Magnus

Well, there are your two franchises to contract, right there.

Actually, I kept the East-West thing intact. 8 seeds from both conferences (5 division winners, 3 wildcards).

OK, well seeing as how the farce is continuing in Glendale, I made up this, based on an idea from the Tom Fulery Realignment Project:

Well, not to beat a dead horse, but it is 2012.

I didn't know that Antigua was a part of Canada or the States.

That's all I have to say.

Arizona wildfires Glendale had better watch out - or that parking lot might just become a reality.

Anybody check the latest version of the Wikipedia entry on Glendale, AZ? The Coyotes are mentioned right near the top of the article, but it says nothing about the debacle that is going on with their (and the city's) finances.

This year would be awesome - especially if they moved to Quebec for the start of 2012-13. (Retribution!)

Not sure if anyone has heard of this site, but I thought this would be the appropriate thread to put the link to it in. http://www.tomfulery.com/category/sports/hockey/nhl-realignment-project/

Baseball's playoff expansion, while a good idea to me, still doesn't give the Jays a fair shot at the playoffs because there are 3 teams almost guaranteed to be in front of them in their division. So I say, move Tampa to the NL East, since they have so little history. Then move a team that's been similarily mediocre of late into the AL East, to balance things out. I'll take the Mets, since they have "only" had 50 seasons of play, much like the already scheduled to move Astros. New AL East: Toronto, Boston, Yankees, (playoff contenders) Mets, Baltimore (also-ran) New NL East: Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, (playoff contenders) Washington, Miami (also-ran)

Here's a thought. Move the Abbotsford AHL team to QC. Oh, wait...

Guess I'll have to start ranting and raving again to keep this place interesting. LOL

Don't worry, Cap, there's still plenty of controversial topics available in the world of sport. I think the boards will get along just fine.

This is exactly why I want to see all teams in markets where people are actually willing to pay the $30, $50, $100+ etc. to go sit in an ugly plastic seat and watch the good ol' hockey game. If it's a gate-driven league, and there is nobody buying the tickets because the on-ice product either sucks or simply doesn't appeal to the marketplace due to a lack of cultural belonging, the league has no business trying to operate in that market.

I'm glad when reality and common sense kicks in. There are many markets in the States that I think could support NHL hockey and increase the NHL's bottom line. But there are also others that are proving to be money sinkholes. As soon as some of these sinkholes are not fed any more, the teams that are left, whether that's 30, or fewer, should all be much happier with their bottom lines. But when women's golf is more popular on TV than NHL hockey in a given region, the NHL has no business in that market.

I grant that Toronto and Montreal are not US cities, but they are not cities seeking expansion/relocation teams either. They have been in the league since its creation. They aren't going anywhere any time soon. (sadly) I'm just saying that since all that the BOG cares about is expanding revenue, and US TV revenues would be a good way to do so, that expanding into Canada would not be something they would see as favourable to that plan.

Yeah, I'd cross off QC due to it not being an Amurrican TV market.

http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/index.html What a site title.

My idea of ideal locations for AHL teams, in relation to their NHL affiliates: (all distances in km, taken from Google Maps) VAN - Victoria (115 km) LAK - San Bernadino (96 km) ANA - Bakersfield (221 km) PHX - Scottsdale (33 km) SEA - Tacoma (54 km) Spokane (451) SJS - San Francisco (77 km) EDM - Fort Mac (452 km) CGY - Saskatoon (614) COL - Colorado Springs (114) WPG - Brandon (216) MIN - Bloomington (29) STL - Kansas City (399) NSH - Memphis (343) CBJ - Cleveland (231) CHI - Rockford/Rosemont, IL (143) (28) DAL - Cedar Park (300) DET - Grand Rapids (254) TOR - Toronto (3) OTT - Binghamton (430) MTL - Hamilton (561) QUE - Sherbrooke (233) BUF - Rochester (120) BOS - Providence (81) PHI - Wilmington, DE (47) NJD - Trenton/Atlantic City (96)(193) NYR - Hartford, CT (189) NYI - Bridgeport, CT (110) PIT - Youngstown, OH (107) WSH - Baltimore (64) TBL - Orlando (135) MIA - Fort Lauderdale (44) CAR - Charlotte (241)

Just had a thought because MLB decided to go with 10 teams in the playoffs this season. Make it 12 for next season when they realign to 15 teams per league. All three division winners, so there is still a reason to win your division, and the next three best teams in each league. Then seed all teams 1-6 by record, without giving preference to whether or not they won their division. This would prevent the weak division winner from gaining home field advantage. Seed 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 in 3-game series (Wild Card). Then go with Division Series, League Championship, and World Series.

My dad would be mortified if the Raptors disappeared from Toronto. I would be okay with this fix.

The boards won't allow me to put this picture in my link, even though it is within the size requirements. http://everbuildingfilms.webs.com/sigponies.PNG

Six teams need to be shifted. Winnipeg to Northwest, Vancouver to Pacific, Dallas to Central. Detroit to Northeast, Boston to Atlantic, Pittsburgh to Southeast. 32 divisional games, play everyone else twice. No complaining about long trips out west/east. Intra-divisional play would be a series of 5-game road trips and 5-game homestands. The Northeast plays 16 divisional games, the Atlantic plays the Southeast home and away 10 games. The Northwest plays 16 divisional, while the Central and Pacific play home and away 10 games. Then the Northeast plays the Southeast home and away while the Atlantic plays 16 divisional. Northwest-Pacific 10, Central 16. Then the Northeast plays the Atlantic, and the Southeast plays their divisional slate of 16. (36) Northwest-Central 10, Pacific 16. ------------So that's 36 per team so far.--------- Then the Western and Eastern conferences do similar trading of home-and-away 5-game stands. (5x2x3=30) ---------That's 66 so far.------ All divisions then finish their divisional slates. (16) ---------And that's 82 games.--------- As far as the playoffs go, the automatic 1-2-3 seeds for the division winners should go away. The divisions only exist for ease of scheduling/making of rivalries. Top 8 teams in each conference should qualify. As a final change, the W-L-OL-SOL and points nonsense all disappears, and the standings simply go W-L. Tiebreakers are GF-GA differential, record vs. common opponents played an equal number of times, etc.

OHL - Sudbury Wolves - hometown team. CFL - Toronto Argonauts - closest team to me. Met Pinball after attending a game in 2008. NBA - Phoenix Suns - Steve Nash NHL - Philadelphia Flyers - I have family connections to the area, and I enjoy their style of play. NFL - Green Bay Packers - being a shining example of how a small-market team can survive (and thrive) in a league of large-market teams, I applaud them for all of their success. I wish Sudbury had enough committment to follow suit with the NHL, but that's a pipe dream for now. Also, they beat the Steelers in Dallas in February, and I have hated the Steelers since they were handed won SuperBowl 40 against the team I was cheering for at the time. I also hate the Patriots for the most common reasons people say they hate them. MLB - I guess you could say I'm a Blue Jays fan, although honestly, I normally can't watch a full game in its entirety any more. The pace seems too slow. But I do have semi-vivid memories of watching their World Series triumphs with my dad back in '92 and '93. Pretty much as long as the Yankees fail to win the World Series, though, I'm a happy camper. NLL - although I don't watch it nearly as much as I did during their dynasty years, the Toronto Rock. I went to a game back in 2007 for my birthday. It was the only time I have seen a regular season match of any kind at the Air Canada Centre, and since it's impossible to get Leafs tickets and unlikely I'll want Raptors tickets, might be the only reason I'll ever go there.