Saturday Night Hockey: Toronto Franchise 2.0

The Toronto ...

The Markham city council voted against the stopping of building a 20,000-seat arena on Tuesday night by a vote of 7-6. In other words: BUILD ON!

This isn't good. Not just the using taxpayer money part, but the fact that there is no permanent tenant. Although it is funny how the process went from "No, this arena is just going to be built for events, not an NHL team" to "OMG SECOND TORONTO TEAM !!!1!!!11!1!" - Even though it would technically be the first NHL team in the GTA (Leafs joke!).

Could the GTA host another NHL team? No doubt. Just having two teams in Toronto just doesn't seem right (to me). If the NHL did relocate/expand to Ontario, then it should be Hamilton. If Canada, then Quebec City. If Bettman wanted to keep teams in the US then Kansas City (arena is ready), Las Vegas (unexplored market), Atlanta (third time's a charm right?) or Seattle (even though the NBA coming back makes that market over saturated)...Ok, I'm delusional.

One thing that everyone could agree to is how annoying another Toronto team would be. Cox and Simmons would have another team to complain about - and do they really need any more material? Fans would be switching from one crappy team to another (it is Toronto ya know). Ticket prices would skyrocket. The insufferability meter would be off the charts, twice-over.

/End incoherent ramblings

Lineup Notables

Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadiens

Van(ek) Halen: Ville Leino (hip), Cody McCormick (finger), Patrick Kaleta (neck), and Robyn Regehr (lower body) are out. Ryan Miller will start.
Subbanator: Max Pacioretty (appendectomy) and Petteri Nokelainen (back) are out. Carey Price starts this afternoon.

Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche

Edmonton: Shawn Horcoff (neck), Ben Eager (concussion), Ryan Jones (eye), Andy Sutton (knee), and Theo Peckham (hip) are out. Devan Dubnyk gets the nod in net.
Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog (head/neck/leg/whatever you can think of) and Steve Downie (knee) are out. Semyon Varlamov is expected to start.

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

???: Marc Savard (concussion), Shawn Thornton (concussion), Daniel Paille (upper body), and Tim Thomas (bunker-related) are out. Tuukka Rask will be in net.
???: Joffrey Lupul (Phaneuf'd arm), Clarke MacArthur (finger), and Mike Brown (shoulder) are out while Mike Komisarek (eye) is questionable. James Reimer might start.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames

Top Team: Daniel Carcillo (lower body) and Steve Montador (concussion) are out while Michal Rozsival (lower body) is questionable. Ray Emery is likely to start.
Bottom Feeder: Sven Baertschi (hip) is out. Miikka Kiprusoff starts tonight.

Division Re-alignments (Version 2.42)

I dunno what's worst: that is is kind of inspired by a recent Ask Adam, or that I was reading something he wrote. Anyway, here are a few more ideas about how the division may be re-aligned:

Option #6

Eastern Conference - Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, New Jersey, New York I, New York R, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Washington
Western Conference - Anaheim, Calgary, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, Phoenix, San Jose, St. Louis, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Staight forward: demolish the divisions and go by conference.

Option #7

Adams - Boston, Buffalo, Columbus, Montreal, New Jersey, New York I, New York R, Ottawa
Patrick - Carolina, Florida, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington
Norris - Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, St. Louis, Toronto, Winnipeg
Smythe - Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver

Ah nostalgia, but with a twist! The New York Metropolitian teams move to the Adams, Tampa moves to the Patrick, and Winnipeg moves to the Norris. This way, the expansion/relocated teams fit in and there's not too much in the way of geographical conflict.

Option #8

Northeast - Boston, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto
Atlantic - Buffalo, New Jersey, New York I, New York R, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast - Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, Hartford, Tampa Bay, Washington
Northwest - Calgary, Edmonton, Minnesota, Seattle, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Central - Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, St. Louis
Pacific - Anaheim, Colorado, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose

If you ever wanted to see wishful thinking displayed, look no further. 6 "new" teams (Hartford, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Quebec, Seattle, and Winnipeg) to expand the league to 36.

