NHL 14: How the New Divisions Change Things Up - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14: How the New Divisions Change Things Up Stuck

Posted on August 7, 2013 at 03:05 PM.

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The 2013-2014 NHL season will bring a shuffle in the league's divisions, and it will have some meaningful impacts for teams in both conferences. The chief reason for the realignment is to create a bit more parity with some of the geography of the teams and their travel schedules, but it also has the knock-on effect of allowing a few teams to change conferences and for a fresh look to the overall league. These changes will also have an effect on NHL 14 as well, with the new divisions and playoff structure being fully implemented for the game.

The new conference layout, as seen above, will mean that there will be 14 teams in the west and 16 teams in the east. The other major differences are that Columbus and Detroit are moving to the east, and Winnipeg is moving to the west. All of the division names are holdovers from the previous format, but the eastern conference now has the "Metropolitan" as one of its two divisions. The playoff qualifying is also slightly altered, with the top three seeds in each division automatically getting in, but the next two spots in each conference are claimed by the best of the rest, regardless of division.

The most immediate problem I see for the league and for NHL 14 is that the playoff qualifying isn't equal in both conferences. When choosing which team to play as in a game, it only makes sense to gravitate towards the west, where you will have to face two less teams in order to qualify. In fact, when you take into account that there are usually two or three dud teams in a conference, it's basically about 10 or 11 teams going for eight spots, which is definitely a bit goofy. I realize that geography plays a big role here, as you just can't move eastern teams into the west randomly, but maybe some more tinkering would've been helpful.

I do like the playoff qualifying, as it mostly addresses the issue that's plagued the NHL for years now, where a weak division winner got a better seed. Since there are now more teams split between four divisions, it increases the odds of a better shakeout in the standings, with the final two playoff spots rewarding any discrepancies in quality between the two conference divisions. This will be good for leagues in NHL 14 as well, since there will be a better chance of competitive team standings and less individually bad divisions.

Looking at the west, it should be a much more competitive "Central" division, as Detroit has moved to the east (much to the annoyance of teams over there), and Colorado has moved to a division that makes more sense geographically. I think Colorado will fare the best, as they get to avoid the teams that have given them grief for a while now (Vancouver, Minnesota) and move into a division that's actually pretty even -- except for Chicago. Yeah, it should be an absolute feast for Chi-Town, as they are the elite, and everyone else is comfortably a couple of notches below them. The arrival of Winnipeg doesn't change too much, as that franchise is still looking to make an impact, and they'll probably have a tough go against some of the faster, stronger teams in the west.

For the "Pacific" division, I think the biggest change will be for the Canadian franchises, as they will now have to regularly face tougher competition from teams like Los Angeles and San Jose. Minnesota was always a pretty mercurial team to play against, and Colorado was a punching bag, so it now means teams like Vancouver will probably be on the bubble, and Edmonton will possibly sink entirely, even with their youth.

Conversely, the eastern conference's "Atlantic" division is a welcome sight to the Canadian teams there, as they can comfortably sit behind Boston and Detroit to fight over the remaining playoff seeds. A team like Toronto, in particular, is probably licking their chops, as a regular playoff appearance in that division is much more of a possibility now. On the other hand, both of the Florida teams are probably crapping themselves, as they'll be routinely pounded by the likes of Boston and Detroit and will have to crash against the logjam ahead of them.

The new "Metropolitan" division will actually be a very even division, save for teams like Carolina and Columbus. I think only Carolina really has the chance to surprise, as they're an odd team that way, but Columbus was just starting something in the west, and now they have to learn new teams -- and good ones, too. It should be fun watching the Rangers, Penguins, Capitals and Flyers smash into each other at the top, and the remaining teams will just try and stay afloat for a potential final playoff spot.

All of these changes could make for some interesting ratings in NHL 14, as some of these teams are now in a much different setting than they were before. A team like Vancouver, for instance, might be affected offensively, as they only had a middling offense before, and it's now been challenged by teams like LA, San Jose and Anaheim. Just the same, Chicago gets to be even more elite with the removal of Detroit and upstart Columbus and the addition of Dallas, Colorado and St. Louis.

Final Thoughts

This new division alignment gives a fresh coat of paint to the NHL and NHL 14, and I think it will put some teams into a tough position. The playoff qualifying is a lot more fair than it has been the past for teams in a given conference, but I really don't like two less teams in one conference. I'm curious to see how teams are rated in NHL 14, as some of the new alignment does change the relative quality of certain teams (Winnipeg and Columbus come to mind).

Comments

# 1 13whitebread @ Aug 7

I love that the red wings have moved east. I now it makes sense to have Columbus move also however I wish that Chicago would have moved east instead and have all the original 6 in the east. It's just a new wrinkle to get me excited about NHL 14 if it were not for that I probably would by pass NHL 14 and wait for NHL15.

# 2 brent3419 @ Aug 7

the east looks fd' up. i mean look at florida having a division game vs ottawa vs them having one vs carolina. swap columbus with florida and that wouldve been better

# 3 onac22 @ Aug 7

I love that we all believe EA will actually get this right. Watch, it will be West Coast schedule for Wings and Blue Jackets with East coast standings or something similar. But HUT is still there.