NHL 2010/2011 season....

[AdmiralGarak]

Would someone from the West move over to the Eastern Conference to make up for it? Or are the conferences already imbalanced anyway?

The Conferences have been even at 15 teams apiece in the decade since the last wave of expansions ended. They were usually imbalanced during the expansion period, though. It wouldn't be all that surprising if the Northwest Division had 6 teams and the Southeast had 4.

Many fans seem to think that Detroit has a deal with the NHL to move into the East at the first opportunity. I don't know if that's actually true.

Personally, I'd go with:
Thrashers --> Northwest
Wild --> Central
Predators --> Southeast

 

[Garak]

Detroit has been angling for a move to the Eastern Conference for some time now, they should get it, but I hear Columbus and Nashville are in the running as well.

 

[Timby]

Multiple sources are reporting that Boogaard's cause of death was an overdose of alcohol and painkillers.

 

[Starbreaker]

Dear Canada,

Stop fucking stealing our hockey teams.

Love,
Georgia

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Would someone from the West move over to the Eastern Conference to make up for it? Or are the conferences already imbalanced anyway?

The Conferences have been even at 15 teams apiece in the decade since the last wave of expansions ended. They were usually imbalanced during the expansion period, though. It wouldn't be all that surprising if the Northwest Division had 6 teams and the Southeast had 4.

Many fans seem to think that Detroit has a deal with the NHL to move into the East at the first opportunity. I don't know if that's actually true.

Personally, I'd go with:
Thrashers --> Northwest
Wild --> Central
Predators --> Southeast

Wild-------> Northwest
Stars -----> Central
Canucks ---> Pacific

 

[Hunter X]

Dear Canada,

Stop fucking stealing our hockey teams.

Love,
Georgia

Georgia has a hockey team? Couldn't tell.

 

[eastman23]

Dear Canada,

Stop fucking stealing our hockey teams.

Love,
Georgia

Dear United States,

You did it first.

Love,
Winnipeg (and Quebec)

This is good. Winnipeg has finally made it to the list of "places I'd live if I really had to."

EDIT: Maybe not, TSN is saying it's not a done deal.

Everybody in town is treating it like it's a done deal. There was an impromptu party at Portage and Main last night (complete with climbing over the barricades to make it into the intersection).

 

[Starbreaker]

You took the Flames and the Thrashers. I doubt we'll ever see hockey here again.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Detroit has been angling for a move to the Eastern Conference for some time now, they should get it, but I hear Columbus and Nashville are in the running as well.

If the Redwings moved to the east, they'd be in the Northeast, which doesn't make things any better than now. You could move Boston to the Atlantic, but who would you drop to the Southeast, the Devils? The Flyers? It would kill a lot of good rivalries that way. The simplest thing would be to move the Predators into the Southeast.

As for what to do with the west, either move the Wild to the Central to be with Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and Columbus (easiest) or move the Avalanche to the Pacific to be with Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jose and the Stars to the Central so you can make everyone geographically closer (although Denver has to travel far either way) and still have all the Canadian teams in one division.

 

[eastman23]

You took the Flames and the Thrashers. I doubt we'll ever see hockey here again.

The NHL isn't the end all and be all of hockey, despite what many, including some here in Winnipeg, would have you believe. If you can't support any NHL team, then as luck would have it, we have an AHL team that we don't need anymore...

 

[Gil T.Azell]

You took the Flames and the Thrashers. I doubt we'll ever see hockey here again.

There should have been better fan support.

 

[Danny99]

I'll wait and see what happens in Winnipeg. This comes down to what Gary wants more: to save an expansion franchise that was brought in on his watch and therefore part of his legacy or having to add another team to the NHL's ownership list.

I still believe that the NHL should be looking at American cities with no professional team in any league or with only an MLB team. Seattle is a great example of where nothing is happening in the winter professional sports scene since the Sonics lost and the Mariners are still too brutal to make a long playoff run. This opens up a great opportunity to capture a fan base.

 

[Starbreaker]

You took the Flames and the Thrashers. I doubt we'll ever see hockey here again.

There should have been better fan support.

There should have been a major league team.

 

[Danny99]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AvaPGaQwuQGcEhVDIrCSZBN7vLYF?slug=ap-thrashers-flaggingfans

You have the feel for the legitimate fans of the team, like Starbreaker, but it really seems like the ownership is to blame here.

Isn't it a defeatist attitude to send the NBA team's mascot out to a rally for the NHL team? It's like look we still have this team, come spend your money on it instead of this failing property.

 

[Starbreaker]

It's just a really bad NHL town. Barely half the games are televised, the stadium is an atrocious place to try to get to, and the team sucks. I hope they do better up north.

I can just watch Predators games until they move to Saskatoon or something.

 

[DeafPoet]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AvaPGaQwuQGcEhVDIrCSZBN7vLYF?slug=ap-thrashers-flaggingfans

You have the feel for the legitimate fans of the team, like Starbreaker, but it really seems like the ownership is to blame here.

Isn't it a defeatist attitude to send the NBA team's mascot out to a rally for the NHL team? It's like look we still have this team, come spend your money on it instead of this failing property.

I read that article and I honestly do feel bad for for the few true fans that the Thrashers have. But the fact is, by and large, Atlanta doesn't give a fuck about hockey. And on the flipside of the coin, you've got Winnipeg. They would suck 9 miles of dick to have an NHL team.

Bitch about the ownership all you want, but nobody showed up to the fucking games. End of story.

 

[BigFoot]

Canucks win game four.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Canucks win game four.

5 more wins

 

[Gil T.Azell]

I'll wait and see what happens in Winnipeg. This comes down to what Gary wants more: to save an expansion franchise that was brought in on his watch and therefore part of his legacy or having to add another team to the NHL's ownership list.

I still believe that the NHL should be looking at American cities with no professional team in any league or with only an MLB team. Seattle is a great example of where nothing is happening in the winter professional sports scene since the Sonics lost and the Mariners are still too brutal to make a long playoff run. This opens up a great opportunity to capture a fan base.

All Seattle has is the Seahawks, Portland could be another spot they support their WHL team fairly well.

 

[tomalak301]

Canucks win game four.

Yeah the Sharks look awful. If the Nucks do win this series, I hope they win the Cup, and I hope they play the lightning. Vancouver and Tampa Bay could be a good series.