Obviously these options are never gonna happen, but it's kind of fun to think about them.

Division Re-alignments (Version 1.65)

With Atlanta moving to Winnipeg (or maybe not), the NHL will probably be forced to move teams into different divisions (and maybe conference). Here are 5 possible re-alignments:

Option #1

Northeast - Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
Atlantic - New Jersey, New York I, New York R, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast - Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington, Winnipeg
Northwest - Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota, Vancouver
Central - Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Nashville, St. Louis
Pacific - Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose

Straight forward: Winnipeg stays in the Southeast (until after next season).

Option #2

Northeast - Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
Atlantic - Boston, New York I, New York R, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast - Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Tampa Bay, Washington
Northwest - Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Central - Chicago, Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis
Pacific - Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose

This one may be confusing, so bear with me. Winnipeg joins the Northwest divison with all the other Western Canadian teams, Minnesota gets bumped to the Central, Detroit gets it's wish and moves to the Eastern Conference. Since the Northeast would be crowded, Boston (being the south-most team) gets bumped down to the Atlantic. New Jersey moves to the Southeast because of circumstance (only team not in New York or Pennsylvania). We all know that won't happen since you would have to pry the team bus out of Lou Lammerello's cold, dead hands. Its a start though.

Option #3

Northeast - Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
Atlantic - New Jersey, New York I, New York R, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast - Carolina, Florida, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Washington
Northwest - Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota, Winnipeg
Central - Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis
Pacific - Anaheim, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver

Again, Winnipeg joins the Northwest. This time, Vancouver gets bumped to the Pacific (good: time zone, bad: not with other Canadian teams). Dallas moves to the Central division, and Nashville fills the void in the Southeast. Columbus could also be considered for the Southeast.

Option #4

Northeast - Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
Atlantic - New Jersey, New York I, New York R, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast - Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington
Northwest - Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Central - Chicago, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis
Pacific - Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose

Simple enough, just overload the Northern divisions.

Option #5

Northeast - Boston, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
Atlantic - Buffalo, New Jersey, New York R, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Southeast - Carolina, Florida, New York I, Tampa Bay, Washington
Northwest - Calgary, Edmonton, Minnesota, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Central - Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis
Pacific - Anaheim, Colorado, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose

Another jumbled option. Winnipeg joins the Northwest. Colorado moves to the Pacific (mountains and oceans, oh my). Dallas joins the Central, Detroit moves to the Northeast. Because of rivalry reasons, Buffalo is moved to the Atlantic. The New York Islanders move to the Southeast. Why? Competition reasons (it's an easier division to play in).

There are tons more options, but this is just a basic (ok, maybe just to me) run-down of what the NHL may look like next season. Getting Detroit to the East does seem like a main priority if Winnipeg gets the team, but the subsequent movement of Eastern teams is difficult due to geographical reasons.

2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Review - Round 1: (3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes

Series Summary

Honestly, this series wasn't as close as it was expected. Last year, Phoenix was able to push it to game 7. This year: close games, but not enough of a winning effort from the Coyotes. Up until the end they tried, but it wasn't enough to survive the playoffs (and in Phoenix?).

Games

Phoenix Coyotes 2
Detroit Red Wings 3

Phoenix Coyotes 3
Detroit Red Wings 4

Detroit Red Wings 3
Phoenix Coyotes 2

Detroit Red Wings 6
Phoenix Coyotes 2

Three Thoughts About The Series

1. Only sweep in the playoffs (as of now).
2. Bryzgalov seemed less interested as the series went on. See you in the KHL next year Ilya.
3. Poetic Justice: The Jets last opponent: Detroit. The Coyotes last opponent: you've guessed it....Detroit

Photo of the Series

(Photo courtesy of HockeyDB and relocation: when expansion would have solved everything, but you prefer the hard way)

Play of the Series