NHL Conference Realignment Pros and Cons

Huge news in the hockey world last night as the Board of Governors met and agreed on a new conference realignment in the NHL.  The realignment removes the current 2-conferences, 6-division format and replaces it with an entirely new 4-conference format.  Two of the conferences have 8 teams, while 2 have 7 teams.  The top 4 teams in each conference will make the playoffs and the first two rounds of the playoffs will be inter-conference, with a Conference Champion being crowned after the 2 rounds.  This change is quite dramatic, so let’s take a look at some of the positive and negative ways it will affect the NHL:

PROS

Home and Away With All Teams – This is a definite pro for the league and the fans.  With the new alignment every team will play home and away against every other team in the NHL.  This will allow fans in every NHL city to have Sidney Crosby or Steven Stamkos come to their city to play hockey.

New Conference Rivalries Will Form – At the current time the divisions each contain 5 teams.  Teams play against their divisional foes 6 times per year.  With the current alignment this means that each team has 4 teams that they play often and can build rivalries against.  However, once the playoffs come the teams can play anyone from their Conference.  With the new alignment teams will play a greater number of teams a greater number of times.  By that I mean in the 7-team Conferences teams will play 6 different teams 6 times, which adds 2 more teams that can be regular season rivals.  Also, in the playoffs teams will often face each other year after year, which should build hate and result in more heated first and second round series between teams that despise each other.

Time Zones – Current Western Conference teams that are in the eastern end of the continent (Detroit, Minnesota, Dallas) have problems with time zones with regard to their away games.  Dallas even has to play divisional games in time zones that are 2 hours different.  This new format should allow teams to play more games closer to their home city, which will result in less time zone problems.  This also means that fans out West won’t have to place as many mobile sports bets because they are still at work when their team starts playing as often.

Relocation Much Easier – This isn’t a big plus, but if teams move it is much easier to adjust a four-conference system than the current 6 division system with 2 conferences.  For example, if Phoenix does end up moving to eastern Canada, that team could just be added to one of the 7-team conferences and there would be no hassle.

CONS

Travel – Teams will likely have more travel with the new alignment because they will be heading to every other NHL city each season.  That being said the new alignment might allow for schedule makers to schedule road trips for teams where they can hit cities on the way, which should help battle the travel expense problem.

Best Teams Don’t Make Playoffs – With the new alignment the LA Kings would have missed the playoffs last year even though they had more points than the Stars.  This will be a regular occurrence when certain divisions are superior to others.

Playoff Races Aren’t As Exciting – Last season the playoff races in both Conferences were very exciting, but if you look at how the races would have played out in the new 4-conference format it becomes much less interesting.  The playoff races are the second most exciting time of the NHL season, next to the playoffs and the races in the new alignment won’t be nearly as exciting.

Care About Less Teams – I’m a fan of the Ottawa Senators and at the moment I care about how every team in the Eastern Conference does because it affects the Sens chances of making the playoffs.  With the new alignment I will only care about the 6 other teams in their Conference, which will make things somewhat less interesting for fans.

Underrated and Overrated NHL Teams

If you read this blog often then you probably know I’m an avid NHL bettor who does fairly well (I’ve been on a cold streak lately, but still up on the season).  One of the best ways to make money betting on NHL games is to wager on teams that are underrated in the eyes of the public and the bookmakers.  If you followed my NHL betting site you would notice I wager on the same teams very often and against the same teams very often.  That’s because my views of NHL teams differ from the publics views and if my views are more correct then I will be winning more money than I lose online.  Here are a few teams that I find underrated or overrated at the moment.

Underrated – Ottawa Senators

The Senators were ranked 30th on almost every power ranking that you could find prior to the season.  They are now around 22 or so on most, but when looking at the odds you will still notice that the Senators are almost always the underdogs because they public and the bookmakers still don’t believe in the team.  Just today the Senators at home was a pick’em game against at Lightning team that is 4-8-2 on the road and on a 3 game losing streak.

Underrated – St. Louis Blues

The Blues have been great since changing coaches this season and they have the personnel to continue to perform.  The odds haven’t quite caught up to their recent success, so you can still find some great odds for the Blues.  I expect the Blues to make the playoffs and put up a good showing once there.

Overrated – Colorado Avalanche

The Avs are the worst team in the league according to me.  They are on a 3 game winning streak right now, but I have made a lot of money betting against the Avs this year.  I haven’t bet against them recently because the odds had caught up with them when they were playing so poorly, but now that they have won some games I expect some sharp bets against the Avs in the future.

Overrated – Winnipeg Jets

The Jets are another team that I generally don’t like to bet on.  I see the Jets as a bottom 3 team in the Eastern Conference, but with all of the press surrounding the team this season it seems like they are favourites or considered contenders in games when they really shouldn’t be.  In fact, last Tuesday the Jets were hosting the Senators and even though I was out of town the odds were so good that I went online to one of my favourite iphone betting sites and placed a bet on the Senators at +110 to defeat the Jets.

The teams that are underrated and overrated can change quickly throughout the season and as an NHL bettor you have to be ready to change with them.  The NHL is a very streaky league, especially for young teams and one thing that I take into account when placing my bets is a teams current streak and how they are playing heading into the game.  Overrated/underrated views is just one ingredient to use when placing NHL bets.