NHL Realignment?

So, now that NHL has rightfully returned to Winnipeg... schedule has caused chaos. For one, the Jets are playing out of Southeast division with Tampa, Carolina, Florida and Washington... It was apparently too late to make changes. But now, they're talking about restructuring the divisions which I think it's a good thing.

First, whoever decided to do 3 division within the conference is beyond me. Let's not forget the fact that if you were the division winner, you were guaranteed home ice. So, it really did not matter if your division sucked (re: Southeast a few years back). You could have finished with a record under .500 but as long as you won your division, you will get 3rd even though 4th place team might actually finish 15 points higher.

A map of where the teams are currently located in current division

So, they're thinking of going back to 4 division with one conference possibly with 16 teams and the other with 14 teams. What is wrong with 15 each? One 7 teams and one 8 teams in each conference?

Apparently, it's about balance and the fact that 3 teams are complaining (Detroit, Nashville and Columbus).

So, this is how I would realign the divisions...

Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Northeast

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

Wow... I didn't know it was a bit more difficult that it could be. Although, it only took me... oh, 8 minutes to put everyone in place. Too bad for Nashville, I couldn't put them in the Eastern Conference... Geographically, they fit better in the Central division...

First, I had to keep Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in the same division, same for New York's 3 teams and Florida and Tampa.

I tried to keep as much of the current divisions in tact. However, Boston had to move to Atlantic so that I could balance out teams on the East coast. So, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia had to move the Northeast.

Alternatively, it could realigned to this:

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

For the sake of political correctness, I think the first option is better. You now have Detroit in its rightful division with Toronto, Montreal and Boston for Original 6 rivalries and keeping rivalries between the New York teams and Pennsylvania teams in same division.

I have a funny feeling Bettman is itching for expansion of 2 more team so that it's more "rounded." I hope not... We do not need a Las Vegas team or in Kansas City... But there will be no objection to moving the team from Phoenix to Seattle. Nor will there be objection to moving one of the Florida team to Quebec City. Nor will there be objection moving Carolina back to Hartford.

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

Or... we could get rid of both Florida teams... 28 team league sounds good?? I thought so.

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

PSN is back! And with free games!

So after 6 weeks in the dark, PSN is finally back up. And for patients and loyalty, Sony decided to offer up some free games in their "Welcome Back" package...

The list of PS3 games are:

Dead Nation
inFAMOUS
LittleBigPlanet
Super Stardust HD
Wipeout HD + Fury

Now, if you have NOT bought inFAMOUS or LittleBigPlanet (I don't know why) then these 2 games are DEFINITELY a MUST. But if you're like me who had already bought those 2 then you only have 3 choices really...

I ended up getting Dead nation and Super Stardust HD. I'm terrible at driving/racing game, that's why I opted not to get Wipeout HD. So, only 2 choices for me.

Super Stardust HD was actually a small file, 250MB. Think of it as Geometry Wars on HD graphics. I know, how much more high-def can you make a simple game...



I like it. It's a quick simple game. What I find funny is the score. You get to compare your score against other people in the world ranking. How many hours do some of these people play? I rank something like 300000 or some ridiculous number. But when you look at first place, the player have a ridiculous score of 2trillion.

Hey, I love video games as much as the next person beside me but I can't really sit a full 8 hours of mindless shooting. The game is still entertaining and it's in FULL 1080p HD!

Dead Nation... really, I had no choice to choose from. The story of Dead Nation is a virus has taken over the world and made everyone a zombie while you, for whatever reason, was immune to it. The game is played 3rd person from bird's eye view. I would REALLY hate to see this game at the 1st person level. The zombie breathing sounds are creepy enough at times, I don't need any up close and personal attention.

Having said that though, it's still a joy to play. I just got a flame thrower in the game. How can you not love running around with a flame thrower and watch zombies burn?



What's nice about this game is the controls. They are simple and to the point. Left joystick to move your character. Right joystick to aim. R1 trigger to shoot. R2 trigger for a melee attack. L1 for flare/grenade/mine/etc. L2 for a short burst of rush run. Directional pad to change weapons or item. The key is to know when to utilize which button and what weapon. It's not fun when you have zombies coming from all sides and you're having trouble getting the appropriate weapon to use. The Rifle is only good for shooting down a few. When confronted by zombie attack, go for SMG or flame thrower...

I also have a PSP and the choices:

LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
ModNation Racers
Pursuit Force
Killzone Liberation

Pursuit Force is another racing game. So, that's out. LittleBigPlanet, I had downloaded a copy. So, I may be obliged to get an official copy. ModNation Racers is like LittleBigPlanet on wheels... but I'm not sure how I feel about that. Killzone Liberation is something I'm not sure I want. I wish they had a better selection.

On google, on the European PSN, Rachet and Clank was one of the offer. I seriously would have gotten that no questions asked. Oh well... games are free, so who's complaining?

Sony has indicated that

To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

So far, I've found Capernicus mission for free for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I hope they will be more free... I just wish I could have gotten Ratchet and Clank

Assassin's Creed series

So, I just finished Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood last night and well, I love the series... even with it's repetitive play, I love the conspiracy story line. lol

I love the background art work of Renaissance Rome in ACB. The way they made the Colesseum and Roman Forum is WOW.

Now I have to wait til later this year for the conclusion of the story in Assassin's Creed Revelation and I'm super excited for it. From what I read, we get to play 3 story arc (I think); Altair, Ezio (who is apparently 50 years old now) and Desmond.

I'm glad they're going back to Assassin's Creed because when I started playing Assassin's Creed II, I was trying to figure out the story tie between the first and second game. You could have played Assassin's Creed II without the first. Since Revelation will be the last game of the series, I hope there be lots more twists and puzzles...

The puzzles were fun and sometimes hard on ACB.

But for now, I need a break from my ps3... although, I still have God of War III to finish and with PSN back up, some free games to download... And LA Noire looks interesting and I was told that it's a good game too.

No, I need a break from ps3...