NHL divisional realignment has been at the forefront for the NHL ever since the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg thus having an imbalance between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference.
We’ve heard rumors in the past that the NHL would consider having a massive overhaul in which the current landscape of the NHL would be wiped out in favor of a two conference format with 2 divisions each.
Everything we’ve heard up until this point can only be considered speculation since we’ve never really been able to put a source or a name to those rumors.
That was until now.
During a radio interview with KFAN in Minneapolis, Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold may have let the public in on the NHL plans for realignment during the 2012-12 season.
Our division would include the Winnipeg Jets, us, the Blues, the Nashville Predators, the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets… maybe not depending on if they go east or west. I am all in favor of that. I think that is a grand slam, home run, hat trick for our team.
We’re all Central Division now. All of our teams, except for Columbus, all of our teams will be Central division. We’ll play less teams in Canada. We will play every team home and away at least one time.
The interesting thing of note from that is he doesn’t mention the Detroit Red Wings as part of the Central division.
If this was the case the Pacific division could contain Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver.
Again this isn’t confirmed but does put a face to some of the rumors that have been circulating around the NHL for a few months now.
Source: KFAN
