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		Its conferences, not divisions, in next year's NHL By Daniel Dullum December 6, 2011

	GLENDALE AZ -- The National Hockey League came up with a realignment change for next season that, hopefully, will please everyone. Instead of divisions, the NHL is going to have four conferences aligned primarily by time zone. They haven't named them yet and we don't know if their going to go back and name them the Smythe, Norris, Campbell, Patrick and all of that, which many hockey fans fondly remember from the 1970s and 1980s. The league will have a conference basically along the Eastern Seaboard, two conferences in the middle, and one on the west coast. The whole idea was to help out on the travel situation, and the league will also have a balanced schedule. As for playoffs, it'll be the top four in each conference, with no wild cards and the first two rounds will be within the conference. The league hasn't decided yet if they'll have re-seeding after the second round -- that's all up in the air at the moment. In the West, it's going to be the two L.A-area teams -- Kings and Ducks, then there's San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and the Avalanche. Phoenix is in there as well for the time being, as this is a little more user friendly as far as moving a franchise such as the Coyotes if they have to. Everybody else is pretty stable, also it allows the Original Six teams like Detroit to maintain their long time rivalries with Chicago and St. Louis, for example. Every team is guaranteed one home and home (meaning that every team will visit everyone else at least once) and then you just play the extra games within your conference and that's how it's going to work. The owners have agreed on it and now their going to run it past the Players Union and then it should be more of a formality, even though players' approval isn't required. I can't imagine the players would object for the simple reason it's less travel and it's going to make things a little easier for them. Especially in the east. Let's take a look at the eastern time zone conference, you've got New Jersey, Philadelphia, the Rangers, the Islanders, they all play within a 60-75 mile radius or so. The furthest trips they have in that conference would be to Pittsburgh and Carolina. That's not so bad then you have a conference with Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida, Tampa Bay, and again you have the teams in Florida. Let's say attendance gets to be a continuing issue with some of the Sun Belt teams, and with this type of a set up you can move one of those teams and it is considerably easier to do in this setup as opposed the current alignment. Right now, the Coyotes, still a ward of the NHL and last in home attendance, are a prime candidate to move -- this is the third year the Board of Governors is running the club and they're getting tired of it. If a buyer isn't found, the Coyotes could be sent packing, and the new alignment makes that easier. No seeing teams twice: So for example the San Jose Sharks would not see the Bruins or the Canadiens twice in a season only once. In the last few seasons the Penguins and Capitols, for example, would come in on maybe alternating years. That's another reason for the balanced schedule -- because they want to make sure the big stars like the Sydney Crosbys and Alexander Ovechkins of the league make one appearance in each market. That's not a bad idea. So, in San Jose, you'll get the multiple game series that's going to be within the conference. The teams will see more are the Canucks, Oilers, Flames, and Coyotes because now using the Sharks as an example they will all be in one division. It will help the rivalries, especially the Original Six and here's another example -- Buffalo and Toronto they're not that far apart, and fans go to each others games and that's all good. That's not going to be a problem and again in the Midwest you've go Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St.Louis. Chicago, Minnesota, Edmonton, Dallas and Winnipeg they're not that far apart there are some long standing rivalries like Winnipeg and Minnesota. The Jets and Wild are about 400-some miles apart, and back in the North Stars and Jets days in the 80s, fans for both teams would send fan buses back and forth on that rivalry, just as an example. Chicago and St.Louis have gone at it for years just as the Blackhawks and Red Wings have. Again if attendance continues to be an issue in markets like Columbus, Nashville, Miami and Phoenix, it makes it easier to relocate one of those teams and it's one of those things their looking at here without coming out and naming names. Remember, the NHL is still a gate-driven league with what is now a strong Canadian dollar. Don't be surprised if Canada gets two more teams in the next few years if and when arenas are in place in Hamilton and Quebec City. Daniel Dullum covers Stanford athletics, MLB and the NHL for Sportstalk Radio