NHL Realignment: Penguins shouldn’t fear Atlantic departure

If the prevailing rumors and reports hold up as accurate, the NHL divisional landscape will look drastically different in 2012-13.

League commissioner Gary Bettman is said to be gathering support for the upcoming Board of Governors meetings, set for early December in Pebble Beach, Calif., for a radical reshuffling of the way the league’s 30 teams are grouped. The hot scuttlebutt says a four-division format is in the offing, with two divisions holding eight teams and the other two containing seven each.

Honestly, a realignment of this rather radical nature has been lurking for some time. Although the current scheduling matrix attempts to limit travel to a reasonable level, major issues linger. When teams like Detroit and Columbus play essentially half their games in a different time zone and Vancouver and Dallas rack up exorbitant amounts of mileage year after year, it’s obvious why dissatisfaction has been growing for some time.

Add in a desire for every NHL city to see every team at least once a year and you have a recipe for change. The much-speculated realignment proposal stipulates home-and-home series between every team out of division and the rest of the schedule made up of intradivisional play.

In order to make this work, especially for Western Conference teams currently getting the short end, some teams in the East will find themselves in unfamiliar territory. For instance, the Penguins are projected to be grouped with Buffalo, Toronto, Columbus, Montreal, Boston, Ottawa and maybe even Detroit.

This set up, while certainly different, shouldn’t look too foreign to Pens followers. As part of the Northeast Division from 1993 to ’98, Pittsburgh warred with Ottawa, Boston, Montreal and Buffalo, among others. The Penguins actually won that division three times, more

success than they’ve had in 14 years of Atlantic Division competition.

But results aside, the Penguins have certainly benefited, both at the gate and in terms of fan interest, with the renewal of their rivalry with Philadelphia, especially after they started to beat the Flyers on a regular basis. The always compelling Keystone State battle is the main reason many in Pittsburgh aren’t looking forward to the two “Expansion Six” brothers being separated.

However, the Penguins and their fans should realize that rivalries are made, not preordained. Heck, Penguins-Flyers was ridiculously one-sided for decades in favor of Philly. Two of Pittsburgh’s best current feuds, with Washington and Detroit, were born of memorable playoff series, not geography.

In addition, it sounds rather pathetic when people, mostly fans, claim the Penguins “need” to play the Flyers or other such nonsense. Particularly in their current healthy state, the Pens don’t need any outside factor or influence to continue their upward trajectory. Certainly nothing lasts forever, but if there was ever a time for arguing the merits of rivalries, this isn’t it.

Perhaps reducing the number of yearly meetings between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia from six to two would even add spice and novelty to their confrontations. Scarcity is the basis of economics, and it’s not too bad in sports either.

So here’s to a great run in the Atlantic with not only Philly but also the Rangers, Devils and Islanders. And here’s to building up the dislike for the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Sabres and Bruins.

And don’t forget the Blue Jackets. I-70 Showdown, anyone?