New NHL Divisional Re-alignment for Next Season!

The NHL Board of Governors voted and approved a new geographical re-alignment of the teams today.  This was done because of the extensive travel of western teams that had to travel up to 3 zones at times and the late starts for the eastern teams in the pacific time zones, which were affecting interest in the younger hockey fans.

So, to alleviate these concerns, a new four conference system was drawn up.  Two of the Confrences will have eight teams and the other two will have seven teams. 

In the seven-team conferences, teams would play six times - three home, three away. In the eight-team Conferences, teams would play either five or six times in a season on a rotating basis; three teams would play each other six times and four teams would play each other five times. This process would reverse each season: An eight-team Conference member that plays an opponent six times in one season would play it five times the following season.

The top four teams in each Conference qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first-place team would play the fourth-place team; the second-place team would play the third-place team. The four respective Conference champions would meet in the third round of the Playoffs, with the survivors playing for the Stanley Cup.
- NHL.com

Here is the breakdown of the groups courtesy of NHL.com.

 
Conference A:  Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, LA Kings, Pheonix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks

Conference B: Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Bluejackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and the Winnipeg Jets

Conference C: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs

Conference D: Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals

Each team will play each other at least twice in a year.  Once at home and then again on the road so fans are exposed to all the superstars of the league.

How do you feel about this??