NHL Realignment: How It Affects The New York Rangers
by Joe Fortunato on Dec 6, 2011 11:01 AM EST
in New York Rangers Analysis
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PrintThe NHL Board of Governors passed a four-conference realignment yesterday, a move which drastically changes the outlook of the NHL.
The Rangers conference will include the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes. It's good to see all the old rivalries will still be around, and the addition of both Washington and Carolina makes sense geographically (which was one of the main driving forces behind the plan in the first place).
The playoff scenario -- which hasn't been completely ironed out yet aside from the top four teams from each conference making them -- will also be interesting as well. Making the playoffs will be harder with the conference containing at least five contenders for a playoff spot (at least from recent history).
Join me after the jump for more.
But the rivalries remain, which is important, and something that will keep the emotions around the division as high as they have ever been. I've always been a fan of the Atlantic Division's games because there is a real rivalry with every one of those teams. That stays the same under these circumstances.
Washington also gets added into the mix, which is a good thing as well. The Rangers and Capitals have a rivalry of their own brewing, thanks to all the losses in the playoffs to Washington, so those matchups shouldn't miss a beat either.
Carolina seems to be the odd man out here, however. There's no real rivalry with any of the "old" Atlantic Division teams (unless you count Rangers fans hatred of Eric Staal) and there aren't any friendly faces aside from Washington.
In the end, there's not too much change for the Rangers. Making the playoffs will be a more difficult task, but it comes with the territory of a difficult conference.
If you're wondering what the playoffs will look like, SBNation's NHL Hub has you covered:
PLAYOFFS: The big question is how the playoffs will work. According to Bettman, here's how things will go:
- As we mentioned, the top four teams in each conference will advance to the postseason.
- From that point, the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be intra-conference.
- There will be four conference champions, each of whom will advance to a final four.
- The four teams will likely be reseeded based on regular season results, with No. 1 playing No. 4 and No. 2 playing No. 3. The winners will meet in the Stanley Cup Final. It's also possible that the two eight-team conferences will meet and that the two seven-team conferences will meet, with the winner playing in the Final. Bettman said the general managers will decide this.
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Why
Are the Panthers and Lightning with Boston, mtl, etc?
Doesn’t make sense to me
R.I.P Derek
Rangers FTW!
by BleedsRangerBlue on Dec 6, 2011 11:19 AM EST via mobile reply actions
In order to preserve rivalry’s and maintain geographic travel at a minimum it was the only possible thing to do.
by CrazyRangerFan on Dec 6, 2011 11:32 AM EST up reply actions
Exactly
Travel was a big part of this plan, but so was keeping the rivalries alive that have kept the NHL on the map.
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 6, 2011 12:23 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Some did some research and there is much higher attendance in Florida for games against Boston, MTL, etc, than, say, against Carolina.
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by red army line on Dec 6, 2011 1:28 PM EST up reply actions
We're getting the band back together
It is essentially turning back the clock, and putting back the old Patrick, Adams, Norris and Smythe Divisions. I love this idea, the old Patrick with the Whalers in Exile thrown in.
BTW, the Rangers and Caps rivalry is nothing new. They had a nice rivalry going in the early 90’s, with the Caps knocking out the Blueshirts back to back when I first started watching. Who here remembers cursing John Druce?
Also, way back when, it was possible to have two Eastern (or Western) teams play each other for the Cup, which based on everything I am reading this would allow again.
"It's such a fine line between stupid...and clever."
The Dude abides.
Druce, Cicirelli (Spelling), Dale F’en Hunter, Liut, Beaupre, every single bastard wearing that old jersey.
by NYR #35 Richter on Dec 6, 2011 11:07 PM EST up reply actions
oh god I remember....
cursing Druce (who did f**k all after taking us apart for a few years), Dmitri Kristich, Peter EFFING Bondra!!!
by KingHenrik30 on Dec 6, 2011 11:22 PM EST up reply actions
Conference of Death… good luck to any team with cup hopes trying to get to the Cup finals having to beat two of the flyers rangers caps pens in only the first or 2nd round… going by the current standings the all 4 of those teams are top teams in the NHL not just the East… save for the caps who for some reason have fallen appart…
@clalicata17
Don't forget...
Washington won’t be able to feed off of the current SE division 24 games per year to pad their stats, so if they don’t fix whatever the hell is wrong over there they may not even make the playoffs.
i’m not as mad about the conference as i am the playoff set up… we have the hardest route to the playoffs…
@clalicata17
By the same token
if you want to be the best you have to be able to beat the best. There are no easy playoff games.
