All "NHL Schedule" News Thread

Bob McKenzie
12/22/2006 10:51:08 AM

The NHL has been trying for weeks to tinker with its schedule configuration, but is now considering a significant overhaul of the face of the league that includes realignment and a reduction in the number of divisions from six to four.

Nothing is carved in stone at this point, but the NHL is floating an aggressive trial balloon to its governors for consideration. Earlier this week, six club executives, (a mix of governors, teams presidents and GMs), representing the six current divisions met in New York with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and brainstormed to produce a new-look alignment and schedule that they're taking back to other clubs in their respective divisions for feedback.

If there's enough support for it - 20 of the 30 governors would have to approve it - the changes that would take effect next season could be approved at a board meeting during the NHL All-Star Game festivities in Dallas in late January.

Sources tell TSN the proposal includes the following:

1. A reduction in the number of divisions from six to four. There would still be an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference, but there were would one eight-team division and one seven-team division in each conference.

2. The top two teams in each division would be guaranteed the top four playoff seeds within the conference with four wild card playoff berths going to the teams with the next highest point totals.

3. The four new divisions would be configured primarily along the lines of time zones. The theory is not only would this benefit teams in terms of travel, but could also boost TV ratings because game times in the same time zone would be more favorable.

4. The current Northeast Division (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo and Boston) would remain intact and add two other teams to form a seven-team division. Sources say Pittsburgh is one of those teams that would join the Northeast teams.

5. The current Atlantic Division (the three New York area teams plus Philadelphia) would be melded together with four teams from the current Southeast Division (all but one of Washington, Carolina, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Florida).

6. The eight-team division in the Western Conference would feature all teams in Pacific or Mountain time zones (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Colorado and Phoenix).

7. The seven-team division in the Western Conference would feature teams that are in either the Central or Eastern time zones.

8. As for the schedule, it is said to be a little more complicated than it currently is, because of the uneven number of teams in the divisions, but each team will apparently play its division rivals six times each and its conference rivals either three or four times each and non-conference teams once each.

FULL STORY

Dreger: League looks at realignment

Darren Dreger
12/22/2006 10:34:52 PM

Montreal, Edmonton, Washington, Dallas, New York and Chicago represented the NHL's six divisions in a scheduling meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday designed to come up with a proposed overhaul.

What emerged from the meeting is a proposed concept that would see the NHL's current alignment drop from six divisions to four. Each conference would have one division of seven teams and one division of eight teams.

Each team would play its division rivals six times, play either three or four against conference opponents and the remaining 16 games versus non-conference teams.

It's difficult to say exactly how each division would be constructed. However, for Canadian interest, it's believed Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa would stay together with Boston and Buffalo and potentially, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, who may be destined to flip conferences with the Atlanta Thrashers.

In the west, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton would lock in with the three California teams, plus Colorado and Phoenix.

The two remaining divisions would be comprised in the East of a combination between Atlantic and the Southeast. While, in the west those teams from the Central and Eastern time zones would complete the matrix.

FULL STORY

Atlanta, Columbus no longer switching conferences in re-alignment proposal
Canadian Press
Jan 6, 2007, 9:37 PM EST

(CP) - If, and it's a big if, the NHL's realignment proposal ever sees the light of day, Atlanta and Columbus will no longer be switching conferences, multiples sources have told The Canadian Press.

The Thrashers complained vehemently when the original proposal was floated two weeks ago, a concept that would drop to four NHL divisions from the current six and send Atlanta to the Western Conference and Columbus to the East. The Blue Jackets didn't mind since they'd rather be playing most of their games in their own time zone anyway.

But when the NHL's schedule committee reconvened by conference call earlier this week, they decided to keep Atlanta and Columbus in their respective conferences if and when the realignment proposal ever got to a vote at the board of governors meeting in Dallas on Jan. 23.

The schedule committee was put together by commissioner Gary Bettman following the last board of governors meeting in West Palm Beach, Fla., in early December. It includes executives from Washington, Dallas, Edmonton, Montreal, Chicago and the New York Rangers - representing all six divisions.

Two other options were discussed during the conference call as the NHL continues to try and find a solution to the unhappiness some people have with the current unbalanced schedule - which came into effect after the lockout and features eight divisional games and only 10 games in total against the other conference.

One option that got some traction is to go back to the format the league had before the lockout, six divisional games instead of the current eight, and 18 games against the other conference.

Another option discussed was to drop the divisional games from eight to seven and play 14 against the other conference.

FULL STORY

Who's bleeping who?????

