NHL Divisions Concept

[jkrdevil]

Alright when the Nashville situation first come up and it was discussed how alignment might be effected I posted this proposal which most have seen. Well I have decided to make logos for it and post it as a concept. Just to recap what this was. For this purpose the Predators are still in Nashville.

-The league would be broken down into 4 divisions: the Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe Divisions.

-Each division has 7 or 8 teams.

-There are no conferences they have been eliminated.

-Top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs.

-Playoffs are Divisional Based with the first two rounds being divisional playoffs.

-The 4 divisional playoff champions will be reseeded for the 3 round.

The Schedule works like this

-Every team plays every team in the 3 other divisions twice (1 home, 1 road).

-Teams in a 7 team division plays every divisional opponent 6 times.

-Teams in a 8 team plays half of the division 6 times the other half 5 times based on geography.

-82 games total (41 home, 41 road)

The reason for the historic names are because the divisions are bigger and the geographic names may not exactly fit. That said the divisions are aligned with geography and rivalries in mind.

Now for the logos.

-Based on the current conference logos.

-Used the NHL shield as the background instead of a generic shield, also is not on that odd angle.

-Colors are orange for Adams, green for Patrick, red for Norris, and blue for Smythe.

-4 Stars at the bottom for 4 divisions of the league.

Here is the alignment with logos.

Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres

Columbus Blue Jackets

Detroit Red Wings

Montreal Canadiens

Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs

Carolina Hurricanes

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals

Atlanta Thrashers

Chicago Blackhawks

Dallas Stars

Florida Panthers

Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators

St. Louis Blues

Tampa Bay Lightning

Anaheim Ducks

Calgary Flames

Colorado Avalanche

Edmonton Oilers

Los Angeles Kings

Phoenix Coyotes

San Jose Sharks

Vancouver Canucks

And for those visual people a map with team logos

Thoughts on the plan and more importantly the logos? I hope I'm not opening a can of worms just wanted to show off the logos I made.

[neo_prankster]

I would've liked the return of the Campbell and Wales Conferences, but this sounds like it could work.

[steiny_ramone]

Leafs aren't in the Smythe Division? What gives?

jk, I like this idea. A lot more interesting than East and West.

[kewp80]

Only problem I have with the realignment proposal is that you lose the Blues and Red Wings rivalry. As for the logos, I like. Is there any reason why there are four stars? jw...

[jkrdevil]

Only problem I have with the realignment proposal is that you lose the Blues and Red Wings rivalry. As for the logos, I like. Is there any reason why there are four stars? jw...

The 4 Stars are for the 4 divisions of the league. Unfortunately every rivalry couldn't be saved, St. Louis still has Chicago though.

[Sabrejeff]

The reason for the historic names are because the divisions are bigger and the geographic names may not exactly fit. That said the divisions are aligned with geography and rivalries in mind.

The "historic" names really aren't historic. They were only used for 19 of the league's 89 seasons. They were canned because they were vague and confusing.

You also can't not have Detroit in the Norris Division for a few reasons. Manly though, just because it's namesake, James E. Norris, was the first and longtime owner of the Red Wings.

Plus, geographical names still work for your proposal.

I really like the logos though.

[jkrdevil]

The reason for the historic names are because the divisions are bigger and the geographic names may not exactly fit. That said the divisions are aligned with geography and rivalries in mind.

The "historic" names really aren't historic. They were only used for 19 of the league's 89 seasons. They were canned because they were vague and confusing.

You also can't not have Detroit in the Norris Division for a few reasons. Manly though, just because it's namesake, James E. Norris, was the first and longtime owner of the Red Wings.

Plus, geographical names still work for your proposal.

I really like the logos though.

I meant historic as they were named after the builders of the Original 6.

[kewp80]

Only problem I have with the realignment proposal is that you lose the Blues and Red Wings rivalry. As for the logos, I like. Is there any reason why there are four stars? jw...

The 4 Stars are for the 4 divisions of the league. Unfortunately every rivalry couldn't be saved, St. Louis still has Chicago though.

True, but the Red Wings are a much bigger rivalry for the Blues than the Blackhawks.

If the Preds move though you could move them to the Adams division, and move the wings to the Norris division.

[Neon_Matrix]

Nice idea... but I'm tired of seeing Toronto and Montreal in the same division. Yes I enjoy playing them during the season but the draw back is that we can never again play them in the Stanley Cup Finals. At times I do wish the NHL was organized like the MLB in the sense that divisions aren't always geographic and can supply friendly competition between state/province rivals who have the potential of meeting in championship rounds.

[DarkJourney]

other than the dot on the map you forgot the Phoenix Coyotes logo.

[jkrdevil]

other than the dot on the map you forgot the Phoenix Coyotes logo.

Fixed, Thanks

[Davey]

Would make sense if they actually did this.. Good for the traveling and the divisions. Be great to see who jumps over and who it effects each division. Great work jkdevil.

[budbowl77]

I love the logos dude..great job!!

[Sir Donald]

Love the logos! Absolutely amazing!

