NHL realignment

[SportsFan88]

don't care. want team. :)

 

i don't think adding two more teams to a professional sports league is going to dilute the talent base to the point of screwing the entire sport. there are plenty of talented kids out there itching for a spot on an NHL team. NFL has 32 teams. think their "talent pool" is diluted? and that's just from pretty much one country. hockey is played world wide.

 

no, adding two more teams will not dilute the talent pool.

 

If anything we need contraction...not addition.

[Bmwolf21]

don't care. want team. :)

 

i don't think adding two more teams to a professional sports league is going to dilute the talent base to the point of screwing the entire sport. there are plenty of talented kids out there itching for a spot on an NHL team. NFL has 32 teams. think their "talent pool" is diluted? and that's just from pretty much one country. hockey is played world wide.

 

no, adding two more teams will not dilute the talent pool.

 

Agreed completely. Just because our GM can't find the right mix doesn't mean there isn't enough talent out there.

[TheChimp]

Hey cool! The players nixed the deal! I got their back, though, simple, they can do this instead:

Six 5-team divisions:

Van, Edm, Cal, Win, Min

SJS, LAK, Ana, Phx, and Col

Dal, Tam, Fla, Nas, Car

StL, CBJ, Pit, Was, NYI

Chi, Det, Buf, NJ, Phi

Tor, Ott, Mon, Bos, NYR

[Bmwolf21]

Hey cool! The players nixed the deal! I got their back, though, simple, they can do this instead:

Six 5-team divisions:

Van, Edm, Cal, Win, Min

SJS, LAK, Ana, Phx, and Col

Dal, Tam, Fla, Nas, Car

StL, CBJ, Pit, Was, NYI

Chi, Det, Buf, NJ, Phi

Tor, Ott, Mon, Bos, NYR

 

Great division for the Sabres.

[SportsFan88]

Great division for the Sabres.

 

Yeah, if winning isnt the goal....That would be one tough division.

[Bmwolf21]

Yeah, if winning isnt the goal....That would be one tough division.

 

Exactly. Only team that murderer's row is missing is Boston.

[TheChimp]

It looks schizophrenic, I know, but I used the map and those final three divisions can kinda be interchanged if one wants. They all go west to east, with the overall distance between the westernmost team and the easternmost team relatively equal throughout those three. But those first three divisions make sense to me just as they are. And with 6 5-team divisions, you don't have all the craziness that this current plan would have had. That was just plain hairbrained, if you ask me.

 

 

EDIT: And I think Detroit would be fine with it, as well, and we all know that's the goal here LOL

 

But yeah, that one with Buffalo....we'd never see the top of the basement stairs, would we.....What if we did this for the last two divisions instead:

Det, Tor, Buf, NJ, Phi

Chi, Ott, Mon, Bos, NYR

[SDS]

I can't comment any more on this.

 

Why is that?

[shrader]

The league gave the PA estimates of travel, and the PA was unhappy with the estimates.

 

"The travel estimation data we received from the League indicates that many of the current Pacific and Central teams, that have demanding travel schedules under the current format, could see their travel become even more difficult."

 

How does having the league jump through hoops to come up with more detailed estimates change the PA's unhappiness with people having to travel more? And when you are making players travel to places they didn't have to under the current system (i.e. every barn in the league) and making it a more balanced schedule travel will necessarily increase. Making guys play in every barn also gives fans what they want - an ability to see EVERY player in the league, not just the same ones over and over and over.

 

So they want a schedule that will improve travel for every single team across the board? I have a proposal that will do that. It's called a lockout/strike.

[shrader]

And for those who are saying that Fehr just wants a fight for the sake of having a fight, check out these comments from former head of the PA, Paul Kelly. So yeah, Fehr is just trying to get noticed.

[nfreeman]

Though I was not happy at who the NHLPA hired to lead them, I honestly believed that even though they hired a hardliner as their leader that they'd be smart enough to find common ground with the owners during this next renegotiation.

 

If they can't even find common ground on how the divisions (conferences, whatever) are aligned, I am not hopeful that they'll get all 82 games in next year. Even the dolts in MLB managed to avoid any lost games during the last negotiation and the schmucks in the NBA managed not to lose any meaningful games. (I'm told people that actually care about the NBA don't start until Christmas day so that league didn't REALLY lose any attention generating games.)

Paraphrasing FDR: we have nothing to fear but Fehr itself.

 

This will get FAR uglier than it needs to be. They have an agreement that has seen leaguewide shared revenues increase every year since the lockout. While there are definitely modifications that need to be made to improve the deal (for both sides), the thing doesn't need to be blown up. I don't expect that Fehr believes that. I was not happy to see Fehr become the labor leader; this little negotiating ploy definitely doesn't make me appreciate him any more than previously.

Geez, the way he puts it really makes the League seem like a bunch of meanies.

 

To take a look at a sample proposed schedule seems like a reasonable and feasible request.

 

To negotiate on the inequality of playoffs qualification seems reasonable, but the League likely doesn't have any good solutions to the problem?

Fehr would have bitched about any proposed schedule. They're already complaining about possible 10-day road trips, as if that would be new to hockey.

 

Inequality of playoff qualification is not a labor issue. Some of Fehr's constituents have a greater chance of making the playoffs, too. And it's no different than baseball (which Fehr has plenty of experience with) or football during the 80s and 90s.

 

This is about Fehr drawing lines in the sand. It will happen over and over again until there is no hockey next year.

Were the owners not dealing with a pitbull they probably could provide a sample schedule that would ballpark travel. They are dealing with a pitbull and anytime they try to give it a treat it will bite their ###### hands hard.

And for those who are saying that Fehr just wants a fight for the sake of having a fight, check out these comments from former head of the PA, Paul Kelly. So yeah, Fehr is just trying to get noticed.

 

My 2 cents on Fehr:

 

1. I completely agree that this was not about the schedule itself so much as it was about the NHLPA making it clear that it is not going to get railroaded on this or any other issue.

 

2. Although I was generally pro-management during the last labor dispute, I have no problem with the NHLPA's actions on this. It sounds like the NHL tried to muscle this through without the PA's consent and without delivering full responses to the PA's questions. I think the PA was fully within its rights to push back on that kind of treatment (if that's in fact what the NHL did). For that matter, I have no problem with the PA using its consent on this as a bargaining chip in the broader negotiations.

 

3. I think the key issue that everyone here really cares about is whether there will be another strike. While Fehr's reputation makes people nervous on that point, it's important to remember that Fehr will only do what his client instructs him to do. I.e. if the NHLPA instructs him to make threats and bluster in order to get the best deal he can get WITHOUT going on strike, then that's what he will do. Fehr doesn't set his client's agenda -- he executes it.

 

4. So, my bottom line is that the players need to be smarter than they were the last time around. They need to recognize that they are making a lot more money than they did prior to the lockout, that their careers are limited, and that a strike will hurt them more than it will hurt the owners. If they let pride and not practicality drive their decisions, then we'll have a strike. But it won't be because of Fehr.

 

5. I think Paul Kelly has a serious axe to grind after having been canned from the job for reading the players' email, so it's important to take his words about the NHLPA's and his replacements's actions with a pinch of salt.

[shrader]

5. I think Paul Kelly has a serious axe to grind after having been canned from the job for reading the players' email, so it's important to take his words about the NHLPA's and his replacements's actions with a pinch of salt.

 

These comments did seem pretty straight forward though. If he was making up these statements from members of the union, other higher ups (player reps) could easily contradict him if they want to.