NHL 14 -- Realignment for the Next Season? - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14 -- Realignment for the Next Season? Stuck

Posted on March 6, 2013 at 03:59 AM.

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With the possibility of a realignment next season, it could make for some interesting dynamics in the real league as well as in the game world. You can bet that if the players approve the proposal, EA will have it implemented in time for NHL 14, but you have to wonder what kind of trickle-down effect it will have when actual games are played, as well as for stuff like GM Connected and season mode.

If you're unfamiliar with what might happen, essentially the NHL is looking to go back to the format it had years ago where there are four divisions (still with an eastern and western conference), with seven or eight teams in each of these divisions. The top three teams in each division would make the playoffs automatically, much like the conference format now, but then there would be four wildcard teams, two for each conference. The two wildcard teams in each conference could come from either division, meaning you could have a situation with one division having three playoff teams and another having five.

In theory, this is to remedy the complaint of third-place conference teams stinking out the joint because they're in a weak division and they've got less points than a team that's actually below them in the standings. By casting a wider net with these division, it could mean you get a better top-three representation, and then the wildcards account for any major talent disparities between the divisions.

The rub comes from the fact that you'd be seeing a lot of the same teams over and over throughout the year, and many rivalries would be lost from before. Then again, the league (and Gary Bettman) is probably salivating thinking of the media exposure and revenue of Pittsburgh playing against the likes of Montreal, Toronto, Boston and Detroit on a regular basis.

Admittedly, it would be good to have Columbus, Winnipeg and Detroit playing in much more appropriate divisions for their time zones, and hopefully Phoenix heads its way to Seattle sometime soon, making the new Pacific division make even more sense.

The biggest conundrum I still see is that the conferences would be unequal, with the west having 14 teams and the east having 16. When the math to make the playoffs isn't equal for each side, you've got a problem. It's absurd for the NHL to consider expanding at this point, and they honestly should just contract a couple of teams -- Florida, Columbus, New York Islanders and Phoenix all come to mind. The travel inequalities throughout the league would still really go unaddressed here, with some teams actually having it worse.

Amusingly, I think this type of setup could actually make a mode like GM Connected in NHL 14 a lot of fun, as users wouldn't be stranded in one-off divisions without having many human opponents to play. With the proper time zones and more regional focus, it would be easier to create a league with your friends that actually allowed you to play against each other and still have teams you'd want. Either way, we won't know if the realignment will be waiting for us in next year's game for a little while longer.

What do you think, OS? Should the league go ahead with the realignment? Should it be tweaked? Should it be thrown out altogether?

Comments

# 1 NCAAFootballFreak @ Mar 6

As a Dallas fan, I really like it. I think the Stars playing a lot more games in the Central Time Zone is definitely a good thing for them.

My one "tweak" to fix the problem you mentioned about the uneven conferences is to take a team like Detroit, which could still technically count as a "Central" team and move them over to the Central. Then, each conference has 15.

That's my "Two Lincolns."

-- Stephen

# 2 jethrotull @ Mar 7

As a Detroit fan, I feel like we have helped carry the NHL long enough. I'm sick of watching the, play San Jose, Phoenix, Vancouver, Columbus. For the last 17 or so years we have been cheated out of more traditional rivalries like Toronto, and other Eastern teams. Time to put us back where we belong

# 3 Eski33 @ Mar 10

Not a fan of this. Detroit needs to stay in the Central. Actually, I wish they would bring back the original division names: Adams, Patrick, Norrish and Smythe.

Contraction? I say Phoenix and Florida. Or send Phoenix to Quebec or Hartford. Columbus draws well.