Into Each Hockey Relationship...

...comes an unexpected jolt out of the blue to stoke the mental fires when all seemed lost.

Courtesy of On Frozen Blog, who cites a source a bit closer to where I'm coming from, it's a question of how to realign the divisions while not resorting to the flight of fancy that is contracting teams.

While I salute my Philly brother for the well-written thesis and intriguing ideas, I think this is a bit too radical to be realistic. I mean, resurrecting the Smythe Division to include teams in the American Southeast? Blasphemous, even for me, who regularly blast owners for making weird cosmetic suggestions like this at their bi-annual meetings.

Besides, no matter what happens, nobody will ever be pleased with where the Penguins or the Thrashers wind up because of their "unique" position in geography.

Still, I have to say that I am with him on A) the need to go back to four divisions, B) the need to restore the historical names of the divisions and conferences, and C) a need to do something with the playoff system.

As far as my brain can process at the moment, I'm thinking the NHL could look like this:

Patrick Division
New Jersey
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
Philadelphia
Washington
Carolina
Tampa Bay
Florida

Adams Division
Boston
Buffalo
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
Columbus
Pittsburgh

Central Division
Atlanta
Detroit
St. Louis
Chicago
Nashville
Minnesota
Dallas

Smythe Division
Colorado
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
San Jose
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Phoenix

With four divisions, shortening up distances really can't be a consideration. Each division has teams that have to travel far to one or more rivals.

For scheduling, it looks like even with unbalanced slate, the fairest way to compute it would be to extend the schedule to 84 games again, like in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
Problem is, things would be really imbalanced.

In the seven-team divisions, they get it easier with five divisional games per team (30) plus three against the other division in the conference (24) and two against all opposite conference teams (30) for a neat total of 84.

Unfortunately, it creates havoc for the eight-division teams. After three games against teams from the other division (24) and the 30 from the opposite conference, that leaves 30 games divided unequally among seven other intra-division clubs.

As for the playoff system, I wouldn't really be averse to a 1-16 method to eliminate weak division winners getting a two-seed. With the already built-in 30 games against the opposite conference, plus the fact that playoff games are rarely held every other day within series, travelling even cross-country shouldn't be a complaint.

Short of that, going with the current NBA-ized 1-8 in each conference isn't bad, and is a certain antidote to anyone who thinks the old "top four in each division get in regardless" system which plagued the 80's and made for some interesting upsets.

Back to reality for a bit.

With the current standings as they are, here is what the playoff seedings would be on a 1-16 format:

1. San Jose vs. 16. Florida
2. Boston vs. 15. Phoenix
3. Detroit vs. 14. Carolina
4. Washington vs. 13. Buffalo
5. Montreal vs. 12. Anaheim
6. Philadelphia vs. 11. Vancouver
7. Calgary vs. 10. New Jersey
8. NY Rangers vs. 9. Chicago

This still precludes a team with a winning percentage near or below .500 from making the playoffs and providing a cupcake for a higher seed, but with the NHL's current inter-conference schedule still lacking, the strategy for certain foes would be interesting.

Even if the current six-division format remains, I would be in favor of a 1-8 system within each conference if seedings were initially based on records and not division standing. That would make mild "upsets" like the sixth-seed Flyers' seven-game trimming of third-seed and Southeast-winner Washington a little more palatable for fans and management alike.

If your team wins a weak division, they get a seven or eight seed where defeat seems more inevitable instead of having the albatross of a division victor falling in the opening round when the hype machine is in full effect.

Of course, with the NHL's prohibitive plan to admit two more franchises and move another in the next five years, some sort of balance might be restored, as a 32-team league fits nicely into either eight four-team groups or four eight-team sets.