05/11 at 11:12 PM ET

The NHL hasn’t decided how they will seed after round 2, will be discussed at GM meeting in March.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/05/11 at 11:15 PM ET

Ok.  Thanks Paul!  I don’t know how I feel about this.  While the first two rounds every year will be absolutely nasty hockey, there are going to be huge complaints when a 5th place team has a higher point total than the 4th place team in the other division.  We will see I guess.  I’d rather they stick with divisions and still go top 8 but I can live with this.

Posted by pens fan in baltimore on 12/05/11 at 11:15 PM ET

I love the idea of the first 2 rounds of the playoffs being within the division (why call them conferences?).  And then potentially re-seeding for the 3rd round.  Giving the better team in the season the supposedly easier opponent (though at that point they are all fairly even).

Thumbs up from me!!

Posted by WingMan from The Q C on 12/05/11 at 11:17 PM ET

Also, 26 teams voted yes, 4 said no.  Needed 20 votes to pass.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/05/11 at 11:18 PM ET

Paul, I don’t care about the playoff “implications”.  The best teams in the league have been in the West for years anyways, often beating on each other in the Conf. Semis or Conf. Finals anyways.  So I don’t see how this is any different.

Any honestly, in a few years they could just pull the top 16 teams, seed them 1-16, and it’d be much easier to pull off than in the old/current alignment.  This could be a stepping stone towards that.

Posted by Primis on 12/05/11 at 11:20 PM ET

Also, 26 teams voted yes, 4 said no.  Needed 20 votes to pass.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/05/11 at 10:18 PM ET

So “No” was Boston, Philly, and… what other 2?  We need to know the 4!

Posted by Primis on 12/05/11 at 11:23 PM ET

I think this is great news, it is a win win for everyone. Yes some eastern teams have to travel more, but it will be more interesting hockey for a vast majority of the league. Also, you get time zone conferences which is good for TV. I also like that the teams I am interested in are grouped together into bigger conferences.

Posted by timbits on 12/05/11 at 11:32 PM ET

Nope Herm, San Jose won’t be in Detroit’s “Conference”.

What I meant was, Detroit and SJ are elite teams that faced each other in the 2nd round for two years in a row.

Posted by Guilherme from Brazsil on 12/05/11 at 11:39 PM ET

This plan is just going to create more problems than it’s worth, especially if/when Phoenix is relocated to Hamilton or Quebec City. It puts the teams in the 8 team conferences at a disadvantage. This plan would work just fine if there were 28 teams, or 32 teams, but with 30, it just doesn’t work. Sorry NHL BOG. You messed up on this one.

Posted by Anna on 12/05/11 at 11:45 PM ET

This plan is just going to create more problems than it’s worth, especially if/when Phoenix is relocated to Hamilton or Quebec City. It puts the teams in the 8 team conferences at a disadvantage. This plan would work just fine if there were 28 teams, or 32 teams, but with 30, it just doesn’t work. Sorry NHL BOG. You messed up on this one.

Posted by Anna on 12/05/11 at 10:45 PM ET

I think you’re mistaken.  Given the lopsided-ness of the conferences, if a western team has to move east they can easily flip them to an Eastern-based conference without having to flip one back west.

This plan allows for future moves without having to blow things up again later, and I’m betting that was a big selling point to the teams in the east.

Posted by Primis on 12/05/11 at 11:51 PM ET

So “No” was Boston, Philly, and… what other 2?  We need to know the 4!

Detroit and Columbus?

Given the lopsided-ness of the conferences, if a western team has to move east they can easily flip them to an Eastern-based conference without having to flip one back west.

Yeah, I would say it makes future realignments easier, as long as it’s not two teams in any given conference at the same time.

I hope that in the semifinals they do a complete reseed.  It would be interesting if they could have, for example, a Detroit/Vancouver or Boston/Pittsburgh Finals…

Posted by Garth on 12/05/11 at 11:58 PM ET

Detroit’s brass are talking about how they love this move. I’d almost guarantee both Florida teams hate this.

I like the realignment.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 12/06/11 at 12:33 AM ET

You know J.J., I thought about that too, but I don’t think they will mind it.

Their rink will be filled more often, since northern teams like Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto will be visiting 3x each.  Way better crowds from Carolina, Washington and Winnipeg.

It will be a tougher division, but they just may catch some of those teams in a relaxed mode.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/06/11 at 12:39 AM ET

For once, I’m actually impressed that 26 votes gave it the “Yay.”  Finally.  While I’m still disappointed the Wings did not move to the Eastern Conference, I’m as happy as the Wings brass who were willing to live with the compromise.

Now comes naming the “conferences” or regions.  Hopefully, they’ll go back to using the esteemed named divisions of old:  Norris, Smythe, Patrick, and Adams.

Posted by SYF from the bottom of my, what, 11teenth pint of Guinness? on 12/06/11 at 01:51 AM ET

I really like the format of each “West” and “East” home/home series, but I’m on the fence regarding the playoff format. The potential for a marquee SCF is always going to be there, but the prior/current setup is what makes hockey playoffs undoubtedly above all others. Hopefully we have an exciting Spring, and hopefully the future is just as intriguing.

Even though I live out west, I was really hoping to see Detroit face-off against PIT, PHI and the O-6 six times per year while playing the Western Canadian teams twice. It’s just those damn Southern belt teams. Should be exciting.

Posted by Jesters Dead on 12/06/11 at 03:37 AM ET

So “No” was Boston, Philly, and… what other 2?  We need to know the 4!

Detroit and Columbus?

Posted by Garth on 12/05/11 at 10:58 PM ET

Since DET has said they are pretty happy, can guarantee they didn’t vote “No”.

CBS maybe, but I’d bet that all 4 teams that voted “No” are currently in the East.  The one Western team I could see would maybe be NAS I guess…

Posted by Primis on 12/06/11 at 07:59 AM ET

Congrats NHL, you screwed this up royally. Can’t believe teams like the Bruins, Candiens, Maple Leafs will only be coming into Philly once a year now. I’ve been saying it since Atlanta went to Winnipeg, Winnipeg to the Northwest, Minnesota to the Central, Nashville to the Southeast. It really can’t get any simpler then that.

Posted by phillyd from New Jersey on 12/06/11 at 10:00 AM ET

Oh, and as for who voted no, I wouldn’t jump to say Boston and Philly as definite nos. I could see both Florida teams and Carolina voting no with possibly an Anaheim or LA also due to the 3 trips they’ll be making a year to Edmonton and Calgary.

Posted by phillyd from New Jersey on 12/06/11 at 10:18 AM ET

I can see Carolina voting no because they will never make the playoffs again!

Posted by Scout on 12/06/11 at 11:18 AM ET