Dear NHL Board of Governors,
I doubt that you are very enthused with the ideas that I have suggested to date regarding realignment and revising the schedule. I've been thinking it over, and I think that my ideas are worth a little further revision. Here's my final proposition.
Disband the conferences and get rid of the central division. Put Detroit into the Northeast, Columbus into the Atlantic, Nashville into the Southeast, St. Louis into the Pacific, and Chicago into the Northwest. It might make more sense to move Colorado into the Pacific and St. Louis take its spot in the Northwest. I'll leave that up to you.
To balance the schedule, each team would play the 24 non-divisional teams twice (home and away). That's 48 games. Divisional opponents would play each other 5 times. That's 25 games, total 73. To get us back to a nice round number seeded teams (1 vs 6, 2 vs 5, and 3 vs 4) would play each other one extra time. Seeding would be based on the previous season's standings. Those match-ups would then be split to have 3 home and 3 away. Obviously, the other match-ups would have one team playing 3 at home and 2 on the road. This could be decided on an annual rotation, or by seeding. For example, if the teams were Ottawa and Montreal, on an annual rotation, one year Ottawa would get 3 home games and the next year Montreal. More effectively, I think seeding would be a good way to divide home/away split. First place could have home advantage against teams seeded 2 and 5. Second against 3 and 6, Third against 1 and 5, Fourth against 1 and 2, Fifth against 4 and 6, and Sixth against 3 and 4. Each team would end up with a total of 13 divisional home games and 13 away. To get to our standard 82 game schedule there are 8 games outstanding. These would be made up by playing another home and away series against the team of the same seed from the other divisions.
I know, I know, "What about the playoffs?" Personally, I still like the four pool round robin idea. However, it might be just as easy to split the top 16 teams that qualify geographically East and West. I'm sure you can figure something out.
cheers,
One Hockey Fan
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Better Late Than Never.....
These predictions have been sitting on a little note pad with my Hockey News 2007-08 season preview magazine for a couple weeks. I know, I know, we're a couple weeks into the season. But, I'll call these predictions "Early Season" rather than "Pre-season" and we'll see how things pan out.
Northeast
x-1. Ottawa
x-2. Buffalo
x-3. Toronto
4. Montreal
5. Boston
I have no doubt that Ottawa will win the division. Second could be a toss up between the Leafs and the Sabres. Leafs fans take heart--the Leafs have improved enough to make the playoffs.
Atlantic
x-1. NYRangers
x-2. Pittsburgh
x-3. New Jersey
4. Philadelhpia
5. NYIslanders
This may be the toughest division in the NHL this year. It's going to be tight. The Islanders have declined significantly, but the loss of Yashin might actually be addition by subtraction. Don't underestimate Ted Nolan being able to get his players to play above their skill level. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the Devils tanked. Still, overall the safe bet is on Brodeur and the Devils holding on to third and the Islanders being cellar dwellers.
Southeast
x-1. Carolina
x-2. Atlanta
3. Tampa bay
4. Washington
5. Florida
Given the improvement of the Blues and Hawks, the southeast may now be the weakest division. I really think that this division is wide open, with one exception. The Panthers will suck. Have you noticed that the Hurricanes logo looks like a toilet flush? Last year's crappy season has been flushed away and the Canes will regain their Stanley Cup form. Or, at least win the division and make it back to the playoffs.
Central
x-1. Detroit
x-2. St.Louis
3. Nashville
4. Chicago
5. Columbus
St.Louis? Yes, St.Louis. They were respectable once Andy Murray took over. With the decline in Nashville and a weak division aside from Detroit, the Blues will return to the playoffs. The Wings will win the division and the Jackets will tank it--that's without a doubt.
Northwest
x-1. Vancouver
x-2. Minnesota
x-3. Colorado
x-4. Calgary
5. Edmonton
This is a quality division. I think the Canucks have it locked thanks to Luongo. The Avs and Flames will battle it out for 3 and 4. It'll be tough, but I think they'll both find their way into the playoffs.
