Newest Realignment Proposal Passes, Leaves Sabres & Northeast Div. Mostly Alone
Saturday night, Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman revealed the newest realignment proposal that would be voted on at the board of governors meetings this week. He broke the news with a pair of tweets detailing how the new four conference NHL would look if approved:
Here is the new "four-conference" breakdown that will be proposed at the NHL BoG. I: VAN, CAL, EDM, LA, SJ, ANA, COL, PHO—
Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 04, 2011
II: WIN, DET, CHI, STL, CLB, NSH, MIN, DAL. III: TOR, OTT, MON, BOS, BUF, FLA, TB. IV: PHI, PIT, NYR, NYI, NJ, WASH, CAR. PHO is wild-card.—
Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 04, 2011
The new seven-team conference the Sabres would play in is the Northeast Division with the pair of Florida teams thrown in for what might just be kicks. Besides the addition of a home and home versus every team in the league (how about them awesome apples?!), the Sabres would only see a marginal uptick in travel as they already go down to Tampa Bay and Sunshine twice a season each as it is.
This new plan looks like it makes the most sense of any suggested yet, Beside the weird placement of the Southeast Division teams, each conference follows a clear geographical pattern and helps to either maintain or re-establish rivalries. For the Sabres, specifically, it keeps all of their NE rivalries in place while giving expatriates and snowbirds more chances to see their hometown team every season.
This is a fairly radical departure from the current set-up and a number of teams have expressed displeasure with it, putting a two-thirds vote in possible jeopardy. The BOG meetings conclude tomorrow in Pebble Beach, so if a vote happens, fans should know what’s up by Tuesday evening.
UPDATE
Here’s a couple of tweets to keep everyone on the edge of their seats…
Decision has been made on realignment by NHL Board of Governors. Will have full details of changes very soon.—
Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 06, 2011
Believe the realignment passed by BOG was a vote of 26-4. Gary Bettman has met with the NHLPA. Announcement coming soon.—
Dan Tencer (@dantencer) December 06, 2011
UPDATE 2
Now here’s Bob McKenzie with the (prelimenary) ruling…
New four conference format gets approval by NHL B of G.—
Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 06, 2011
UPDATE 3
Yahoo! Sports’ Nick Cotsonika has confirmed the four conference, home & home proposal has passed:
Can confirm four conferences has passed. Home and home for everyone.—
Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) December 06, 2011
UPDATE 4
And here’s the final word from Friedge, basically confirming his story from NHL Hot Stove the other night:
Conferences are as reported on Hotstove. I: Van, Cal, Edm, LA, SJ, Ana, Col, Phoe. II: Win, Det, Chi, STL, Nas, CLB, Dal, Min…—
Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 06, 2011
III: Tor, Mon, Ott, Bos, Buf, Fla, TB. IV: Pit, Phi, NYR, NYI, NJ, Car, Wash—
Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 06, 2011
What say you, Sabres (and NHL) fans? I’m loving this new Snowbird (stick-tap to James Mirtle on that nickname) conference the Sabres are in. All that’s left to see is what they’re named, how the playoffs work, and what in the blue hell happens with Phoenix. It’s gonna be all sorts of fun next season!
