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I know that I may be a bit late in asking this question since the hype regarding the new alignments that will most likely take effect starting next season has already died down, but I just want to find out which of the new NHL divisions/conferences would be the strongest and most difficult to play in? Is it:
Conference A (Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, Colorado, Calgary, and Edmonton)?
Conference B (Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, Nashville and Columbus)?
Conference C (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Buffalo, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Florida)?
Conference D (NY Rangers, NY Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina)?
Please let me know what you think. And also do tell me whether or not having the Phoenix Coyotes move and become the Quebec Nordiques next season, hence most likely taking away a team from Conference A and adding one to Conference C (still a distinct possibility at the moment) would affect your answer or not. Thanks.
I don't see one that jumps out as overly stacked, compared to the others.
From hardest to play in, to weakest, off the top of my head:
Conference 'B' - Chicago and Detroit are both first class. Minnesota's been great this year too. Really only one basement dweller in the bunch, in Columbus.
Conference 'D' - Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are as tough of match ups as Chicago and Detroit in Conf. 'B'. Again, the Islanders are really the only bad team in the bunch. The Rangers, Devils and Capitals aren't great nor terrible. I could be wrong and the Rangers will continue winning like they are now, and the Caps could pull it together, but I can't see it being as tough as 'B'.
Conference 'C' - Boston's really the only great team in this one, though Florida's been playing very well, too. Toronto and Buffalo are okay, not great, not bad. I don't think all that much of the others in this one.
Conference 'A' - This one's got Vancouver and San Jose, both good teams, though not at the level of the top teams of the other Conferences. Other than that, it's a pretty sad bunch, though Colorado and Edmonton should steadily improve.
And also do tell me whether or not having the Phoenix Coyotes move and become the Quebec Nordiques next season...
I'm pretty sure the Coyotes relocation will happen before the next season although I doubt it'll be to QC. The new arena won't be ready for another 3 years at least. By that time maybe Florida Panthers will be ready to move.
The most likely candidate right now is Kansas City.
Meh, not convinced with Kansas City! While they've got an arena, they don't seem to have an owner interested or serious about bringing them there, and the public doesn't seem to be clamoring for it there! Quebec City's got almost everything in place (save the arena, but they'll start working on it as soon as Spring starts)... Seattle's in the process of building an ownership group, and are already contemplating arena plans. They also definitely have more clamoring for an NHL team than KC does!
I do believe where there is smoke, there is fire and Kansas City has nowhere near as much smoke as Quebec City or Seattle on this issue! So all in all, I'm still convinced Quebec City will win out! And afterwards Seattle will follow as soon as another team becomes available (probably by 2015)!
I don't see one that jumps out as overly stacked, compared to the others.
From hardest to play in, to weakest, off the top of my head:
Conference 'B' - Chicago and Detroit are both first class. Minnesota's been great this year too. Really only one basement dweller in the bunch, in Columbus.
Conference 'D' - Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are as tough of match ups as Chicago and Detroit in Conf. 'B'. Again, the Islanders are really the only bad team in the bunch. The Rangers, Devils and Capitals aren't great nor terrible. I could be wrong and the Rangers will continue winning like they are now, and the Caps could pull it together, but I can't see it being as tough as 'B'.
Conference 'C' - Boston's really the only great team in this one, though Florida's been playing very well, too. Toronto and Buffalo are okay, not great, not bad. I don't think all that much of the others in this one.
Conference 'A' - This one's got Vancouver and San Jose, both good teams, though not at the level of the top teams of the other Conferences. Other than that, it's a pretty sad bunch, though Colorado and Edmonton should steadily improve.
how come vancpuver and San Jose are not at Detroit and Chicago levels seeing as the last 2 years the sharks made the westren confrence final against detroit and Vancouver has always been beat buy a Chicago till last season in very heated series. I mean vacouver beating at the time the defending stanley cup champs in a 7 game first round and also to play the sharks (who beat detroit to get there) for the westeren confrence fianal and vancouver then goes to face the Bruins and goes to play a full 7 games in the final.
I say San Jose, Vancouver, Detroit and Chicago are the Westren Confrence power houses and Anaheim should be up there also.
I can't really comment on the east since we do not see them enough to get a sense of where we really stand were we get 1 game a year with some teams.
