Friday, December 29, 2006

Getting bigger

Go Liechtenstein! The tiny little country is now slightly less tiny.

Speaking of getting bigger, the 30-team NHL is considering reorganizing from six 5-team divisions (3 per conference, like this) to four divisions: one with 7 teams and one with 8 teams per conference. The plan would be for the top two teams from each division to be guaranteed playoff spots, along with four wildcard spots per division. This is inequitable in terms of playoff-spot allocation, though less so than it would seem; division rivals play each other frequently, so it would be extremely improbable for the eight playoff spots to be allocated 7-1 between two divisions.

But the reorganization would be appropriate if the league ever expands to 32 teams. Leaving aside considerations of the financial viability of a 32-team league, which two cities would you like to see get an NHL franchise? Seattle? Winnipeg? Las Vegas? Houston? Omaha? Quebec? Cleveland? Halifax? Clemson? :-) Let your imagination run wild....

3 Comments:

Blogger Justin said...

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to have 4 7-team conferences and eliminate 2 NHL teams? It's not like those folks are exactly raking in the dough at this point?

12/29/2006 07:03:00 PM  
Blogger Vincent said...

That's the whole "financial viability" issue I was hoping to avoid. But if you'd prefer, which two NHL teams should be relegated to the dustbin of history?

12/29/2006 09:04:00 PM  
Blogger mollishka said...

Liechtenstein should totally have an NHL team.

1/18/2007 09:54:00 AM  

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