NHL Realignment
 |
| The NHL Realignment proposal |
As many may know the NHL is planning to realign the structure of the league next season. Instead of the 6 divisions and two conferences, the NHL will now have 4 divisions, The Pacific, Central, Mid-West, and Atlantic. The 2 conferences would be the Eastern conference consisting of The Atlantic and Central divisions and the Western Conference consisting of the Mid-West and Pacific divisions.
The Bruins would be in the Central division along with their current Northeast foes, Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. Adding to the Central Division will be both Florida teams, Florida and Tampa, and a surprise of Detroit.
From TSN:
The playoff format calls for the top three teams in each division to earn post-season berths. The remaining four spots would go to wild-card teams, the top two records remaining in each conference. That means there's a possibility five teams make it from one division and only three from another.
It would be divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs, so 1 vs. 4, 2 vs 3 in the first round. The two fourth seeds would be made up of the wild-card teams. The top division winner based on regular-season points in the standings would face off against the lower-ranked wild-card team. The other division winner would play the higher-ranked wild-card.
First-round winners then meet in second round in the division championship; Third round sees Pacific winner vs. Mid-West winner in Western Conference finals; Central winner versus Atlantic winner in Eastern Conference finals; Eastern and Western Conference champions meet in Stanley Cup finals.
Another thing to note, the regular season sees every team play each team in the league twice, once home and once away.
I personally think this helps the Bruins, as the won't have to play those tough teams i.e. New York Rangers, Philly, Pittsburgh. It will also strengthen the rivalry with Montreal and make the regular season more intense. It also means if the Bruins finish in the top 3 spots of their division, they won't have to face those annoying teams that i mentioned until the Eastern Conference Finals.
This is just a proposal and once voting is finalized we will update you.
