The Pointless Realignment Outpost

[Sport]

Serious reel line mint discussion: Hypothetically, the New York Islaners move to Kansas City. Which Western Conference team jumps to the Eastern Conference? Columbus, Detroit, or maybe even Nashville?

Depends on where Phoenix ends up.

all things constant. They stay in the west.

[rams80]

Serious reel line mint discussion: Hypothetically, the New York Islaners move to Kansas City. Which Western Conference team jumps to the Eastern Conference? Columbus, Detroit, or maybe even Nashville?

Depends on where Phoenix ends up.

all things constant. They stay in the west.

As God is my witness, I thought Honolulu would work.

/Bettman

[tBBP]

Serious reel line mint discussion: Hypothetically, the New York Islaners move to Kansas City. Which Western Conference team jumps to the Eastern Conference? Columbus, Detroit, or maybe even Nashville?

Depends on where Phoenix ends up.

all things constant. They stay in the west.

As God is my witness, I thought Honolulu would work.

/Bettman

Well hell, if we're gonna go that far, why not Guam? Or Fiji? Or Sydney, Australia? Cripes...they could even shoot for Bangkok.

[crashcarson15]

Serious reel line mint discussion: Hypothetically, the New York Islaners move to Kansas City. Which Western Conference team jumps to the Eastern Conference? Columbus, Detroit, or maybe even Nashville?

Hmmmm. Columbus is the farthest east, so I assume them.

But to make the divisions geographically pleasing, the northeast would have to be broken up, and move Buffalo, or Boston into the Atlantic.

Wouldn't the Jackets just slide right into the Atlantic Division with Pittsburgh? Makes sense to me.

[The_Admiral]

If the Coyotes should be so lucky as to move to Winnipeg, that would mean Colorado shifts to the Pacific, setting up a Vancouver-Calgary-Edmonton-Winnipeg-Minnesota division, right? Or is that too Canadian?

[LightningRide75]

If the Coyotes should be so lucky as to move to Winnipeg, that would mean Colorado shifts to the Pacific, setting up a Vancouver-Calgary-Edmonton-Winnipeg-Minnesota division, right? Or is that too Canadian?

[infrared41]

If the Coyotes should be so lucky as to move to Winnipeg, that would mean Colorado shifts to the Pacific, setting up a Vancouver-Calgary-Edmonton-Winnipeg-Minnesota division, right? Or is that too Canadian?

There's no such thing as "too Canadian."

[SenatorJake]

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.

[Magnus]

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.

[NEW.ERA]

The only feasible plan would be that Colorado would move to the pacific but I know Minnesota would love to get out of the Northwest and play in the central.

[BrySmalls]

Now that the AHL will have 30 teams for the 2010-11 season, here's my attempt at realignment:

East:

Colonial:

Hartford Wolf Pack

Manchester Monarchs

Portland Pirates

Providence Bruins

Worcester Sharks

Tri-State:

Adirondack Phantoms

Albany Devils (or what ever they'll be called).

Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Springfield Falcons

Syracuse Crunch

Mid-Atlantic:

Charlotte Checkers

Binghamton Senators

Hershey Bears

Norfolk Admirals

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

West:

Great Lakes:

Grand Rapids Griffins

Hamilton Bulldogs

Lake Erie Monsters

Rochester Americans

Toronto Marlies

Midwest:

Chicago Wolves

Manitoba Moose

Milwaukee Admirals

Rockford IceHogs

Peoria Rivermen

Abbotsford's Gonna Be Bankrupt:

Abbotsford Heat

Houston Aeros

Oklahoma City Barons

San Antonio Rampage

Texas Stars

Edited May 8, 2010 by Mindless

[rams80]

Problem: Lowell's moving to Albany.

[BrySmalls]

Problem: Lowell's moving to Albany.

Thanks for the update.

[KevinMcD]

Another Serious Reel-Line-Mint....

If this rumor is true, and Notre Dame has incentive enough to go to the Big Ten, this is how I see it playing out....