[jtlrip8]

Alright when the Nashville situation first come up and it was discussed how alignment might be effected I posted this proposal which most have seen. Well I have decided to make logos for it and post it as a concept. Just to recap what this was. For this purpose the Predators are still in Nashville.

-The league would be broken down into 4 divisions: the Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe Divisions.

-Each division has 7 or 8 teams.

-There are no conferences they have been eliminated.

-Top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs.

-Playoffs are Divisional Based with the first two rounds being divisional playoffs.

-The 4 divisional playoff champions will be reseeded for the 3 round.

The Schedule works like this

-Every team plays every team in the 3 other divisions twice (1 home, 1 road).

-Teams in a 7 team division plays every divisional opponent 6 times.

-Teams in a 8 team plays half of the division 6 times the other half 5 times based on geography.

-82 games total (41 home, 41 road)

The reason for the historic names are because the divisions are bigger and the geographic names may not exactly fit. That said the divisions are aligned with geography and rivalries in mind.

Now for the logos.

-Based on the current conference logos.

-Used the NHL shield as the background instead of a generic shield, also is not on that odd angle.

-Colors are orange for Adams, green for Patrick, red for Norris, and blue for Smythe.

-4 Stars at the bottom for 4 divisions of the league.

Here is the alignment with logos.

Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres

Columbus Blue Jackets

Detroit Red Wings

Montreal Canadiens

Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs

Carolina Hurricanes

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals

Atlanta Thrashers

Chicago Blackhawks

Dallas Stars

Florida Panthers

Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators

St. Louis Blues

Tampa Bay Lightning

Anaheim Ducks

Calgary Flames

Colorado Avalanche

Edmonton Oilers

Los Angeles Kings

Phoenix Coyotes

San Jose Sharks

Vancouver Canucks

And for those visual people a map with team logos

Thoughts on the plan and more importantly the logos? I hope I'm not opening a can of worms just wanted to show off the logos I made.

I'd but the Canes in the Norris, move Chicago to The Adams, and the Bruins to the Patrick. Otherwise perfect.

[tBBP]

Wow...looking at this map takes me back into my days in high school American history class...you know...the days BEFORE the Oregon Trail?

Man...look at all that western territory with no teams (I mean...south of the Canadian Border). There's the 3 Cali squads, and outside of that, there's only three other squads between that and the Mississippi River, one squad in the city right on the bank of said river (it ain't called the Gateway City for nothing), and one team that, if it ain't on the bank (I don't know much about the Twin Cities), then damn near right on it. If ever east coast bias waqs ever given a visual, this would show it. (And that's no knock on the poster of this concept...just something I happened to notice...and I'm sure I ain't the only one.)

All of which begs the question: given the saturation of teams in the eastern part of the U.S. (which, coincidentally, at least where the Mississippi is concerned, is actually the smaller "half"), can someone draw up a logical reason as to why the stronger squads in the NHL (and NBA, for that matter) seem to reside in the WEST??? (Hey...the NBA's East ain't called the "Leastern conference" for nothing...and the way the [ping pong] balls bounced during the draft lottery sho' ain't gon' do nothing to help that, either.)

Okay...enough left-field off-the-wall observation about something way off-topic from the purpose of this concept. Out...

[TBGKon]

JKR, I really like your idea. The NHL is a league in which something like this could feasibly work. Logos look nice to and really match the league crest.

I'd but the Canes in the Norris, move Chicago to The Adams, and the Bruins to the Patrick. Otherwise perfect.

This idea works too. I'd rather see Carolina with the Southern foes than the northeastern ones.

[josh_cat_eyes]

I'd but the Canes in the Norris, move Chicago to The Adams, and the Bruins to the Patrick. Otherwise perfect.

Yeah I was just about to say something like that, but its soo hard because of the problem that you would have breaking rivalry problem might be dallas having all or most of its rivals lost but i'm sure that st. louis and Minnesota would be good rivals for them. Oh and the logos...love them and I think that they could really work!

"Cat Eyes" - Josh

[Bronxmet]

I'd rather do this

PATRICK: Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Washington, Nashville, Dallas

ADAMS: Philly, Pittsburgh, NJ, Isles, Rangers, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo

NORRIS: Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, Columbus, St. Louis, Minnesota, Ottawa, Colorado

SMYTHE: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, LA, San Jose, Vancouver, Phoenix

This would allow each conference to feature three Original Six squads.

This also allows Toronto and Montreal to meet in the Finals.

Colorado is in the Norris because of the Red Wings.

Dallas is in the Patrick in order to intensify the Washington-Dallas rivalry.

[TBGKon]

I'd rather do this

PATRICK: Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Washington, Nashville, Dallas

ADAMS: Philly, Pittsburgh, NJ, Isles, Rangers, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo

NORRIS: Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, Columbus, St. Louis, Minnesota, Ottawa, Colorado

SMYTHE: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, LA, San Jose, Vancouver, Phoenix

This would allow each conference to feature three Original Six squads.

This also allows Toronto and Montreal to meet in the Finals.

Colorado is in the Norris because of the Red Wings.

Dallas is in the Patrick in order to intensify the Washington-Dallas rivalry.

I believe the way I read it is that conferences were dropped and the league was divided into 4 divisions.