Pacific
x-1. Anaheim
x-2. San Jose
3. Dallas
4. Los Angeles
5. Phoenix
This may be the easiest division to pick. The Ducks and Sharks are locks for spots one and two. I'm betting that the Kings will land a goaltender that wears No. 29 for a pretty good NHL East team. If they do, that could vault them ahead of the aging and fading Stars and possibly into the playoffs. Otherwise, the Kings might as well put a plywood cut-out in net the way things are going. Even still they won't stink as much as the desert dogs. A great sportscaster once said great players don't make great coaches. Please Wayne, follow the lead of your peers (Yzerman, Hull, Francis, etc.) move upstairs to the office.
There you have it. I'll check back on these around the all-star game.
Northeast
x-1. Ottawa
x-2. Buffalo
x-3. Toronto
4. Montreal
5. Boston
I have no doubt that Ottawa will win the division. Second could be a toss up between the Leafs and the Sabres. Leafs fans take heart--the Leafs have improved enough to make the playoffs.
Atlantic
x-1. NYRangers
x-2. Pittsburgh
x-3. New Jersey
4. Philadelhpia
5. NYIslanders
This may be the toughest division in the NHL this year. It's going to be tight. The Islanders have declined significantly, but the loss of Yashin might actually be addition by subtraction. Don't underestimate Ted Nolan being able to get his players to play above their skill level. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the Devils tanked. Still, overall the safe bet is on Brodeur and the Devils holding on to third and the Islanders being cellar dwellers.
Southeast
x-1. Carolina
x-2. Atlanta
3. Tampa bay
4. Washington
5. Florida
Given the improvement of the Blues and Hawks, the southeast may now be the weakest division. I really think that this division is wide open, with one exception. The Panthers will suck. Have you noticed that the Hurricanes logo looks like a toilet flush? Last year's crappy season has been flushed away and the Canes will regain their Stanley Cup form. Or, at least win the division and make it back to the playoffs.
Central
x-1. Detroit
x-2. St.Louis
3. Nashville
4. Chicago
5. Columbus
St.Louis? Yes, St.Louis. They were respectable once Andy Murray took over. With the decline in Nashville and a weak division aside from Detroit, the Blues will return to the playoffs. The Wings will win the division and the Jackets will tank it--that's without a doubt.
Northwest
x-1. Vancouver
x-2. Minnesota
x-3. Colorado
x-4. Calgary
5. Edmonton
This is a quality division. I think the Canucks have it locked thanks to Luongo. The Avs and Flames will battle it out for 3 and 4. It'll be tough, but I think they'll both find their way into the playoffs.
Pacific
x-1. Anaheim
x-2. San Jose
3. Dallas
4. Los Angeles
5. Phoenix
This may be the easiest division to pick. The Ducks and Sharks are locks for spots one and two. I'm betting that the Kings will land a goaltender that wears No. 29 for a pretty good NHL East team. If they do, that could vault them ahead of the aging and fading Stars and possibly into the playoffs. Otherwise, the Kings might as well put a plywood cut-out in net the way things are going. Even still they won't stink as much as the desert dogs. A great sportscaster once said great players don't make great coaches. Please Wayne, follow the lead of your peers (Yzerman, Hull, Francis, etc.) move upstairs to the office.
There you have it. I'll check back on these around the all-star game.
Friday, July 20, 2007
A few tweaks
My last post proposed some pretty drastic changes to the way the NHL operates. Today, I'd like to suggest some less drastic measures.
The NHL has usually created divisions based on geographical proximity. Most of the time it has tended to have equal number of teams in each division. Subsequently, each conference has usually had an equal number of divisions. I think its time to reconsider some of these traditions. My first suggestion is only moderately drastic. My second suggestion is more practical--particularly is a team were to relocate to Hamilton.
