This would be my proposed alignment (assuming the Coyotes are still in PHO)...

East

Boston
Toronto
Montreal
Buffalo
Ottawa
NY Islanders
NY Rangers
New Jersey

South

Carolina
Tampa Bay
Florida
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Washington
Detroit

Pacific

San Jose
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Phoenix
Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
Winnipeg

Midwest

St. Louis
Chicago
Columbus
Minnesota
Nashville
Dallas
Colorado

Philly has to be paired with the devils and rangers. They are so close geographically and they are HUGE rivals.

Present day Midwest would really suck.... all the good teams are in the Pacific ;)

Referring back again to the Phoenix problem... we have heard so much about how Detroit may or may not "want" to go back East, about how Columbus doesn't fit in the West... the most obvious city right now without a team is Quebec.

So what I'm saying is, they might have already realigned IF they were pretty much sure they weren't going to have a team going West to East in the future.  I think if they do realign they don't want it to be something they have to change again in four or five years.

Posted by moy23 on 7/7/2011 8:02:00 AM (view original):
Philly has to be paired with the devils and rangers. They are so close geographically and they are HUGE rivals.

The problem there is that:

1. The Islanders, Devils and Rangers have to stay together I think, as do Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo & Ottawa and Carolina, Tampa Bay & Florida. That leaves Pittsburgh, Philly, Detroit and Washington. We could have Pittsburgh, Detroit and Washington join the Boston group and put the rest together, but it doesn't make much sense to separate the PENN teams does it?

As for the midwest, I agree, but it's the only way to have the least amount of travel possible. For example, you could also have this, but I don't think it would be a great idea to have Carolina, Tampa and Florida in the Western Conference. It would also mean that the Philly division would be a present day proverbial "group of death", while that Carolina division would be extremely weak.

Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, Ottawa, Washington, St. Louis, Pittsburgh
New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota

Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida, Nashville, Dallas, Phoenix, Columbus
San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Colorado, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg

This could be another scenario...probably the most present-day balance we're gonna achieve without too much ridiculous travel. The Red Wings would not be happy to be staying in the West though, but if we flip-flop them with Columbus, I think the "Atlantic Division" would be the proverbial "group of death" with 3 very good teams missing the playoffs.

Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida
New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus

Chicago, Minnesota, Nashville, Dallas, Phoenix, St. Louis, Detroit
San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Colorado, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg

It's hard to get balance between the 4 divisions because geographically, we're at a point in time where all the mediocre teams are either in the south east or midwest.

If PHO were to move to Quebec or Hamilton, then it changes things just a little bit...Detroit AND Columbus would then stay in the West, Quebec would be in Montreal's division and Buffalo would most likely join Philly and co.

Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida
New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo

Chicago, Minnesota, Nashville, Dallas, Columbus, St. Louis, Detroit
San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Colorado, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg

Philly is a LOT closer to NJD and NYR than PITT - even though both Philly and Pitt are PA teams

One conference for the Original 6, the expansion teams in one big conference.

Don't forget in the mid-90s, Pittsburgh and Buffalo were in the "Northeast" along with Boston and Montreal... not in the "Atlantic" with the "NY" teams...

Ok so say we take into account what you guys have suggested...

Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Buffalo
New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Washington

Where do you put Tampa Bay, Carolina & Florida? It wouldn't make sense to split them up or put them in the West. Same goes for Detroit, Columbus and Nashville. There are no East teams that can sensibly be moved to the Western Conference because they are all further East than DET, CLB and NSH.

Henry to the panthers. Might as well call the the Blackhawks south...... Kinda like LAK are the Flyers west.

Stalberg - 2 years @ 1.75 total