NHL Puts Out New Schedule And Division Names

((HT: Sportsnet))

And, yes, those were crickets you heard with most of this announcement...

It used to be the Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe...
Then, we got directional names for the six divisions they created...

Now, we have this...??? We're back to four...

The four divisions will be now be called Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central and Pacific.

The Metropolitan is made up of the Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Atlantic has the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Senators, Sabres, Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Central has the Jets, Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues.

The Pacific has the Canucks, Flames, Oilers, Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks.

FOSG Tim and Sid give the new names the appropriate amount of grief... and ask Sidney Crosby what he thinks...

Metropolitan...???

So, then are the 8 teams in the division all "Mets...?"

Ugh...

NHL Appears Ready To Realign

((nhl.com))

Hey hockey fan.

It appears the days of bizarre conference alignments may be over. Either that or your favorite team may be cutting their travel costs.

The NHL got their players association to sign off on a realignment proposal (no easy feat). That proposal would allow Columbus and Detroit to move to the Eastern Conference and Winnipeg (former ATL Thrashers) to move to the west.

The move would create a 16-team East and 14 team West, but wouldn't change the NHL Playoff system which allows roughly half its teams a playoff berth.

It still pending review by the league's Board of Governors and a final OK in 2014. 

Read more from NHL.com RIGHT HERE

The move makes sense logistically. And really, getting either side of the fence to agree on anything when it comes to hockey is quite the accomplishment. It made no sense to have the teams aligned as they currently are.

We still think the NHL Playoff system is stupid, but that is our opinion. Allowing 16 of your 30 teams in kind of defeats the purpose.

But on the flipside, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are truly one of the greatest spectacles in Sport. They often provide the best storylines and almost always the most action.