I see where the National Hockey League is planning to implement a new division and conference realignment for next season, which is a good idea because I was getting tired of the current one after, oh, what seems like three years. The NHL evidently does not place much value in history and tradition, and it can use a geography lesson, too.

In other words, what is St. Louis doing in the same division as Winnipeg?

The NHL is currently divided into two conferences of three divisions each (that’s known as long division) which are composed of five teams apiece. I liked the older alignment of two divisions in each conference, with the top eight teams in each conference making the playoffs. I think maybe the reason I liked this format so much is that it was my idea. Really.

Back in the 1980s, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, the top four teams in each division made the playoffs, and No. 1 played No. 4 while No. 2 played No. 3, and it seemed like every year the New York Islanders played the Washington Capitals in the first round. It probably seemed that way because that’s what happened.

So I proposed my idea—in which the top eight teams in the conference would be seeded to avoid such a repetitive pattern, and (by the way) reward the teams in the conference with the most points by matching them against teams with the fewest. The idea was mocked by hockey’s hierarchy, including a general manager friend of mine who I won’t name, although we will call him Bill Torrey.

He, and others, didn’t think it would ever happen. They thought fans wanted to see these intra-division rivalries first. These games would fuel the interest in the Stanley Cup playoffs, right from the start. Their conclusion was reasoned, logical, sensible, and wrong.

Fans came to love the idea of having their teams play rivals later in the playoffs, when the stakes were higher. The format I advocated for , and which eventually was implemented (without due credit, I might add) seemed to be working well which is, no doubt, why the NHL thought it had to be changed.

The league then went to the three-division format in which the Canadian western outpost of Winnipeg—just moved from Atlanta—played in the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. Follow?

In the new realignment, the Central Division (right now being called Division C) will include Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Tampa Bay and Florida—which is not near the center of the U.S. In fact, it’s not even near the center of Florida. Besides, this alignment was designed to arrange teams geographically to reduce travel time and expense, which I imagine is why those neighbors Ottawa and Tampa Bay are grouped together.

Someone tell me why Nashville is in the Midwest Division (cleverly being referred to as Division B) of the Western Conference, please. And why Original Six rivals Chicago and Detroit are not only in different divisions, but in different conferences. Naturally, Columbus is in the Atlantic Division (you guessed it, Division D), although it’s nowhere near the ocean.

I’m guessing the Pacific Division is temporarily being called Division A, unless they’re using the Russian alphabet.

I remember the old days when the divisions were named after the founding fathers of the NHL—Patrick, Norris, Smythe and Adams. They could have named them after the founding mothers, but then the divisions would have been called Gertrude, Fannie, Doris, and Mildred.

There were 16 teams and it seemed like 18 made the playoffs. There were clubs in Cleveland, Quebec, and Kansas City, although the team the “Cleveland” franchise actually played in a rink that was located in Richfield, Ohio, next to a farm.

The thing is, I wouldn’t get too upset about this new alignment. The Islanders will probably wind up in the Pacific Division, once they move to Brooklyn.

Patrick Calabria is Vice President for Institutional Advancement and an adjunct professor of sports writing at Farmingdale State College, and a former special writer in the sports department for Newsday. The views expressed here are his own. Follow Patrick Calabria on Twitter.

Advertisements