Realignment Hits Home Run

The Washington Capitals are going home, so to speak, after the NHL announced a realignment plan yesterday that essential reinvigorates the old Patrick Division. First, the new set of four conferences (no, that is not a typo):

* New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina.

* Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay.

* Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg.

* Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Colorado.

The NHL has been discussing realignment for a while now, and there have been many proposals (including mine). The conferences above makes clear two things: one, there were sets of teams that the league weren't willing to separate, and two, they wanted to stress historic rivalries. Yes, the Caps could have ended up with Carolina, Florida and Tampa (along with most likely Pittsburgh and Philly), but the NHL was going for maximum impact and went back to the future.

By the way, the league also went back to the old playoff format: the top four teams in each conference make the playoffs and play each other in the first two rounds. Then, two conference champions (most likely mirroring something similar to Eastern and Western Conferences now) will face each other to determine the Stanley Cup finalists.

Putting the Caps with the Devils, Flyers, Penguins, Rangers, Islanders and Hurricanes not only gives the red, white and blue an easier travel schedule, but it makes their path to a division conference title much more difficult.

As for those sets of teams that the league created, here's how I see them:

* Caps and Carolina
* New York (x2) and New Jersey
* Philly and Pittsburgh
* Boston and Buffalo
* Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa
* Florida and Tampa
* Detroit and Chicago
* L.A., Anaheim, and San Jose
* Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton

It's going to be interesting to see if the Caps can clinch a fifth straight Southeast Division title this season -- and then how things will shape up next year when the realignment is instituted.