The NHL in 2020

[RIBrownsFan]

While in the grips of Whalermania, I gave some brief thought to what the NHL could/should look like ten years down the road...

I expanded by two teams to bring it to 32, as I think given 10 years and teams placed in better markets it could work successfully.

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division
Boston Bruins
Hartford Whalers (Atl, Nsh, or expansion)
Montreal Canadiens
Quebec (Atl, Nsh, or expansion)

Atlantic Division
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers

Southeast Division
Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals

Central Division
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus/ Ohio Blue Jackets (name change might help generate interest up north?)
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins

[RIBrownsFan]

Western Conference

Northwest Division
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Winnipeg Jets (Phx)
Vancouver Canucks

Midwest Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Toronto Maple Leafs

Southwest Division
Dallas Stars
Kansas City (Atl, Nsh, or expansion)
Houston (Atl, Nsh, or expansion)
St. Louis Blues

Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
Colorado Avalanche
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks

[skatingtripods]

I give you credit for coming up with this. It's very creative.

But, right away, they aren't breaking up the Eastern Conference Canadian rivalries and they especially won't break up the Toronto/Buffalo rivalry.

KC has a 17,000 seat arena for a hockey team. They're definitely a possibility, but I don't think you'll see another pro team in the Midwest unless the economy really turns. I know your proposal is 10 years out, so it's hard to say what the economy will do.

I don't think they would ever change conferences for Original Six teams either.

It depends on Bettman's successor and his thoughts on non-traditional markets.

[RIBrownsFan]

Toronto/ Ottawa were actually the two toughest teams for me to deal with. They could certainly switch places in the scenario I created, I just personally liked the idea of the Leafs back with Detroit and Chicago and figured Buffalo could develop good rivalries with Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and the Jackets.

Likewise, I really like the idea of a KC team to give St. Louis a strong rival.

[skatingtripods]

Toronto/ Ottawa were actually the two toughest teams for me to deal with. They could certainly switch places in the scenario I created, I just personally liked the idea of the Leafs back with Detroit and Chicago and figured Buffalo could develop good rivalries with Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and the Jackets.

Likewise, I really like the idea of a KC team to give St. Louis a strong rival.

Well, going with your 32 team idea, I could see this fitting better.

Atlantic
NYR
PHI
NJ
NYI

Northeast
BOS
HFD
PIT
BUF

Canadian
MTL
TOR
OTT
QUE

Southeast
TB
WSH
FLA/ATL
CAR


Central
DET
CBJ
STL
CHI

Canadian West
VAN
CGY
EDM
WPG

Mountain
KC
COL
MIN (no other place to put them)
DAL

Pacific
LA
SJ
ANA
PHX

[RIBrownsFan]

The only major issue I see with your set up is Montreal and Boston would most likely throw a major shit fit if they tried to break them up.

I see that you kept Detroit and Columbus together. Not following the Jackets that closely or being that familiar with the Columbus area myself, in your opinion would the Red Wings be the first choice for a rival? Does the OSU-Michigan rivalry translate to the NHL in this case?

When I was thinking about it, I figured designating Pittsburgh their chief rival might help bring more of the state on board...after all, hating Pittsburgh might be the thing that Cleveland and Cincinnati have most in common...

[skatingtripods]

The only major issue I see with your set up is Montreal and Boston would most likely throw a major shit fit if they tried to break them up.

I think the Quebec v. Ontario rivalry would run deep enough to get rid of any qualms splitting them up.

I see that you kept Detroit and Columbus together. Not following the Jackets that closely or being that familiar with the Columbus area myself, in your opinion would the Red Wings be the first choice for a rival? Does the OSU-Michigan rivalry translate to the NHL in this case?

Well, in your hypothetical scenario, the Predators are kaput. So, Columbus would have no true rival other than Detroit. You'd have to keep them together, despite the rivalry being fairly one-sided over the past decade.

When I was thinking about it, I figured designating Pittsburgh their chief rival might help bring more of the state on board...after all, hating Pittsburgh might be the thing that Cleveland and Cincinnati have most in common...

It would, and it would be better for Columbus's travel schedule. But, I don't think they fit as natural rivals.

Splitting up PIT and PHI would piss off a lot of people, too. There's a lot of history and bad blood there.

[RIBrownsFan]

Pittsburgh-Philly is another excellent point, but I guess I expect the Penguins to have had another 4-5 bankruptcies between now and 2020, lol...

They previously did move Pittsburgh to the Northeast in 1994, fwiw...And your point about an Ontario-Quebec rivalry is also valid, but as much as I hate the Bruins and feel strange advocating for them, I just can't see them agreeing to it. Montreal is their #1 rivalry, as much as I hope the future Whalers dynasty would change all that...

That said, I could see redoing my central division to be:

Buffalo
Ottawa
Pittsburgh
Toronto

As Pittsburgh is closer to Buffalo than Philly and about the same distance from Philly and Toronto.

That would make my Midwest:

Chicago
Columbus
Detroit
Minnesota

A fun exercise, at any rate, and naturally I expect the NHL to screw it up a gazillion times worse than we would...

[Govbarney]

NHL simply needs to contract every team south of the Mason Dixon Line, with the exception of maybe the Dallas Stars. Its a damn shame there are more teams in the Sun Belt then all of Canada.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

NHL simply needs to contract every team south of the Mason Dixon Line, with the exception of maybe the Dallas Stars. Its a damn shame there are more teams in the Sun Belt then all of Canada.

Couldn't agree more.

I've always wondered why the hell Florida has 2 teams and Wisconsin has none.

[jack_tors]

NHL simply needs to contract every team south of the Mason Dixon Line, with the exception of maybe the Dallas Stars. Its a damn shame there are more teams in the Sun Belt then all of Canada.

Couldn't agree more.

I've always wondered why the hell Florida has 2 teams and Wisconsin has none.

If I can find the article, I will throw it up here but I heard the reason FLA rarely loses a sports team is because the state laws make moving a franchise damn near impossible. Look at the Panthers and Jaguars, in any other state they would have moved 5 yrs ago but they just keep coming back like zombies that didnt receive the double tap. Its a cold weather sport with roots in Canada, lets move them back up north to cities that would appreciate them.