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I have a felling new ownership will actually try to ice a competitive team. That ownership group was apparently not concearned about actually winning any hockey games. I got to imagine most of the squad is happy. Safe to say Atlanta is not a hockey town. Phoenix used to be back in the jr and keith days. They are likely moving next year. Got to wonder if the league will move them to the NE to solve the problem of balance

I wonder if Quebec City is the destination Phoenix is bound for. That and Hamilton are the 2 main city's being thrown about and frankly I can't see either the Leafs or Sabres organization being very happy about Hamilton coming in as that would draw from their support zones. Can you think of any other possible US cities that Phoenix might go to?

Obviously I hope so, but we're only up 2 - 0 and both were very close hard fought games that could have just as easily gone Boston's way. Not to mention that Boston was also down 2 - 0 to Montreal so they've already don't it once this year (though Montreal and Vancouver are miles apart in terms of calibre), it's way too early to tell. If they split in Boston, I really can't see a Vancouver sweep, then I'll start getting my hopes up but for now I'm just cautiously optimistic. If they split in Boston I think the Vancouver will win at home in Game 5, if they return to Vancouver 2 - 2 then it's going the full 7 and who knows what the outcome will be.

BTW, the Bono story you posted earlier also has both Bruins and Canucks connections. Brule played on the Vancouver Giants with Lucic and was traded from Columbus to Edmonton for Torres which started his eventual trek to the Canucks

That was terrible.
It ended on a stupid play AAAHHHH!!!!
The Bruins didn't play well at all night they got a lead and started to play some of the laid back hold a lead type play and The Canucks capitalized .
Stupid Play and the end for Thomas and Chara.:-)

Let's bring it back to Boston and Get this series tied up.

You have to loose three games to Win a series in seven:-)

Chara needed to pull Burrows down. With Tim out of the net like that and Burrows that far in front of him, Chara needed to do something more than what he did. I really hope Boston can do something at home.

There is already a fix for the balance issue, and it doesn't include moving Columbus or Nashville. :-)

:-)

Given that Winnipeg remains in the same division for next season, I would expect the divisional "imbalance" will be resolved by moving Phoneix or Columbus into both the NE and Quebec City at the same time that Winnipeg joins the NW. As little sense as it makes having Detroit in the Western Conf given that it's an eastern city I can't really see the league upsetting those rivalries now. There's already lots of Original 6 matchups in the Eastern Conf, having 2 of those teams in the west is better for business.

That is most likely the biggest reason it WON'T happen. I'm praying it will despite the business factor. Not to come off cocky, but it is said that the Wings are a big draw for western conference teams.

Besides joining the other 4 original 6 teams in the East, the best part would be no playoff games starting at 10:00 PM local time. It sucks having a 1 hour drive to work, having to start at 7:00, and your team's playoff game doesn't end until 1:00 AM ( or later if it goes into OT). Once in a while isn't so bad, but if it's week after week in the Pacific Time zone, it gets real old real fast.


That said, the existing rivalries can be kept alive if the NHL would just adopt the NBA schedule. It garauntees a home & away against every team in the league. I've posted the specifics before.

If they dont move Phoenix I still say its Nashville.
Nashville is one state away and if Det can be in the West, Nashville can be in the East.

Moving the Wings requires a team from each Eastern Conf to move and teams will fight like hell over that. It would kill the Bs Habs likely also, which is something the league surely doesnt want. Nashville just makes the most sense if they dont move the Yotes. I dont see them going to any U.S. city. They will want a sure market like Quebec or possibly Hamilton.

If the league would just adopt a balanced schedule I agree this all becomes a non argument largely. I think it would help many teams sell more as well.

All of the better teams are big draws where ever they play, people will make more of an effort to go to a game involving good teams because it's better entertainment. The same can be said for the Original 6 even when they are in rebuilding phases or are having off seasons. It's hardly specific to the Wings and I really don't see how/why you'd think is a reason for the NHL to keep the Wings in the West. Especially given that the West already has a larger percentage of high profile talent and the most of the best team in the league already.

I certainly agree on the balanced schedule though. Frankly I'd like to do away with the rigid conference structure altogether for the reasons I mentioned earlier in this thread. It produces artificially inflated/deflated point totals based on the relative strength of a team's division (Vancouver was a classic case this year). It's also ridiculous when you have the #9 and #10 teams in conference missing the playoffs when they both have better records than the #8 team in the other conference.

According to the attendance numbers for this past season Wings sold out 99.8% of their road games, highest in the league by over 2% (ESPN.com). I would say that's significant enough to say that is a reason to keep them in the West.

We should start a movement to get the NHL to change their schedule to be exactly like the NBA's.

Fans have been complaining for years. The owners dont want it. More cost associated from more travel was a rumor. I think thats crap as I think the attendance will improve. I am damn tired of so many games against the pacific. Its tired and I know people who dont care to go to the games as there are so many. Think I am only doing a 10 pack this season. And wont be going to any pacific division games. One things for sure the league doesnt care what the fans want as every survey says people are tired of this format.

Wow, hopefully Horton is ok after that hit. Not technically a Rule 48, and didn't appear to be intent to injure, but definitely deserving of the match penalty and possibly a suspension. Hopefully that kind of hit will fall under Rule 48 next year!!

Epic collapse, stereotypical Canucks.

Tom, got that Luongo pick handy? What an absolute disgrace from the Canucks :-) :-)

I am left to wonder if Claude Julien is a man of his word though. Given that he was telling the media that any players of his that engaged in the LaPierre's behaviour would be benched I'm sure that we'll see Lucic and Recchi (or was it Bergeron) benched for next game right just to prove he's not a hypocrit right? Somehow I think we can expect to see both in the lineup next game.

Good win for the Bruins, they definitely deserved it tonight!

Edit: Thomas' hit on Sedin. Don't have a problem with it at all, but I think that if the rules allow goalies to throw body checks in the blue paint they have to be considered fair game instead of protected commodities when they're in the white... just like any other player :-)

I hate the officals using misconduct penalties to control the game. Hopefully the next set of officials will let the players fight if need be.

Yes and no. In a close game that's still being fought I completely agree, in a game like that one that's a foregone conclusion you want to make sure there are no incidents that cause injuries and affect future games. Doubly true in the playoffs and especially in The Finals.

.... or just do it the way the Celts did, nominate a champion from each team and stand em up at centre ice. Torres vs Lucic would be epic. Charra vs anyone would be a rout!

There was some awesome fights in that game! :-)

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