NHL Realignment

I am sick of having to stay up all night to watch Wild games in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. I also grew up hating the Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Blues of the Norris division. Try as I might, I hate the Canucks and Avalanche — and have always hated the Oilers, but I miss the Norris division days. Therefore, I am going to make an appeal to Gary Bateman to bring back some logic to the NHL divisions.

First off, keep the West and East thing if you must, heck, I have forgiven you for doing away with the Patrick, Norris, Smythe and Adams names, too. But here is my proposal for the divisions:

West
Central
Wild, Blues, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Maple Leafs

Southwest
Stars, Coyotes, Ducks, Kings and Predators (sorry Nashville)

Northwest
Oilers, Flames, Canucks, Avalanche, Sharks

East
Northeast
Senators, Canadiens, Sabers, Bruins, Rangers

Mideast
Blue Jackets, Penguins, Devils, Islanders, Flyers

Atlantic
Capitals, Hurricanes, Thrashers, Lightning, Panthers

With this, you still keep some regional logic and keep rivalries, while renewing some. The only team that is screwed are the Predators in Nashville. Not sure what to do about them, but they need to go somewhere. And I am not sure about the names “Mideast” and “Southwest.”

Mideast kind of sounds lame and Southwest doesn’t work with Nashville, does it? Something else that could solve my Nashville problem is if the Penguins move to Kansas City. But there is something else that could solve my problem, too…contraction

I don’t know, I liked the NHL in the days before it expanded into San Jose and Tampa Bay. And I still hate Norm Green when he moved the North Stars to Dallas and was sad the year both the Jets and Nordiques left Canada. There is something wrong when a team based in South Carolina holds the Stanley Cup and a team from Florida had the cup the previous year.

I seriously doubt there will be any sort of contraction because that would mean the NHLPA losing players and the NHL losing revenue and jobs, but it would get rid of the weaker markets, make a television deal easier and bring up the talent of the teams.

My Nashville problem? That would be solved by contraction. That city hasn’t embraced hockey at all. The Florida panthers could be contracted, too. One less team in Florida is fine by me. The Anaheim Ducks could go, too. The market already has the Kings. Finally, yes, the Penguins. I know, I know, it is bad isn’t it? The team is done.

That would bring the league to 26 teams: then the Blue Jackets could move to Winnipeg and the Thrashers to Quebec City, right?

Anyway, shaving four teams would also mean a shorter season, something the NHL also desperately needs, too.