Jake's Take: NHL Redivide

By now, you’ve read about the potential of the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg by as early as next season.  If you rely on some news sources, the move has already happened and could possibly affect the NHL in a big way.

But probably not in the way you thought.

From the time of its inception the NHL has, like many other leagues, divide teams for organizational purposes.

Now I could start to describe as to why this is important . . . but honestly it’s truly boring.

So let’s dive into the possibilities now that Atlanta has left us and Winnipeg seems to have return to the NHL.

Let’s take a look at the "Ducks to Nucks Awesome Map":

Now here’s a guide to the map. The red lines represent time zones within North America. The green dots represent where the team has moved from, Atlanta, while the other green dot represents the city of Winnipeg. If you cannot realize where Atlanta is at compared to Canada, I’m sorry for you and please leave the site. Anyway, here is my list of possibilities as to how the NHL will adapt to the move of the Atlanta Thrashers.

1.     Considering the Atlanta Thrashers were part of the southeast, the simplest move would be to push Nashville over into the Eastern conference/Southeast division. Winnipeg is then added to the Central Division. The only gripe (which has come from Brooks Bratten) is the fact that Nashville is not within the same time zone. I retort with respect, so what? Frequently, teams play other teams within other time zones. Especially considering the fact the state of Tennessee is actually split between two time zones; I find it hard to believe there is no way to bump Nashville over.

2.     Now this one boggles me. Many reputable sources, including Mr. Bratten and Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy believe that the Detroit Red Wings will move into the Eastern Conference. Now I am an impartial source, despite the fact I believe this is along one of the more moronic lines of thought, but here is how the league would be redistributed. Detroit would have to become part of Northeast. The Northeast would then have to push either Buffalo into the Atlantic division. This would then force yet ANOTHER team into the Southeast division, which would be Pittsburgh. This would eliminate the Pittsburgh/Philadelphia rivalry and instead bring hype to the essentially non-existent rivalry between Washington and Pittsburgh. I say non-existent because maybe once Washington can advance past the second round of the playoffs, then we can talk about a rivalry. Nevertheless, this is still a possibility.

3.     Another, more slightly sensible but more unlikely, scenario is pushing the Columbus Blue Jackets into the Atlantic Division. Once again, the league would have to bump a team into the Southeast division. I would recommend moving Philadelphia into the Southeast division. This would attempt to create a Pittsburgh and Columbus rivalry. Try repeating that again. Yep.

4.     Now this is simply an outrageous idea from the depths of my warped mind, but you redo the ENTIRE league and redistribute everyone. Here’s what I would propose:

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE

SOUTHWEST DIVISION

- Phoenix Coyotes

- Anaheim Ducks

- Los Angeles Kings

- San Jose Sharks

- Colorado Avalanche

GULF DIVISION

-       Dallas Stars

-       Tampa Bay Lightning

-       Florida Panthers

-       Nashville Predators

-       Carolina Hurricanes

MISSISSIPPI DIVISION

- Pittsburgh Penguins

- Philadelphia Flyers

- St. Louis Blues

- Washington Capitals

- Columbus Blue Jackets

NORTHERN CONFERENCE

NORTHEAST DIVISION

-       Montreal Canadiens

-       Boston Bruins

-       New York Islanders

-       New York Rangers

-       New Jersey Devils

GREAT LAKES DIVISION

-       Chicago Blackhawks

-       Detroit Red Wings

-       Toronto Maple Leafs

-       Buffalo Sabres

-       Ottawa Senators

NORTWEST DIVISION

-       Vancouver Canucks

-       Calgary Flames

-       Edmonton Oilers

-       Winnipeg TBA

-       Minnesota Wild

Ok, I know this seems kind of extreme, but again this is just a theory. Like I said about six times earlier, the easiest method would be to bump Nashville into the Eastern Conference/Southeast Division and be done with it, but that’s just my take...