Big 10 11 16-

Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pitt (16)

(Notre Dame would pull Pitt along with the others rumored)

SEC-

Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Arkansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, LSU, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson (16)

(SEC would try to match the Big 16 and raid 4 teams from the ACC, two more Florida schools and rivals of Georgia and SC with GT and Clemson)

PAC 10 16-

USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, BYU, Fresno State, Nevada, UNLV, San Diego State (16)

(Like the SEC and Big 16 the PAC 10 will try to become the Pac 16. Utah and BYU would be obvious choices, basically in the same market, but good sports programs, big money, good academics and huge fan bases. Nevada and UNLV also bring in the Las Vegas and Reno markets and a semi-large fan base. SDSU brings in the other large city in California with San Diego and Fresno or possibly SJ State would be that last spot. They would like Boise, but they go to the Big 12.)

Big 12 16-

Texas, Texas A+M, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Colorado, TCU, Houston, Boise State, Colorado State, UTEP, Rice (16)

(The Big 12 also wants 16 now, they obviously add TCU who was left out before, Houston for that large market, even if most of their fans are UT fans. Same with UTEP and Rice, schools in larger markets in Texas. Colorado State comes along too. Boise State is the wild card, not a large market, out in the middle of nowhere, but have the success on the field and they have fans all over who root for the "underdog". They could keep these fans when they move to a larger conference.)

ACC-

BC, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Virginia, NC State, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, USF, UCF, ECU, Memphis (12)

(Once Again the ACC screws over the Big East. They pull USF to make up for the loss of FSU and Miami. They also get UCF, ECU and Memphis, who the Big East would also love to have.)

Big East-

Louisville, Cincinnati, Syracuse, WVU, UCONN, Buffalo, Miami-Ohio, Ohio, Akron, Temple (10)

(The Big East tries to keep hold, which will be hard once Memphis, UCF and ECU head to the ACC. They raid the MAC. They take the school with the largest endowment, student population, and in the largest market in the MAC, Buffalo. They also add the other Eastern Ohio teams with football history and can keep up in basketball, Ohio, Miami and Akron. Temple also comes back just football. Basketball will still be 16 teams. Each team will play every other team once, with one "rival" they will always play twice a year. (Cuse-UCONN, Nova-G-Town, Louisville-Cincinnati, Seton Hall-St. John's, Providence-DePaul, WVU-Marquette Ohio-Miami, Akron-Buffalo) These can change if new rivals develop over time or when teams become more or less dominant.)

C-USA-

Tulane, USM, Louisiana Tech, UAB, Troy, Arkansas State, MTSU, UL-M, UL-L, North Texas, FIU, FAU (12)

(Some of C-USA leaves, but they get some up and coming schools from the Sun Belt)

Mountain West/WAC-

Wyoming, AF, New Mexico, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State, Hawaii, Idaho, SMU, Tulsa (10)

(After losing a lot of the talents the two conferences merge. They then add SMU and Tulsa from C-USA.)

MAC-

CMU, WMU, EMU, NIU, Ball St, Toledo, Bowling Green, Kent State, WKY, Marshall, Army, Navy (12)

(After being raided by the Big East the MAC gets back Marshall, gets the new FBS team in WKY and convinces the two service academies to come in.)

[illwauk]

Your Big 10 and SEC seem plausible, but everything after that falls apart. Why would ANY school choose the Big XII over the Pac 10? Especially Boise when they're in a state the borders two Pac 10 states, but none in the Big XII?

[JH42XCC]

NBA

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Boston Celtics

New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets

New York Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers

Northeast

Cleveland Cavaliers

Pittsburgh expansion franchise

Toronto Raptors

Washington Wizards

Central

Chicago Bulls

Detroit Pistons

Indiana Pacers

Milwaukee Bucks

Southeast

Atlanta Hawks

Charlotte Bobcats

Miami Heat

Orlando Magic

Western Conference

Midwest

Memphis Grizzlies

Minnesota Timberwolves

New Orleans Hornets

Oklahoma City Thunder

Northwest

Denver Nuggets

Portland Trail Blazers

Seattle SuperSonics (expansion franchise)