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Dec 6, 2011 12:29 PM EST up reply actions
Right now the Rangers Pens Flyers are 3 top teams in the eastern conference standings… 2 would be out before the 3rd round… i don’t see how that is good for anybody… the NHL included…
Then you have Boston in a division with FLA, TB, Tor, Sens, Habs, Sabres… makes boston’s schedule much much easier… as it Stands it would be
Fla, OTT, Tor, Bos…(B)
Pitt, NYR, Phi, Wsh…(A)
Boston walks through that conference round of playoffs… and you’ve eliminated 3 major hockey market teams in the rangers conference…
Instead the playoffs should be
1A v 4B
2A v 3B
3A v 2B
4A v 1B
instead could theoretically have the top 2 or 3 teams in the east facing off and eliminating eachother in the 2nd round
@clalicata17
I completely agree
I thought the same and posted below before i read what you had proposed. Reseed in round 2 and not 3 and i think this is perfect
I thought it was 1A Vs 4A & 2A Vs 3A then facing the winner of the B Conference playoffs? Am I wrong?
by NYR #35 Richter on Dec 6, 2011 11:08 PM EST up reply actions
although Boston's division has both of last year's conference finalists
it goes back and forth
If I cared more about my UNC side, I'd call myself "Tar Volon," and that'd be awesome.
Bolts, Canes, Preds (now in different conferences!). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity
Rocky Top Talk
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 10, 2011 12:33 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed
It’s also that much more difficult for our opponents as well, think about it, 2 hard fought series between a combination of the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Capitals will tire out any team.
This realignment may decrease the chance of any one team in our conference of winning the cup for a while because of the grueling first rounds. No easy route to the finals in sight for anyone in the near future
While I like this new (re. old) alignment
I would have liked to see an original 6 conference: NYR, CHI, TOR, MTL, DET, BOS, PIT, PHI (if you do seven or eight team conferences)
"Don't look now, but there's one too many people in this room and I think it's you." Groucho Marx
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A lot of smoke and desperate clawing at the door. It wouldn’t work. It would just be a big, hot mess." -Dig Deep
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>makes sense geographically (which was one of the main driving forces behind the plan in the first place).<
Not for everyone. I’d say we made out well geographically while Tampa vs Montreal sucks for them. No way Bettman and his cronies would mess with the huge draw of Rangers, Flyers and Pens in one division – and one of those would have to be broken up to create a true north south Eastern Conference.
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
Yes this is ridiculously unfair geographically
the mid-atlantic teams have absurdly easier travel schedules than any other group. but those rivalries and more importantly the money from those teams are too much for the NHL to risk changing
Why?
Why would they make all these changes when they can simply move Detroit or Columbus east, and the Jets west?
Because while those three teams had issues
the West in general was traveling at significantly higher rates than any of the teams on the East. Remember that the East barley travels at all when playing in-confrenence unless they are playing in Florida. For the West, their closest road trips (for the most part) would be some of the worst road trips in the East.
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Dec 6, 2011 12:31 PM EST up reply actions
the disparity is still true in the new alignment and actually might be even more skewed
the rangers and the rest of Conference D made out like bandits
Rumors of PHX relocations + possible expansion means they need to put something in place that can accommodate those future moves as well as correct current issues.
Also, money.
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by George E. Ays on Dec 6, 2011 12:46 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t mind how they split the teams but the division playoffs are BS. With the new format, about 2 out of 3 regular season games will have no meaning for the Rangers.
And I don’t want to see the Rangers play the same teams in the playoffs over and over again. Let’s face it, the Canes and Islanders are screwed in this conference so it comes down to the Devils, Flyers, Caps and Pens as opponents in the playoffs.
Division playoffs are a bad system and we will remember why the NHL got rid of them in a few years.
Totally agree. Love the division idea for travel purposes but the playoff format is bull shit. Ruins a great thing. Every year since the lockout, the playoffs have seemed to get better and better. Why screw up a good thing
by nhl21 on Dec 6, 2011 1:28 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I don't know
I kind of like that the Rangers and Bs could get matched up in the Cup finals. I think this is great because it has the potential to breed more rivalries outside of your conference. For example NYR v MON isn’t a huge rivalry but the embers are there. If they were to get reseeded and end up playing for the cup against each other that’s a bomb waiting to explode.
It's actually the opposite
A NYR/MTL East final isn’t the likeliest of finals I think we would see this year. Also, we only play them TWICE a year. TWICE! Should we meet in the playoffs it would be a tough series between the 2, but no rivalry created.
Plus, one of the things I HATE about the realignment, we only play Toronto, Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, and Tampa twice a year as opposed to 4 times. I’m gonna be honest, I very much enjoy playing ALL of those teams, sometimes it’s almost like a divisional game outside of the division, but now of course this isn’t going to happen with our games being cut completely in half with those 5 teams just so we can get the Coyotes, Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Ducks, and Predators twice a year. Fuck this new realignment, the NHL will regret this I’m sure, especially the playoff format….Thanks a lot Winnipeg.