That's a bunch of crap. Who the hell is third world small market country bumpkin miniscule fan base Atlanta to call the shots? Detroit should be moved to the east period. It's teams like Detroit that have saved the NHL from complete disintegration. We get Chicago. Big deal. We want Montreal, Toronto, Boston, and the Rangers back. Two faced hypocritical NHL politicians. Just because Detroit will sell out every game even if they play Florida every game doesn't mean that we should get the shaft so small market we have no fan base or sellouts, can be saved. That is pure bull shit. All right let me say it. The small markets need to go. Why should Mike Ilitch get the shaft and that cry baby owner of the Atlanta Femmes get every break? Didn't the ******** fail once? But because of politics and some criminals getting dirty money they get another team and now coddling at the expense of the Redwings. That is pure bullshit. Ilitch should sell the wings to the Fords so in one year they will be ruined like the lions and there goes one of the most popular teams in North America. That would spite the NHL. Oh and I can say that by the amount of Redwings merchandise sold every year. I don't see country bumpkinsville lighting up the merchadise market.

Bob McKenzie
1/11/2007 6:54:20 PM

The NHL should know by Friday whether there's enough support to change the league's schedule format and/or alignment for next season because that is the deadline for the 30 teams to answer a league survey on what they would, or wouldn't, like to see.

Teams are being asked to vote on three options.

Option No. 1 is the most radical and least likely to fly. It is the realignment proposal that would see one eight-team division and one seven-team division in each of the conferences.

The only difference between this one and the one that was floated as a trial balloon a few weeks ago is that Atlanta would stay in the Eastern Conference and Columbus would remain in the Western Conference.

Teams would play seven games versus each division rival, either four or three games against each of their conference rivals and one game against each team in the other conference.

Option No. 2 is to return to the pre-lockout format. There would no realignment. Division rivals would play each other six times each, there would be four games against each conference rival and there would be one game against each non-conference opponent, with an extra three non-conference games against select opponents.

FULL STORY

NHL won't change schedule for 2007-08

TSN.ca Staff
1/23/2007 11:46:23 AM

The NHL will stay the course and will not change the regular schedule for at least one more year.

That was the decision made the the league's board of governors on Tuesday in an effort to deal with its much-debated scheduling concerns.

There was some speculation on Monday that the league would go back to the pre-lockout format that saw all 30 teams face each other at least once a season as early as 2007-08.

As it stands, the current format has teams playing eight divisional games, four games against each conference opponent outside the division, and selected teams from the other conference once each season.

FULL STORY

NHL won't change schedule for 2007-08 (Updated)

TSN.ca with files from CP
1/23/2007 3:42:27 PM

The NHL will stay the course and will not change the regular season schedule for at least one more year.

That was the decision made the the league's board of governors on Tuesday in an effort to deal with its much-debated scheduling concerns.

A plan to switch back to the schedule the leagues used prior to the lockout, featuring six divisional games and 18 games against the other conference, received 19 of 30 votes. A two-thirds majority, or 20 votes, was needed to make the change.

Edmonton Oilers chairman Cal Nichols was frustrated by the league's decision.

''The politics seem to always enter into it,'' Nichols said after the meeting. ''I think we should be more concerned about the future of the game than specific interests or, 'It's going to cost me a few more thousand dollars to travel a few extra miles.' This shouldn't be about that. It's about the game.''

As it stands, the current format has teams playing eight divisional games, four games against each conference opponent outside the division, and selected teams from the other conference once each season.

It is believed the Montreal Canadiens may have been the only Canadian team to vote against the change.

FULL STORY

NHL misses chance

Board of Governors, Bettman fail to fix schedule
Cam Cole, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, January 25, 2007

DALLAS - They already know that what they have isn't working.

This much is clear, because two-thirds of National Hockey League governors voted to change the league's division-heavy schedule.

Then it came to the matter of a specific model, and they couldn't settle on one, so they gave up.

That's leadership, folks.

Commissioner Gary Bettman, who was so successful at pitching and selling the owners on his very specific flavour of Kool-Aid when they were battling the players over money, refused to even toe the rubber this time, when it was only the fans asking for a break from the monotony.

"Settle it amongst yourselves, boys," he said -- and the governors did.

The East outvoted the West. The U.S. outvoted Canada. 'Twas ever thus.

And bitterest of all, Montreal and Ottawa sold their Western counterparts down the river.

(They're all yours, Don Cherry. Have at 'em.)

So here we are, fans, back at the same old stand. The same teams coming into your building time and time again.

And then, and only maybe -- once the league's schedule has gone through its full three-year trial period -- will there arise another chance to deep-six a bad idea whose time has come . . . but, alas, not gone.

Asked if Bettman could have shown more leadership in pushing through a change over the self-interest of the more intransigent clubs -- all of them based in the East -- Edmonton Oilers chairman Cal Nichols said: "I wish he would have.

"I think he could have been more encouraging of people to do the right thing for the game."

The vital move was made by Ottawa, which voted yes to change, but decided the two proposals floated by the league were unacceptable, and voted no to both.

FULL STORY