Utah Jazz

Southwest

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

Phoenix Suns

San Antonio Spurs

Pacific

Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Sacramento Kings

Major League Baseball

American League

East

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays

North

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Minnesota Twins

South

Charlotte expansion franchise

Kansas City Royals

Tampa Bay Rays

Texas Rangers

West

Los Angeles Angels

Oakland Athletics

Portland expansion franchise

Seattle Mariners

National League

East

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Pittsburgh Pirates

Washington Nationals

North

Chicago Cubs

Colorado Rockies

Milwaukee Brewers

St. Louis Cardinals

South

Atlanta Braves

Cincinnati Reds

Houston Astros

Miami Marlins

West

Arizona Diamondbacks

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

NHL

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers

Northeast

Boston Bruins

Montreal Canadiens

Otttawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs

Mideast

Buffalo Sabres

Columbus Blue Jackets

Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals

Southeast

Atlanta Thrashers

Carolina Hurricanes

Florida Panthers

Tampa Bay Lightning

Western Conference

Central

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Red Wings

Minnesota Wild

St. Louis Blues

Northwest

Calgary Flames

Edmonton Oilers

Winnipeg expansion franchise

Vancouver Canucks

Midwest

Colorado Avalanche

Dallas Stars

Houston expansion franchise

Nashville Predators

Pacific

Anaheim Ducks

Los Angeles Kings

Phoenix Coyotes

San Jose Sharks

[DelayedPenalty]

If the Coyotes should be so lucky as to move to Winnipeg, that would mean Colorado shifts to the Pacific, setting up a Vancouver-Calgary-Edmonton-Winnipeg-Minnesota division, right? Or is that too Canadian?

There's no such thing as "too Canadian."

Amen. Though I think Gary Bettman thinks otherwise...

[marlinfan]

MLB 2050

American League

Northeast

New York

Boston

Baltimore

Toronto

South

Charlotte

San Antonio

Texas

Central Florida (Orlando-TB metros merge)

Midwest

Chicago

Cleveland

Minnesota

Kansas City

West

Los Angeles

Vancouver

San Jose

Las Vegas

Seattle

Pacific

Tokyo #1

Tokyo #2

Osaka

Yokohama

Nagoya

National League

Northeast

New York

Brooklyn

Philadelphia

Washington

South

Cincinnati

Atlanta

Houston

Pittsburgh

Midwest

St. Louis

Chicago

Milwaukee

Colorado

West

Los Angeles

San Diego

Portland

Riverside

Arizona

Caribbean

Miami

Havana

Mexico City

Caracas

San Juan

5 Division winners

3 Wild Cards per league

Special Note: Detroit Tigers move to Vancouver in 2028 after Detroit voters approve referendum to demolish the entire city of Detroit.

MLB still can't seem to get rid of the AL/NL alignments.

[tj4eck]

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

AFC NORTH

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC SOUTH

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Tennessee Titans

AFC EAST

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

New England Patriots

New York Jets

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals

Dallas Cowboys

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons

New Orleans Saints

St. Louis Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC EAST

Carolina Panthers

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

[aci]

Alright, massive re-alignment proposal for professional hockey in North America, which intends to focus hockey on locales where hockey is appreciated, while still providing the opportunity for smaller and more southern markets the opportunity to be successful franchises.

I present to you the Northern Hockey League:

League One

Western Division

Calgary (AB) (Calgary Flames)

Chicago (IL) (Chicago Blackhawks)

Denver (CO) (Denver Avalanche)

Detroit (MI) (Detroit Red Wings)

Edmonton (AB) (Edmonton Oilers)

St Paul (MN) (Minnesota North Stars)

Vancouver (BC) (Vancouver Canucks)

Winnipeg (MB) (Winnipeg Jets)

Eastern Division

Boston (MA) (Boston Bruins)

Buffalo (NY) (Buffalo Sabres)

Montreal (QC) (Montreal Canadiens)

Manhattan (NY) (New York Rangers)

Ottawa (ON) (Ottawa Senators)

Pittsburgh (PA) (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Philadelphia (PA) (Philadelphia Flyers)

Toronto (ON) (Toronto Maple Leafs)

League Two

Western Division

Columbus (OH) (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Indianapolis (IN) (Indianapolis Racers)

Los Angeles (CA) (Los Angeles Kings)

Milwaukee (WI) (Milwaukee Admirals)

San Jose (CA) (San Jose Sharks)

Saskatoon (SK) (Saskatoon Blades)

Seattle (WA) (Seattle Thunderbirds)

St Louis (MO) (St Louis Blues)

Eastern Division

Albany (NY) (Albany River Rats)

Halifax (NS) (Halifax Schooners)

Hamilton (ON) (Hamilton Bulldogs)

Hartford (CT) (Hartford Whalers)

Newark (NJ) (New Jersey Devils)