Suggestion #1
An interesting alternative would be to do away with conferences and have 5 divisions of 6 teams each. They would be:
Great Lakes: Pit, Clb, Det, Buf, Tor, Chi
Northwest: Van, Edm, Cal, Col, Min, Stl
Southwest: LA, Ana, SJ, Pho, Dal, Nas
Southeast: Atl, Car, TB, Fla, Phi, Was
Northeast: Bos, NYR, NYI, NJ, Mon, Ott
Teams would play teams within their own division 4 times, teams in adjacent divisions 3 times (Great Lakes being adjacent to Northwest and Northeast), and teams in non-adjacent divisions twice. This would result in an 80 game schedule. If the NHL were concerned about maintaining an 82 game schedule, two extra games could be added. Perhaps an extra home and home series between seeded teams in each division.
Sure, getting rid of conferences would be a big deal, particularly with respect to the playoffs. But the NHL has been toying with the idea of changing the playoff format anyway. The top 20 teams could qualify for the playoffs. They would be divided into 4 pools of 5 (East A, East B, Central C, and West D) with a preliminary round robin of home and away games. The top two teams from each pool would advance to the Stanley Cup quarter finals with best of 7 elimination until the champion is crowned.
Suggestion #2
If that first suggestion seems a bit too far out there for some, this realignment might be a bit more palable:
Eastern Conference
Northern: Buffalo, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal,
Altantic: Boston, New Jersey, NYRangers, NYIslanders,
Central: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, Columbus,
Southern: Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida,
Western Confernce
Northern: Vancouver, Minnesota, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Detroit, Chicago,
Pacific: Anahiem, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, Nashville, St.Louis,
I spent the better part of a very long day playing with numbers and looking at various combinations (Yes, I had nothing better to do). I think that this might actually be something that could work. In the end, I constructed a schedule based on the above realignment. For simplicity, a schedule of 80 games works much more nicely than 82 with this configuration. Teams would play one game against teams from the other conference, half being at home and half being away. This would alternate from year to year between home and away for each division. Teams would play non-division teams 4 times and division rivals 6 times. If the NHL insisted on an 82 game schedule, I'm sure that 2 extra wild card games could be included. One possibility would be one extra game based on conference seeding and one based on non-conference seeding (first vs last, second vs second last, etc with 8th and 9th in the east playing twice) Top seeds could have home ice thereby rewarding good teams with two extra home games. Don't worry, thanks to revenue sharing no one would be left empty handed.
Under this format, the Stanley Cup playoffs wouldn't need to change. However, to compensate for the extra teams in the East, a format change might be worthwhile. It could be argued that the Western teams would have a slight advantage from fewer teams. However, at present they argue a slight disadvantage because of travel. So, in reality, the changes wouldn't neccessitate any alteration for the playoff format in the west. In the east, the top ten or twelve teams could qualify for the playoffs. There are a number of ways that an Eastern Champion could be crowned. Starting with 10 or 12 teams would likely require some form of round robin play. If 12 teams qualified, the four division winners could get a bye into the second round. The other 8 teams that qualify would be divided into two pools. The first round would be a round robin, home and away playoff. The second round would consist of two new pools made up of the top two teams from the first round pools and two division winners. This round would also be a home and away round robin playoff. The top two teams in each pool would then move on by cross-over to best of five elimination conference semi-final and final series. If 10 teams qualified, they could be divided into two pools for round robin play. The top two from each pool could then cross-over to play best-of-seven series. Either way, it would add a bit more creativity to the playoffs.
The NHL has usually created divisions based on geographical proximity. Most of the time it has tended to have equal number of teams in each division. Subsequently, each conference has usually had an equal number of divisions. I think its time to reconsider some of these traditions. My first suggestion is only moderately drastic. My second suggestion is more practical--particularly is a team were to relocate to Hamilton.
Suggestion #1
An interesting alternative would be to do away with conferences and have 5 divisions of 6 teams each. They would be:
Great Lakes: Pit, Clb, Det, Buf, Tor, Chi
Northwest: Van, Edm, Cal, Col, Min, Stl
Southwest: LA, Ana, SJ, Pho, Dal, Nas
Southeast: Atl, Car, TB, Fla, Phi, Was
Northeast: Bos, NYR, NYI, NJ, Mon, Ott
Teams would play teams within their own division 4 times, teams in adjacent divisions 3 times (Great Lakes being adjacent to Northwest and Northeast), and teams in non-adjacent divisions twice. This would result in an 80 game schedule. If the NHL were concerned about maintaining an 82 game schedule, two extra games could be added. Perhaps an extra home and home series between seeded teams in each division.