Edmonton, Calgary & L.A. seem to be at the bottom of the league and have been down for a while.. I respect Iginla he is a future hockey hall of fame player but he is at the backend of his carear.
I do not think that they will even make the playoffs and would be a easy first round out if they do.
how come vancpuver and San Jose are not at Detroit and Chicago levels seeing as the last 2 years the sharks made the westren confrence final against detroit and Vancouver has always been beat buy a Chicago till last season in very heated series. I mean vacouver beating at the time the defending stanley cup champs in a 7 game first round and also to play the sharks (who beat detroit to get there) for the westeren confrence fianal and vancouver then goes to face the Bruins and goes to play a full 7 games in the final.
I say San Jose, Vancouver, Detroit and Chicago are the Westren Confrence power houses and Anaheim should be up there also.
I can't really comment on the east since we do not see them enough to get a sense of where we really stand were we get 1 game a year with some teams.
Edmonton, Calgary & L.A. seem to be at the bottom of the league and have been down for a while.. I respect Iginla he is a future hockey hall of fame player but he is at the backend of his carear.
I do not think that they will even make the playoffs and would be a easy first round out if they do.
I rated San Jose and Vancouver lower than Chicago and Detroit because they both seem to perform below expectations, particularly in the playoffs. While they're both great teams, they've consistently come up just short of expectations.
Not sure why you're rating Anaheim as a powerhouse right now though - they're currently battling with Columbus for control of last place.
Calgary, I think, is headed downhill for a while. They're going to need a serious rebuild in a couple of years.
Edmonton's building a pretty exciting core around Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins, and should have some success as those kids grow up. They badly need a goaltender though.
Los Angeles is tied for 8th right now - not great, but not quite in the basement either.
SJ has bounced detroit the past two years and clearly seems to have the better team at this point in time. For all their underperforming, it's still not easy to go to the WCF in consecutive years - they just have a couple consistent flaws.
Vancouver looks to be the unquestioned best in the west at this time as well.
Phoenix has been a playoff team the past couple years and legit in their regular season performance.
The ducks are kind of falling apart this year, but are generally solid.
The kings are generally solid, but are struggling to get over the hump.
The Avs have an exciting young team and should be improving. Same can be said about the oil, although I think they are still a bit off.
Calgary seems stuck in a rut.
Overall that division is pretty strong as it stands right now.
However, as with anything, some teams will cycle up and some will cycle down. I'd say all but "C" have a chance for being top notch in any given year ....... the teams in C may be a little bit more restricted at their ceilings
Meh, not convinced with Kansas City! While they've got an arena, they don't seem to have an owner interested or serious about bringing them there, and the public doesn't seem to be clamoring for it there! Quebec City's got almost everything in place (save the arena, but they'll start working on it as soon as Spring starts)... Seattle's in the process of building an ownership group, and are already contemplating arena plans. They also definitely have more clamoring for an NHL team than KC does!
I do believe where there is smoke, there is fire and Kansas City has nowhere near as much smoke as Quebec City or Seattle on this issue! So all in all, I'm still convinced Quebec City will win out! And afterwards Seattle will follow as soon as another team becomes available (probably by 2015)!
Why not just move Phoenix to Seattle and wait for the Panthers to move to Quebec City? Because they would have to realign again if they move Phoenix to Quebec City, right? Most of this is obviously geographical. QBC in the same conference with a bunch of Western teams. Doesn't seem smart.
I think the NHL should expand to 32 teams to create some balance in the new divisions. I don't like the way two divisions have eight teams and the other two only have seven teams.
Division A (Pacific Division)
Anaheim
Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Los Angeles
San Jose
Seattle*
Vancouver
Division B (Heartland Division)
Chicago
Dallas
Detroit
Kansas City*
Minnesota
Nashville
St. Louis
Winnipeg
Division C (St. Lawrence Division)
Boston
Buffalo
Columbus
Hamilton**
Montreal
Ottawa
Quebec**
Toronto
Division D (Atlantic Division)
Carolina
New Jersey
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay
Washington
*: Expansion teams would be located in Kansas City and Seattle.
**: Teams in Phoenix and Miami (Florida) would relocate to Hamilton and Quebec.
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