Quebec City (QC) (Quebec Nordiques)

Raleigh (NC) (Carolina Hurricanes)

Washington (DC) (Washington Capitals)

League Three

Western Division

Grand Rapids (MI) (Grand Rapids Griffins)

Kansas City (MO) (Kansas City Scouts)

Las Vegas (NV) (Las Vegas Wranglers)

Minneapolis (MN) (Minnesota Wild)

Nashville (TN) (Nashville Predators)

Omaha (NB) (Omaha Knights)

Peoria (IL) (Peoria Rivermen)

Portland (OR) (Portland Thorns)

Eastern Division

Cleveland (OH) (Cleveland Barons)

London (ON) (London Knights)

Rochester (NY) (Rochester Americans)

Springfield (MA) (Springfield Falcons)

St John's (NL) (St John's Fog Devils)

Syracuse (NY) (Syracuse Crunch)

Trois-Rivieres (QC) (Trois-Rivieres Draveurs)

Uniondale (NY) (New York Islanders)

League Four

Pacific Conference

South Division

Phoenix (AZ) (Phoenix Coyotes)

Anaheim (CA) (Anaheim Ducks)

Bakersfield (CA)(Bakersfield Condors)

Sacramento (CA) (Sacramento Solons)

San Francisco (CA) (San Francisco Seals)

Stockton (CA) (Stockton Thunder)

Boise (ID) (Idaho Steelheads)

Salt Lake City (UT) (Utah Grizzlies)

North Division

Anchorage (AK) (Anchorage Aces)

Fairbanks (AK) (Alaska Nanooks)

Abbotsford (BC) (Abbotsford Heat)

Kelowna (BC) (Kelowna Rockets)

Prince George (BC) (Prince George Cougars)

Surrey (BC) (Surrey Eagles)

Victoria (BC) (Victoria Salmon Kings)

Spokane (WA) (Spokane Chiefs)

Mountain Conference

South Division

Topeka (KS)

Wichita (KS)

Bossier City (LA)

Oklahoma City (OK)

Tulsa (OK)

Dallas (TX) (Dallas Toros)

Houston (TX) (Houston Aeros)

San Antonio (TX)

North Division

Red Deer (AB) (Red Deer Rebels)

Colorado Springs (CO) (Colorado Rockies)

Des Moines (IO)

Brandon (MB) (Brandon Wheat Kings)

Duluth (MN)

Grand Forks (ND)

Rapid City (SD)

Regina (SK) (Regina Patriots)

Midwest Conference

South Division

Tampa (FL) (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Atlanta (GA) (Atlanta Thrashers)

Lexington (KY) (Kentucky Thoroughblades)

Louisville (KY) (Louisville Riverfrogs)

Notre Dame (IN)

Charlotte (NC) (Charlotte Checkers)

Cincinnati (OH)

Charleston (SC)

North Division

Rockford (IL) (Rockford Ice Hogs)

Rosemont (IL) (Chicago Wolves)

Ann Arbor (MI)

East Lansing (MI)

Brampton (ON) (Brampton Battalion)

Mississauga (ON) (Missisauga Majors)

Sudbury (ON) (Sudbury Wolves)

Madison (WI)

Atlantic Conference

South Division

Bridgeport (CT) (Bridgeport Sound Tigers)

Baltimore (MD) (Baltimore Blades)

Trenton (NJ)

Niagara Falls (ON) (Niagara Falls Thunder)

Hershey (PA) (Hershey Bears)

Reading (PA)

Wilkes-Barre (PA)

Norfolk (VA)

North Division

Worcester (MA) (Worcester Ice Cats)

Moncton (NB) (Moncton Wildcats)

Saint John (NB)

Manchester (NH) (Manchester Monarchs)

Cape Breton (NS) (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)

Laval (QC)

Gatineau (QC)

Providence (RI) (Rhode Island Reds)

It's a promotion/relegation system, with each League also playing some games against the Leagues above and/or below them. Stronger fan-bases would thus be rewarded, because their teams could afford better players and thus move to higher leagues. League Four is essentially a 'minor league' and can act as farm teams for League One and Two teams.

It would feature slightly shorter seasons than the current NHL, and because of the smaller Leagues, a three-round playoff instead of the current four-round set-up.

There's a lot more to the proposal, but I don't feel like burdening you all with it at the moment.