Sure, getting rid of conferences would be a big deal, particularly with respect to the playoffs. But the NHL has been toying with the idea of changing the playoff format anyway. The top 20 teams could qualify for the playoffs. They would be divided into 4 pools of 5 (East A, East B, Central C, and West D) with a preliminary round robin of home and away games. The top two teams from each pool would advance to the Stanley Cup quarter finals with best of 7 elimination until the champion is crowned.
Suggestion #2
If that first suggestion seems a bit too far out there for some, this realignment might be a bit more palable:
Eastern Conference
Northern: Buffalo, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal,
Altantic: Boston, New Jersey, NYRangers, NYIslanders,
Central: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, Columbus,
Southern: Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida,
Western Confernce
Northern: Vancouver, Minnesota, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Detroit, Chicago,
Pacific: Anahiem, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, Nashville, St.Louis,
I spent the better part of a very long day playing with numbers and looking at various combinations (Yes, I had nothing better to do). I think that this might actually be something that could work. In the end, I constructed a schedule based on the above realignment. For simplicity, a schedule of 80 games works much more nicely than 82 with this configuration. Teams would play one game against teams from the other conference, half being at home and half being away. This would alternate from year to year between home and away for each division. Teams would play non-division teams 4 times and division rivals 6 times. If the NHL insisted on an 82 game schedule, I'm sure that 2 extra wild card games could be included. One possibility would be one extra game based on conference seeding and one based on non-conference seeding (first vs last, second vs second last, etc with 8th and 9th in the east playing twice) Top seeds could have home ice thereby rewarding good teams with two extra home games. Don't worry, thanks to revenue sharing no one would be left empty handed.
Under this format, the Stanley Cup playoffs wouldn't need to change. However, to compensate for the extra teams in the East, a format change might be worthwhile. It could be argued that the Western teams would have a slight advantage from fewer teams. However, at present they argue a slight disadvantage because of travel. So, in reality, the changes wouldn't neccessitate any alteration for the playoff format in the west. In the east, the top ten or twelve teams could qualify for the playoffs. There are a number of ways that an Eastern Champion could be crowned. Starting with 10 or 12 teams would likely require some form of round robin play. If 12 teams qualified, the four division winners could get a bye into the second round. The other 8 teams that qualify would be divided into two pools. The first round would be a round robin, home and away playoff. The second round would consist of two new pools made up of the top two teams from the first round pools and two division winners. This round would also be a home and away round robin playoff. The top two teams in each pool would then move on by cross-over to best of five elimination conference semi-final and final series. If 10 teams qualified, they could be divided into two pools for round robin play. The top two from each pool could then cross-over to play best-of-seven series. Either way, it would add a bit more creativity to the playoffs.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Solving the schedule--Big Time!
Everybody wants to see Sid the Kid. What is a league to do? Here's one hockey fan's idea.
The playoffs have long been described as the second season. Regular season success is often considered meaningless in comparison. So, why not make the two season's official.
The first season would be named the President's tournament and begin in October, running through to the end of January. Each team would play 58 games, 29 home and 29 road. I'm sure you can figure by those numbers that the schedule would consist of one home and one road game against each of the other teams in the league. A truly balanced schedule. The team with the best record would win the President's trophy.
The second season would be the quest for the Stanley Cup. It would begin in late February and run through May. Notice the natural break between seasons to allow for world tournaments and the like. The format of Lord Stanley's tournament would be a little bit more complicated. The 30 teams would be divided into two tiers based on performance from the previous year's second season and the President's tournament.
