Realignment?

Hockey postThe NHL Board of Governors will vote in February on realigning the teams into new divisions and conferences. Apparently, they want to maximize television ratings and ease up on travel for teams by confining divisions into time zones.

Most teams will “remain” where they are, conference-wise. They may have new divisions, but will remain playing the same conference rivals as before. Only Atlanta and Columbus will switch conferences.

If it’s approved, the Blue Jackets would move from the West Central to the Northeast Division. The Jackets would leave behind division opponents St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago, and Detroit; and start playing against Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Boston, and Pittsburgh.

First thought: Intriguing that the BOG is interested in television ratings, when they really need to be worrying about attendance.

Second thought: Aw, shoot. Just when the rivalry between the Red Wings and Blue Jackets started turning into something serious (has anyone gotten IwoCPO a friggin’ bucket yet?!?). The opportunity to have another major rival from the Detroit area was perfect.

Third thought: Pittsburgh? I know Balsillie sent a “will you go with me [check box]?” letter to Mario yesterday, but that controversy is far from over.

Speaking of Northeast Conference teams…

CBJCBJ 3, Vyborny 2, Bruins 4

Was ready to puke by late in the second period. Boston seemingly couldn’t be stopped. Then Hitch said something during the second intermission, probably something about honor, hard work, the weather in Syracuse this time of year, who knows. All I know is that the Jackets came out and played like they were trying to win the Cup.

nhl94SegaVyborny rightfully gets the props for the victory, but Fedorov and Nash were the leaders on the ice last night. Nash didn’t manage any points, but was without question the single most dangerous player on the ice. (Nash got an assist on Feddy’s shorthanded goal. Thanks to Drew for the correction). What a great move Hitch made in getting him involved in penalty kills. And Sergei hasn’t played this well since he was my regular choice of the forwards in Sega’s NHL 94.

Any night the opposing goalie breaks his stick smashes the pipes in frustration after the final horn sounds is a great night of hockey for me.

Comments

  1. No bucket yet Monkey, but I’m going to need one if our “rivals” win in Detroit tomorrow night.

    Seriously, as cynical as that post may have sounded…I think a true rivalry between Columbus and Detroit would be good for everyone involved. Naturally, asswipe Bettman seems ready to break it up before it starts.

    Great site you have here…despite the content…;)

  2. iwocpo, thanks for stopping by. Man, did your boys look good last Wednesday. Tomorrow night’s in Nationwide, so things might be tighter. Keep that bucket handy!

    Do you think the realignment is really going to happen? Or is this just a trial balloon? I heard about a few other ideas the BOG had, like making the nets wider and increasing points per victory. Think they’ll really do all that?

    >>Great site you have here…despite the content…;)<< Right back atcha... I just fetched A2Y's feed to my Bloglines. Keep it up. 😉

  3. Only an ass would point out a few minor issues with this post, one that they really enjoyed.

    Since I’m the nearest jerk I can find:

    – I’m pretty sure Nash got an assist on the Fedorov shorty.
    – After rewinding the old DVR about 15 times to watch the last fifteen seconds, it’s not Tim Thomas’ stick that breaks but the stick of a Boston skater. I still can’t tell if Thomas’ slash on the post broke the skater’s stick, or if the skater broke it himself.

    Putting away my asshole hat now…

    Why does the NHL not look at an MLB or NFL style of realignment? By that I mean, why does everyone seem married to the East/West conference deal? I’m actually planning a little post about this soon. I think realignment is okay, but to keep East/West doesn’t solve much in my book.

  4. Drew – not an a** at all. Thanks for the correction! I’ll update the post.

    I thought it was Thomas’ stick, but I could be wrong. Do you mean that it might have been Vyborny’s stick? Or a Boston player’s stick from the bench area? If so, wow.

    I believe I have access to an on-demand version of the game. I’ll check it out later this evening, see if I can tell.

  5. I’m pretty sure it was a Boston player’s stick. After Vyborny scores, you can see Thomas get up and prepare to whack-a-mole on the post, and a Boston player skates by. It looks like it’s Thomas’ stick that is broken, but it’s too small to be a goalie stick and as they show him skating back to the bench it looks like all tape and wood are intact.

    Really, I’m quibbling over something that doesn’t matter. The only reason I even brought it up was because I made the wife watch the same ten seconds about a hundred times. Awesome finish!

  6. Funny you say that, I made the wife angry by watching it about a hundred times!

    That last minute of 5/6 on 3, and the first bit of OT was some of the most exciting hockey I’ve seen. Fedorov on one knee – TWHACK! Vyborny all alone – FLIP!

    Those guys from Versus got a workout. “What a horrid line change.” LOL.

  7. Drew – just checked out a replay, and you’re correct… it looks like he accidentally smashed his own teammate’s stick in anger? Ouch.

    PS: I wish I could have heard George Matthews while I saw the OT goal (turn your sound up:

    http://www.bluejackets.com/multimedia/multimedia/mediaplayer.php?id=2963

  8. Dammit. For some reason I was under the impression all week the game tonite was at the holy grail of hockey, the Joe. Ahhh, well. Every place looks the same on tv after 7 warm beers.

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