31-team NHL
2016/06/16 8 Comments
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Hi all. Here’s a real quickly put together map of what the “New NHL” will likely look like. I don’t foresee the league bothering with realignment yet until they get to 32 teams (and hopefully incorporating my four-conference plan). For now Las Vegas is just added to the current 7-team Pacific. Also in case you can’t squint enough to see, the logo I threw together for the “Las Vegas Black Knights” is a quick construct of letters found in, or inspired by the ol’ classic Bicycle Cards logo.
Here it is bigger: 
Okay, here’s the map:
Basically, the same old map I’ve been doing for a while with a little bit of flair (and the new Florida Panthers logo).
NHL Las Vegas is a reality… next up is landing on a nickname for the franchise and seeing if indeed, the league will stick with the current alignment (plus Vegas in the Pacific), or if they’ll opt for realignment and mix things up… I hope they go with something like my four-conference alignment plan. Time will tell, but for now, we’ve got a 31-team league and a new and interesting market in the mix. Good luck, Las Vegas!
Feel free to tweet/facebook/whatever this out to others.
Thanks!
— Tom
I think it would make more sense (geographically and visually) to have Tampa Bay and Florida in a division with Carolina, Washington, Philadelphia, NJ, NYR and NYI and have that division called the Atlantic. Then have Pittsburgh and Columbus in a division with Detroit, Toronto, Buffalo, Ottawa, Montréal and Boston and have that division called the Metropolitan.
Philly and Pittsburgh would fight like hell to not be separated. Those owners have too much sway to be overridden by any “geographic common sense”.
I’m sure in my myriad of maps I’ve split them up at least once, but my “If I were king of North America” defense allows me to overrule logic (and reality) 🙂
Could’ve gone outside the box and do NFL Style with Las Vegas and Quebec City expansion.
Constraints:
– 3 Original Six Teams in each conference
– 4 Canadian Teams in each conference
– 1 Expansion Team in each conference
– 1 NYC Team in each conference
– 1 LA area Team in each conference
– 1 PA team in each conference
– 1 FLA team in each conference
Alignments:
WALES HOCKEY CONFERENCE (WHC)
WHC East: Buffalo, New Jersey, NY Rangers, Philadelphia
WHC North: Columbus, Detroit, Ottawa, Toronto
WHC South: Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, Tampa Bay
WHC West: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas
CAMPBELL HOCKEY CONFERENCE (CHC)
CHC East: Boston, Montreal, NY Islanders, Quebec
CHC North: Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, Winnipeg
CHC South: Carolina, Florida, Pittsburgh, Washington
CHC West: Arizona, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver
Regular Season Scheduling Matrix:
6 games (3 Home/3 Away) each vs. all 3 divisional opponents = 18 Games
2 games (1 Home/1 Away) each vs. all 12 non-divisional conference opponents = 24 Games
2 games (1 Home/1 Away) each vs. all 16 non-conference opponents = 32 Games
2 additional games (1 Home/1 Away) each vs. 3 of non-divisional conference opponents based on the previous season’s
standings (A 1st place team in a division the previous season vs. the 1st place teams from the other 3 divisions within its
conference the previous season, a 2nd place team in a division the previous season vs. the 2nd place teams from the other
3 divisions within its conference the previous season, etc.) = 6 Games
2 additional games (1 Home/1 Away) vs. permanently assigned non-conference rival opponent = 2 Games
18 Games + 24 Games + 32 Games + 6 Games + 2 Games = 82-Game Regular Season
The 16 Permanent Non-Conference Rivalry Pairings:
(NY Islanders-NY Rangers), (Anaheim-Los Angeles), (Philadelphia-Pittsburgh), (Chicago-Detroit),
(Florida-Tampa Bay), (Montreal-Toronto), (Arizona-Las Vegas), (Ottawa-Quebec), (Boston-Buffalo),
(New Jersey-Washington), (Nashville-St. Louis), (Calgary-Vancouver), (Edmonton-Winnipeg),
(Dallas-San Jose), (Colorado-Minnesota), (Carolina-Columbus)
Playoffs:
8 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.
The 4 division winners in each conference are seeded 1-4 within conference in order of regular season points.
The next 4 best records in each conference among non-division winners (wild cards) are seeded 5-8 within conference in order of regular season points.
All series are best-of-7 using the 2-3-2 format instead to lessen travel for teams.