First, the top 8 teams from the previous year's top tier teams would be invited back. The top 4 teams from the previous year's second tier would be promoted to the top tier. Rounding out the last 4 spots would be the top 4 teams from the preceding President's tournament that had not otherwise qualified by way of the aforementioned 12 spots. The top tier would consist of these 16 teams divided into four divisions of four. The divisions would be based mainly on the geographical proximity of the group to north,south, east, and west. The 8 returning teams would choose their preferred division so that two spots in each division were filled. The champion would have first choice, then the runner-up, then the other semifinalists based on their point totals, then the other 4 quarterfinalists based on their point totals. The 4 promoted teams would be divided into each division, as would the 4 qualifiers from the President's tournament. Each team would be seeded in their division based on their performance from the President's tournament. Each team would play the other teams within its own division 7 times (3 or 4 home and 3 or 4 road with the higher seeds having home advantage). The playoff round would consist of the top two teams from each division. North winner vs East second (A), East winner vs South second (B), South winner vs West second (C), and West winner vs North second (D). These would be a best of seven series. The winners of each series would compete in a semi final best of seven series, A vs B and C vs D. The Stanley Cup final would be a best of seven series between the two semi-final winners.
The second tier would consist of 14 teams divided into two divisions, alternating years between North/South and East/West. Each team would play the other teams in its division 4 times (2 home and 2 road). The top four teams in each division would cross-over in the first round of the tier two playoff. North first vs South fourth, etc. The teams that qualify for the semi finals would also qualify for promotion to the top tier for the following season.
Its a whole new approach to scheduling. I think it would make for an exciting competition. Also, notice that better performance results in more home games. Revenue sharing would balance this advantage so the real benefit is for the fans.
This concept likely will never see light at NHL head office. However, offering creativity might at the very least generate some discussion.
The playoffs have long been described as the second season. Regular season success is often considered meaningless in comparison. So, why not make the two season's official.
The first season would be named the President's tournament and begin in October, running through to the end of January. Each team would play 58 games, 29 home and 29 road. I'm sure you can figure by those numbers that the schedule would consist of one home and one road game against each of the other teams in the league. A truly balanced schedule. The team with the best record would win the President's trophy.
The second season would be the quest for the Stanley Cup. It would begin in late February and run through May. Notice the natural break between seasons to allow for world tournaments and the like. The format of Lord Stanley's tournament would be a little bit more complicated. The 30 teams would be divided into two tiers based on performance from the previous year's second season and the President's tournament.
First, the top 8 teams from the previous year's top tier teams would be invited back. The top 4 teams from the previous year's second tier would be promoted to the top tier. Rounding out the last 4 spots would be the top 4 teams from the preceding President's tournament that had not otherwise qualified by way of the aforementioned 12 spots. The top tier would consist of these 16 teams divided into four divisions of four. The divisions would be based mainly on the geographical proximity of the group to north,south, east, and west. The 8 returning teams would choose their preferred division so that two spots in each division were filled. The champion would have first choice, then the runner-up, then the other semifinalists based on their point totals, then the other 4 quarterfinalists based on their point totals. The 4 promoted teams would be divided into each division, as would the 4 qualifiers from the President's tournament. Each team would be seeded in their division based on their performance from the President's tournament. Each team would play the other teams within its own division 7 times (3 or 4 home and 3 or 4 road with the higher seeds having home advantage). The playoff round would consist of the top two teams from each division. North winner vs East second (A), East winner vs South second (B), South winner vs West second (C), and West winner vs North second (D). These would be a best of seven series. The winners of each series would compete in a semi final best of seven series, A vs B and C vs D. The Stanley Cup final would be a best of seven series between the two semi-final winners.
The second tier would consist of 14 teams divided into two divisions, alternating years between North/South and East/West. Each team would play the other teams in its division 4 times (2 home and 2 road). The top four teams in each division would cross-over in the first round of the tier two playoff. North first vs South fourth, etc. The teams that qualify for the semi finals would also qualify for promotion to the top tier for the following season.
Its a whole new approach to scheduling. I think it would make for an exciting competition. Also, notice that better performance results in more home games. Revenue sharing would balance this advantage so the real benefit is for the fans.
This concept likely will never see light at NHL head office. However, offering creativity might at the very least generate some discussion.
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