Can Flyers, Penguins alliance thwart NHL’s realignment plans?
Here are two indisputable facts about the National Hockey League: Some form of realignment will occur for the 2012-13 season, and someone is bound to be pissed off about it.
That “someone” is currently the Pittsburgh Penguins. Under the four-division realignment proposal discussed by CBC’s Elliotte Friedman last Saturday night, the Penguins would be separated from their Atlantic Division — and old Patrick Division — rivals, including Keystone State mates the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Penguins would instead compete against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and either the Detroit Red Wings or Columbus Blue Jackets (though the latter seems more likely).
Furthermore, the Penguins would only play the Flyers, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals twice each season in a home-and-home format. The current realignment proposal has teams playing two games against each non-divisional opponent, and the rest within their division (in the Penguins’ case, that’s 36 division games).
As Friedman addressed on his blog on Monday, this would be a significant change for the Penguins, their fans and potentially their economics.
By Greg Wyshynski
Yahoo Sports
Join in the discussion on this and other topics in the NEW Sports Jabber Forums!
Recommend/Like/Share/Bookmark SJ
Categories: NHL
Leave a Reply