Proudly suffering as a Ranger fan.
I'm OK with it.
I guess the good is the local rivalries get stoked up even more when you add playoff series into the mix. A couple of teams that give us problems like Buffalo and Montreal (at least in their building) reduced.
The bad is we have even fewer Original Six matchups in reg season, with Boston, Toronto and Montreal being reduced to 2 games a piece. A little less variety in the regular season schedule.
"To everybody else we're underdogs, but we go in thinking we can handle any team in the NHL."
Brandon Prust, #8, New York Rangers
Why not call them divisions instead of conferences? What happens to the Wale & Campbell trophies? Id say keep it western & eastern with the 2 divisions each and the finals have one team from each side
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by Plusch on Dec 6, 2011 2:04 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Since the division label implies a “conference” or another sort of subset of teams in the NHL, when there is not.
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by red army line on Dec 6, 2011 4:36 PM EST up reply actions
I like it all except
I love everything they are doing here except i would tweek the proposed playoff format. Round 1 keep as they propose, and then reseed with 8 teams instead of 4. You get the benefit of great rivalries in the first round, and you also prevent all the best teams possibly getting knocked out in round 2.
For instance, Let’s say the Caps, Pens and Rangers are 3 of the top 4 NHL teams in the league in a given year. As it stands now, Rangers, Pens and Caps will eliminate eachother in rounds 1 and 2 leaving 1 remaining. Lets say it is the Rangers, Detroit wins theirs, and Vancouver and Toronto. That is your final 4 in a year when Toronto and Vancouver could be considered the leagues 7th/9th best teams. While the early playoff rounds may be interesting, it takes away from the later rounds. How can you argue they are not the 9th best team when they don’t play outside their one little conference in the playoffs till the final 4
Plus if the Rangers and Pens are 1/2 in reg season, why not see them play in the finals vs each other.
I just want to see the reseeding one round earlier
Agree
"To everybody else we're underdogs, but we go in thinking we can handle any team in the NHL."
Brandon Prust, #8, New York Rangers
by Joe1969 on Dec 6, 2011 2:50 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Question
My one question is with the playoff scenario. In the second round of the playoff the four conference champions are reseed based on regular season wins. Does this mean that there could possibly be a Stanley Cup final featuring two East Coast teams?
Example:
Seed 1: Vancouver
Seed 2:Boston
Seed 3: Chicago
Seed 4 : Ranger
If it is set up 1v4 and 2 v3 and in this scenario both the Rangers and Boston won, an all East Stanley Cup could be a possibility.
Is this actually possible or am I over looking something?
I’m not sure… the league hasn’t said named anything outside of the conferences and who will be in them… It very well could be that way if they decide to go with one “west” vs one “east” conference for the 3rd round… other scenarios where 3rd round is still int he east and then you have the west coast teams playing in the 3rd round because for TV purposes, when you have east games a 7 they are followed by west coast games at 10 which is awesome for hockey fans… if they start meddling with that games are going to be all over the place, travel will be insane…
I really think that the 4 conferences where divided up wrong and it would have made more sense to take the islanders pens out of our division and put fla and tb with us. basically mergering the South East with the Atlantic and taking out the Pens… however the NHL would never separate Phi from Pitt and now they’ve gotten their wish with Wsh being put in the same conference so they can play up 87 v 8 more than a few times a season…
@clalicata17
dont get it
The cons seem to outweigh the pros in my eyes. If they changed the playoffs to 1st round intra-conference then shuffle them than it would sit a lil better. Going to make it tough for Rangers just to get in.
I heard Rangers were 1 of 4 teams to vote no
by Conway on Dec 6, 2011 3:02 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
Who's the rangers governor or whatever?
We are going to go to Philadelphia... and we are going to win.- Glen Sather
by RichieToGabbySCORE on Dec 6, 2011 3:37 PM EST up reply actions
the GMs vote
And the BoG is made up of, I think, a group of senior GMs out of the thirty GMs in the league
"Don't look now, but there's one too many people in this room and I think it's you." Groucho Marx
In Prust We Trust
"Kovalev would work with Tortorella like a kitty would work in a microwave.
A lot of smoke and desperate clawing at the door. It wouldn’t work. It would just be a big, hot mess." -Dig Deep
Follow me @8kpower
by Kevin Power on Dec 6, 2011 3:51 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Don't like how quiet it has been about Sauer
Was there any update last night, confirmation he is OK?
no practices today so nobody’s skating today… my assumption concussion… check the call-ups… i’m sure we’ll known tomorrow for certain…
@clalicata17
it wasn’t the hit itself but his head hitting the lip of the dasher on the way down… kind of like the staal injury… the hit didn’t hurt staal it was his head hitting the ice… overall a very clean hit on both plays
@clalicata17
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