Breaking Down the NHL Conference Realignment

On Monday night, the NHL Board of Governors voted into place a realignment that drastically changes the look of the National Hockey League.

Where once there were two conferences, split East and West, there will now be four conferences of seven or eight teams.

The changes are meant to fix the concerns of travel that are felt by teams in the current Western Conference such as Detroit and Columbus.

The changes to the league structure affect the schedule as well.

Teams in seven-team conferences will play 36 conference games while eight-team conferences will play 38.

The change to the schedule includes a home and home with every non-conference opponent, meaning that fans of teams like last season's Stanley Cup Finalists Boston and Vancouver can enjoy the prospect of their rivalry intensifying.

At first glance, the restructuring looks like a great, innovative move by the NHL. This is a brief breakdown of the conferences and the playoff structure.

Conference 1

There are seven teams in this conference, meant to keep the Mid-Atlantic teams together:

New Jersey Devils

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

New York Rangers

New York Islanders

Washington Capitals

Carolina Hurricanes

Conference 2

The Northeast Division will stay together and welcome in the two Florida teams. The Panthers and Lightning will have a lot of traveling to do as the two southernmost teams are caught having to play five of the northernmost sides.

Montreal Canadiens

Toronto Maple Leafs

Ottawa Senators

Buffalo Sabres

Boston Bruins

Florida Panthers

Tampa Bay Lightning

Conference 3

Detroit and Columbus are among the teams that got their wish and will be happy to be in a conference that allows them to play the bulk of their games in close proximity to home. This is one of the two eight-team conferences.

Detroit Red Wings

Columbus Blue Jackets

Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators

Chicago Blackhawks

Winnipeg Jets

Dallas Stars

St. Louis Blues

Conference 4

The NHL really did a great job aligning these conferences. The regional distribution is far better than what it was. The westernmost conference will also be an eight-team conference and keep the California and western Canadian sides in close proximity.

Colorado Avalanche

Phoenix Coyotes

Los Angeles Kings

Anaheim Ducks

San Jose Sharks

Calgary Flames

Vancouver Canucks

Edmonton Oilers

Schedule

The teams in seven-team conferences will play 36 conference games, six against each opponent. Teams in the eight-team conferences will play 38 conference games with at least five against each opponent and as many as six against three of them.

Out of conference will be a balance. Every team will play a home and home with non-conference opponents.

This means exciting times ahead for fans of the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals set the pace for the two teams to become very big rivals. The hatred between the two sides is still evident and the most sought-after ticket in Boston is one for the completely sold out January 7th rematch. They will now play each other twice a year as opposed to the one go they have this year.

Playoffs

In every conference, four teams will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The first two rounds are played as a conference championship. The regular season champion will play fourth place while the second and third teams will match up. The two winners will meet in the second round.

The four conference winners will move on to the semifinals. The plan will likely be to reseed the four champions at that point. The change means that no longer will it necessarily be a team from the East versus a team from the West. It could be East-East, West-West, or East-West.

Thoughts?

It seems like the NHL has done a great job of realigning the teams to provide for maximum TV exposure and less travel time, as well as providing the prospect for some very interesting Stanley Cup match-ups.

However, the NHL doesn't necessarily listen to the fans. Here is your chance to voice your opinion. What do you think of the conference realignment? Comment below.

Follow Tim Fontenault on Twitter @TimFontenault