NHL Re-alignment Part 2

So, now that I rearranged it to 4 divisions... let's be more realistic and make it what it will be next year - 3 divisions within each conference. Rumours already have the Jets move into the Central division with possibly the Red Wings moving East... But an All-Canadian division? It's nice but it would be cooler to think it could possibly be an All-Canadian Stanley Cup Final... BTW, funny how the article have a solution that's similar to what I got from my previous blog.

Pacific	Central	Northwest	Atlantic	Northeast	Southeast
Anaheim Ducks	Chicago Blackhawks	Calgary Flames	New Jersey Devils	Detroit Red Wings	Boston Bruins
Dallas Stars	Columbus Blue Jackets	Colorado Avalanche	New York Islanders	Buffalo Sabres	Carolina Hurricanes
LA Kings	Nashville Predators	Edmonton Oilers	New York Rangers	Montreal Canadiens	Florida Panthers
Phoenix Coyotes	St. Louis Blues	Minnesota Wilds	Philadelphia Flyers	Ottawa Senators	Tampa Bay Lightnings
San Jose Sharks	Winnipeg Jets	Vancouver Canucks	Pittsburgh Penguins	Toronto Maple Leafs	Washington Capitals

This could work... Although...

Here is now I would realign it... for ALL the geographic politicalness

Pacific	Central	Northwest	Atlantic	Northeast	Southeast
Anaheim Ducks	Chicago Blackhawks	Calgary Flames	New Jersey Devils	Boston Bruins	Carolina Hurricanes
Colorado Avalanche	Columbus Blue Jackets	Edmonton Oilers	New York Islanders	Buffalo Sabres	Florida Panthers
LA Kings	Dallas Stars	Minnesota Wilds	New York Rangers	Montreal Canadiens	Nashville Predators
Phoenix Coyotes	Detroit Red Wings	Winnipeg Jets	Philadelphia Flyers	Ottawa Senators	Tampa Bay Lightnings
San Jose Sharks	St. Louis Blues	Vancouver Canucks	Pittsburgh Penguins	Toronto Maple Leafs	Washington Capitals

Here's the issue with this realignment...
It makes A LOT of sense to shift Nashville into the Southeast division because of where it's located. You do not want to split the Atlantic division of 3 New York teams and the 2 Pennsylvania teams. Logic does dictate that Detroit should be in the Northeast but that would push Boston out to either Atlantic (which means breaking up New York and Pennsylvania) or Southeast (which makes no sense there but works better then Atlantic). But because Detroit is the "senior statesman," they should be moved to the Eastern conference before Nashville or Columbus.

I decided to put Winnipeg and Minnesota together and shift Colorado to the Pacific division. This gives Winnipeg and Minnesota the geographical rivalry.

By moving Colorado to Pacific and Dallas moves to Central. This will probably create a better travel itinerary with the Pacific division teams.

Now that I think about it... I would definitely move Detroit into the Northeast and shift Boston to the Southeast...

Pacific	Central	Northwest	Atlantic	Northeast	Southeast
Anaheim Ducks	Chicago Blackhawks	Calgary Flames	New Jersey Devils	Buffalo Sabres	Boston Bruins
Colorado Avalanche	Columbus Blue Jackets	Edmonton Oilers	New York Islanders	Detroit Red Wings	Carolina Hurricanes
LA Kings	Dallas Stars	Minnesota Wilds	New York Rangers	Montreal Canadiens	Florida Panthers
Phoenix Coyotes	Nashville Predators	Winnipeg Jets	Philadelphia Flyers	Ottawa Senators	Tampa Bay Lightnings
San Jose Sharks	St. Louis Blues	Vancouver Canucks	Pittsburgh Penguins	Toronto Maple Leafs	Washington Capitals