Home ice to higher seeded team regardless of record (exception of Stanley Cup Finals)
1st Round (Conference Quarterfinals): (#1 seed vs. #8 seed), (#2 seed vs. #7 seed), (#3 seed vs. #6 seed), (#4 seed vs. #5 seed)
2nd Round (Conference Semifinals): The Conference Quarterfinal winners face off.
(Highest Seed vs. Lowest Seed), (2nd Highest Seed vs. 2nd Lowest Seed)
3rd Round (Conference Finals): The Conference Semifinal winners face off to yield the 2 Conference Champions.
4th Round (Stanley Cup Finals): The 2 Conference Champions face off to yield the NHL Champion.
Not a bad idea. But I’ll one up you better.
NOTE: This alignment is based on if the Arizona Coyotes moved to Houston while Quebec City got the expansion team instead of Seattle.
Voiceover: NBC Sports presents, the best of the National Hockey League. The World Hockey Conference.
WORLD HOCKEY CONFERENCE (WHC)
WHC East: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, NY Islanders
WHC North: Columbus, Montreal, New Jersey, Pittsburgh
WHC South: Houston, Nashville, Ottawa, Toronto
WHC West: Anaheim, Colorado, Vancouver, Vegas
Voiceover: CBS Sports presents, the best of the National Hockey League. The National Hockey Conference.
NATIONAL HOCKEY CONFERENCE (NHC)
NHC East: Dallas, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Washington
NHC North: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Winnipeg
NHC South: Carolina, Quebec, St. Louis, Tampa Bay
NHC West: Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose
32 Interconference games+36 Interdivision games+14 Division games=82 games
4 Division winners+1 Wild Card per Conference
All rounds best of 7
Wild Card team fights the lowest ranked division winner and the winner goes on to fight the highest ranked division winner in the Conference
You know the rest. Now top that!
Or you could do the 4-Conference format with Las Vegas and Quebec City expansion teams.
Constraints:
All Original Six Teams in One Conference.
Alignments:
HERITAGE CONFERENCE:
Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Buffalo, Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
CENTRAL CONFERENCE:
Colorado, Dallas, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULING MATRIX:
Non-Conference Play
2 Games (1 Home / 1 Away) vs. each of 24 opponents outside conference = 48 Games
In-Conference Play:
5 Games each (3 Home / 2 Away or 2 Home / 3 Away) vs. 6 of opponents within Conference =30 Games
4 Games (2 Home / 2 Away) vs. 1 of opponents within Conference = 4 Games
Games played on a rotating basis each year.
Total = 48 Games + 30 Games + 4 Games = 82 Games
PLAYOFFS:
Top 4 teams in each conference qualify for playoffs.
All series best-of-7 using the 2-2-1-1-1 format.
1st Round (Conference Semifinals): (#1 seed vs. #4 seed), (#2 seed vs. #3 seed)
2nd Round (Conference Finals): The Conference Semifinal winners face off to yield the 4 Conference Champions
3rd Round (Stanley Cup Semi Finals): The 4 Conference Champions are reseeded by record
(#1 seed vs. #4 seed), (#2 seed vs. #3 seed)
4th Round (Stanley Cup Finals): The 2 Stanley Cup Semi Finals Winners face off to yield the NHL Champion.
Nice!
Fun, isn’t it 🙂
Ah the old division, scheduling and playoff formula from 1981-1993, but with division…er, conference winners being re-seeded in the final four rather than the final four being for the conference title.
Unfortunately for Quebec, Seattle and Houston (now that Les Alexander is selling the Rockets) are the odds on favorite to get team no. 32 and the Arizona Coyotes (Coyotes need an 11th hour miracle to save them).
So tweaking your proposal, it would look something like this.
HERITAGE CONFERENCE:
Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Toronto
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Buffalo, Columbus, Florida, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington
CENTRAL CONFERENCE:
Carolina, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver, Vegas
Now we’ve got to get the Player’s Association to agree to the 1981-1993 formula which, as you know was rejected by them a couple of years ago. Which is how Detroit and Columbus got into the East.
Hi Tom,
This is great! Very well illustrated. The Museum I work for is interested in including your map as part of one of our upcoming exhibitions. If you are interested, please contact me using the e-mail address below!
erin.gurski@historymuseum.ca
Thanks,
Erin