Magnus

NFL: 2 preseason games, 18 regular. 14 divisional games, 4 games against half of another division, rotated over a 6-year period. Playoffs could be top 2, 3 or 4 in each division.

4 divisions of 8:

West: Seahawks, Niners, Raiders, Chargers, Cards, Broncos, Texans, Cowboys.

South: Saints, Jags, Bucs, Fins, Falcons, Panthers, Rams, Chiefs.

North: Bears, Vikes, Lions, Pack, Bengals, Browns, Colts, Titans.

East: Pats, Jets, Giants, Bills, Eagles, Steelers, Skins, Ravens.

Would that scenario have interleague play at all?

Just the cities would trade leagues. The players currently on the NHL team in Atlanta would play in Chicago's Allstate Arena, and the farm team would move to Atlanta. If the New York area can support 3 teams, and the L.A. area has 2, I think Chicago can support 2 as well.

You'd think that, but you are wrong. There's not enough " the Blackhawks" sentiment in the city to make a second team a truly viable option. At least at the NHL level.

Perhaps. Mostly I just want the Sun Belt NHL teams to disappear. Wisconsin could use an NHL team too.

Just the cities would trade leagues. The players currently on the NHL team in Atlanta would play in Chicago's Allstate Arena, and the farm team would move to Atlanta. If the New York area can support 3 teams, and the L.A. area has 2, I think Chicago can support 2 as well.

Interesting concept, although with the differences between CFL and NFL rules, I think it might be hard to mix the two.

Personally I think the NHL teams that are hemorrhaging (sp?) money should be demoted to the AHL and the best-performing AHL teams should take their place.

Nice... but instead of Detroit, I would move Columbus to the Eastern Conference-Northeast Division, and move Boston to the Atlantic Division; meanwhile, I would rename the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, the Southwest Division.

So are you agreeing that Atlanta and Phoenix be demoted to the AHL?

This idea comes about partly due to the Coyotes' ownership situation being so odd.

Phoenix Coyotes move to AHL, and become the Canucks' new AHL affiliate.

Manitoba Moose move into Northwest Division, taking Phoenix's affiliates, and possibly renaming themselves the Jets.

Colorado moves to Pacific Division, taking Phoenix's vacated spot.

The rest of it is all mindless reel-line-mint.

Atlanta switches leagues with its AHL affiliate in Chicago. (The NHL players can stay in the NHL and vice versa.) The Wolves move into the Central Division, alongside the Blackhawks. There is a precedent for this; Chicago's MLB clubs get along just fine. I also think that a city with a metro population of 9.7 million people could easily support two NHL teams. As well, if any team was going to make a jump from the AHL to the NHL, I would think it would have to be the Wolves, because the team, unlike Atlanta, has actually won titles in its league, repeatedly. and they have their own TV deal!. Never mind that they are in the farm league to the NHL. If a team has a record of dominance, I think it deserves to be promoted to the next level.

Anyway, this move would now give the Central Division six teams. To fix that, Detroit moves back to the Eastern Conference, in the Northeast. This rekindles its Original Six rivalries. If the Wings want to schedule Chicago every year for a home-and-home, they can do so as well. Buffalo moves to the Atlantic Division, joining the Rangers as cross-state rivals. The beleaguered Islanders move to Kansas City's Sprint Center, and join the Central Division alongside St. Louis. Instant rivalry.

Now there are 6 teams in the Central and 4 in the Southeast, so we move Nashville.

New division structure:

Northwest: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Minnesota

Central: Columbus, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago Wolves, Chicago Blackhawks

Pacific: Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Dallas, Colorado

Northeast: Detroit, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston

Atlantic: Buffalo, New York, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

Southeast: Nashville, Washington, Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina.

This is how I would realign baseball:

NL East: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Florida, Washington, Mets

AL East: Toronto, Boston, Tampa, Baltimore, Yankees

NL Central: St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cubs, Cincinatti, Detroit

AL Central: KC, Minny, White Sox, Cleveland, Pittsburgh

NL West: Oakland, Houston, Dodgers, San Fran, Colorado

AL West: Seattle, Texas, Angels, San Diego, Arizona

Of course, this setup entails a massive change to the way the schedule would be played. I am tempted to suggest that each AL team plays each other AL team 10 times, as well as the closest interleague rival ten times (when not playing a divisional rival). Toronto/Atlanta would be the only matchup that doesn't have a particular reason for it, but there's not much I can do about that since the Expos are long gone. This would cut the season down to 150 games. More games could be added against other interleague teams if the Majors so desire, but I would rather see four rounds of post season like the other 3 top leagues.

For the post-season, take the best 8 teams in each League, by record. Optional pennant playoff game if necessary to determine seeding. With a shorter season, there is room for the 4th round of post season play, without stretching into November.

You want pointless realignment, well feast your eyes on this. Here's something nifty I was working on when I was bored at work. It started with a conversation I was having. I said that with the influx of international talent, the NHL could expand by 2 to 6 teams. This generated much debate since most people think there are too many teams in the NHL as it is. Realistically speaking though, it's pretty much unavoidable that all sport leagues will keep expanding. That's capitalism, friends. So in the interest of taking my idea to the extreme, here's a 50 team NHL. Geographically speaking, I think it's :censored:ing impecable.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Northeast Division

Halifax

Hamilton

Kitchener

Montreal

Ottawa

Quebec

Toronto

Atlantic Division

Boston

Hartford

Long Island

New Jersey

New York

Philadelphia

Central Division

Buffalo

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Columbus

Detroit

Pittsburgh

Southeast Division

Atlanta

Baltimore

Carolina

Miami

Tampa Bay

Washington

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Midwest Division

Chicago

Indianapolis

Kansas City

Minnesota

Milwaukee

Nashville

St. Louis

Southwest Division

Colorado

Dallas

Houston

Las Vegas

Phoenix

Utah

Pacific Division

Anahaeim

Los Angeles

San Francisco

San Jose

Seattle

Portland

Northwest Division

Calgary

Edmonton

Saskatchewan

Vancouver

Victoria

Winnipeg

Thoughts?

PS: I apologize that my post isn't about moving February to the Summer division. For the record, I think that moving February would crush an already disillusioned fanbase that has, thus far, lost 3 days to free agency.

Wow. Way too many teams, but I do like the Northwest and Northeast Divisions.

I'll agree with that. Milwaukee would be a good market for an NHL team.

NHL time:

Phoenix Coyotes move to AHL, and become the Canucks' new AHL affiliate.

Manitoba Moose move into Northwest Division.

Colorado moves to Pacific Division, taking Phoenix's vacated spot.

Atlanta switches leagues with its AHL affiliate in Chicago. (The NHL players can stay in the NHL and vice versa, just the team identities change.)

The Wolves move into the Central Division, alongside the Blackhawks.

Detroit moves back to the Eastern Conference, in the Northeast, rekindling its Original Six rivalries.

Buffalo moves to the Atlantic, joining the Rangers as cross-state rivals.

The beleaguered Islanders move to Kansas City, and join the Central Division alongside St. Louis.

Now there are 6 teams in the Central, so we move Nashville to the Southeast.

New division structure:

Northwest: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Minnesota

Central: Columbus, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago Wolves, Chicago Blackhawks

Pacific: Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Dallas, Colorado

Northeast: Detroit, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston

Atlantic: Buffalo, New York, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

Southeast: Nashville, Washington, Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina.