Wild Hockey: The Puck Drops Tonight at the X

It all starts tonight against the Blackhawks, a team that I wish we still had a rivalry against like the good old days of the Norris Division (We will forever hate Norm for moving our beloved North Stars). Which brings me to the thought that the NHL needs to make some serious moves to help save the league and increase it's fan base (or at least enhance the base it has). Two things need to happen:

1. Cut down on the teams, there's too many and it's not like the NFL where you have unlimited talent coming into the league every year. Dump a few of the Southern teams because let's face it, they don't fill in the arena's down there like they do up North. Pro Sports is all about money, and economically it makes sense for the NHL to cut down on the number of teams.

2. Re-org the entire Division/Conference Structure. I'll use the Wild for this example. The Wild belong in the same division as the Blackhawks, Red Wings, and Blues. We shouldn't find ourselves trying to get into a rivalry with teams way out West. Regionalize (did I make up a word?) the division, thus invoking more fan participation. The North Stars/Blackhawks games when I was growing up where always brutal and you marked your calendar for those matchups. That's just not the case now, instead it's, oh we are playing the Hawks, they are in the Central where we belong, but instead we are more worried about teams in the NorthWest. It's just not right.

Any other Hockey rubes out there with me on this?

Other than that, Let's Go Wild!

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Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

772 days ago

Score 0

I think the number of teams is alright. I wouldn't want to see the NHL add more teams at the moment. Their is plenty of talent out there when you consider the number of Eurpoean players so I don't think subtracting teams would do any good. The divisions are already "regionalized" enough. Make it more so and then the Penguins would end up beating up on the Flyers more than the 8 times a year they do already.

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Bberg11Varsity

771 days ago

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So the Pens beat up on the Flyers for one season...how bout the five years before that when the Flyers (and every other team for that matter) owned the Pens. You're gonna have a lot of young talent when you finish with the one of the worst records in the league, year after year. How quickly Pens fans forget where they came from.

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Steel TownDraft Pick

772 days ago

Score 1

There are several problems. First, even the southern teams make money. Owners can cry broke, but thats just for show, they still bring in good money every year. Second, contraction is really not a realistic solution. Third, no matter how you reorganize the divisions some one will be unhappy. For instance, some blackhawks fans want a divion made up of the original six, that won't put Minnesota in the same division.

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CityhockeyfeverVarsity Captain

771 days ago

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What a way to start the season with a shutout win! And... NORM SUCKS! I highly doubt we'll ever see retraction in the NHL. We might see a team or two relocate though in the future (the Predators certainly are a possibility). I understand the desire to rekindle the old Minnesota/Chicago rivalry, but at least as it is now, the Blackhawks and Wild are in the same conference. I think it's a matter of time where both teams are good and competing for the same prize will we see the rivalry between the two hockey cities reemerge.

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Falcon02520Legend

771 days ago

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I do like the idea of regionalizing the teams... but right now I am not worried about any of the politics in hockey, I am just glad that the season is finally here.

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