NHL Realignment Suggestion

[Funkywhiteboy]

My home-area Washington Crapitals don't belong in a Southeast Division,
away from their former Patrick Division rivals NY Islanders and Rangers,
New Jersey and Philadelphia.
There are no natural rivalries with Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, and Tampa.
DC may be below the Mason-Dixon line, but regionally more aligned with
other cities on the East Coast.

Suggestion: Move Washington to the Atlantic Division.
Move Nashville into the Southeast Division, where the Preds don't quite fit
with Detroit, C-bus, Chicago and St. Louis.
Teams like Carolina and Atlanta would be a better fit with the team in Tennessee.
Pittsburgh goes to the Central, forming a "Rust Belt" of cities.

Makes sense, which is why it won't happen.

[AcidQueen]

There are no natural rivalries with Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, and Tampa.

Pay attention much?

I think you might want to check with the fans of those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

[Joey Moss]

I was watch a Preds Wings pre-game show and they were talking about hwo alot of the car manufaturing jobs have move to Nashville.Apparently there is a rivalry between the two cities.

[al?]

I think you might want to check with the fans of those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

you talking to anybody about spouting stupidity is a flippin' joke.

care to explain where the heated rivalry is between carolina, tampa, et al.?

you can't......because it's non-existent.

read more, post never.

Preds-Wings is really turning into a good rivalry. Started in the playoffs a few years back. There's a real hate developing, especially as Nashville continues to improve every year.

[Shoalzie]

Realignment would've been an okay idea after the lockout. It doesn't make a lot of sense to do it now. I think a lot depends on what happens with the Penguins. If they end up in a Western city...maybe you need to move a Western team to the East. Detroit, Columbus or Nashville would make the most sense. Detroit and Columbus are the only teams in the West on the Eastern time zone and Nashville would be a natural fit in the Southeast Division if you shift Washington to the Atlantic Division to replace Pittsburgh. If the Penguins stay in Pittsburgh, I'm fine with keeping things the way they are.

[Funkywhiteboy]

There are no natural rivalries with Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, and Tampa.

Pay attention much?

I think you might want to check with the fans of those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

I was referring to Washington's lack of strong rivalries with the above.
Nothing stupid about that, dumbass.

Nashville would be a natural fit in the Southeast Division if you shift Washington to the Atlantic Division to replace Pittsburgh.

I believe I said that earlier. :P

[AcidQueen]

There are no natural rivalries with Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, and Tampa.

Pay attention much?

I think you might want to check with the fans of those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

I was referring to Washington's lack of strong rivalries with the above.
Nothing stupid about that, dumbass.

Let me rephrase:

I think you might want to check with those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

Paying attention would help, too.

[fix]

I'll go ahead and RACK AQ now..

Funky, I can see where you're coming from when you use an NFL or geographical analogy..

But the problem lies that if you do that then you end up with 6 teams in the Atlantic division and only 4 teams in the Western Conference's Central divison.

That and the fact that the Capitals do have a rivalty going with the teams within their own division.
It's like the Leafs, for years they were in the Norris division. Now you'd think that playing the St. Louis Blues wouldn't garner much of a rivalry but a couple of playoff series against them and it did turn into a big rivalry.

Judging by the teams the Capitals fight most often, I'd say you've already got a good rivalry going on with at least one team in your division..
http://www.hockeyfights.com/teams/30/team_rivals

[Funkywhiteboy]

Funky, I can see where you're coming from when you use an NFL or geographical analogy..

But the problem lies that if you do that then you end up with 6 teams in the Atlantic division and only 4 teams in the Western Conference's Central divison.

You missed one there.
I said to put Washington in the Atlantic for Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh to the Central, and Nashville to the Southeast.
It's a three-team swap.

That and the fact that the Capitals do have a rivalty going with the teams within their own division.
It's like the Leafs, for years they were in the Norris division. Now you'd think that playing the St. Louis Blues wouldn't garner much of a rivalry but a couple of playoff series against them and it did turn into a big rivalry.

Judging by the teams the Capitals fight most often, I'd say you've already got a good rivalry going on with at least one team in your division..
http://www.hockeyfights.com/teams/30/team_rivals

Atlanta, Florida, Carolina and Tampa Bay are near the top of the fights list
'cause the Crapitals play them more often in an unbalanced schedule.
RACK whoever came up with that tote board, BTW. :twisted:

[Funkywhiteboy]

Pay attention much?

I think you might want to check with the fans of those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

I was referring to Washington's lack of strong rivalries with the above.
Nothing stupid about that, dumbass.

Let me rephrase:

I think you might want to check with those teams before spouting off stupidity like that.

Paying attention would help, too.

Let me rephrase:

I'd rather have the old rivalries back.
Nothing stupid about that. :P

[fix]

Missed one.. that I did. My bad...

Still like Shoalzie says, I don't see the point in moving the Caps until the Penguins move into their new home in Winnipeg.

Then realignment makes more sense.

Move the Penguins into the Northwest
Move Minnesota to the Central
Move Nashville to the south east
Move Washington into the Atlantic.

[Funkywhiteboy]

I don't see the point in moving the Caps until the Penguins move into their new home in Winnipeg.

Then realignment makes more sense.

Move the Penguins into the Northwest
Move Minnesota to the Central
Move Nashville to the south east
Move Washington into the Atlantic.

Oh, now that makes sense. The Winnipeg Penguins!

[The Rat Pack]

The Caps have historic rivalries against some of their old Patrick rivals, that is very true. Islanders & Rangers will always be at the top.

But there is definite rivalries in the Southeast division. I loathe Carolina & Atlanta. It's not manufactured... It has been developed the old fashioned way.

Caps vs Pens is one of the top ten rivalries in the league. There is massive hate between these two teams and their fans. Just check out their messageboards. Half of the registered users for either board are fans of the other team.

I am Maria's_Poolboy, Bionic_back_Fario, Hedberg_was_a_bust on their official board.

[Terry in Crapchester]

I agree with those who point out that realignment makes no sense until the Penguins' situation gets sorted out. But let me throw out this realignment possibility if the Penguins stay put:

Penguins to Northeast Division, and Bruins to Atlantic Division.

Makes sense to me on so many levels. The Penguins are sort of a geographic orphan in the Atlantic. And Bruins-Rangers is a natural rivalry. Both are original six teams, not far apart geographically, and even though they haven't played in the same division since 1974, this would instantly be a Top 5 rivalry in the league if both were in the same division. The Rangers, Isles, Devils and even Flyers are probably all closer, geographically speaking, to Boston than is any other team in the Northeast Division. Meanwhile, the Penguins get divisional rivalries with both the Sabres and the Maple Leafs, both of whom are closer geographically to Pittsburgh than any team in the Atlantic.

And while I get Funky's original point about wanting the Caps in the Atlantic, the alignment is done not only divisionally but on a conference basis as well. Thus, while putting Nashville in the Southeast makes some superficial sense, putting Nashville in the Eastern Conference and Pittsburgh in the Western Conference does not make sense.

[MuchoBulls]

Let me rephrase:

I'd rather have the old rivalries back.
Nothing stupid about that. :P

Then you'd want to keep the Pens in the Atlantic.

I agree with Terry on waiting to see what the PIttsburgh situation becomes if they don't get the new arena.