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spade632
Rookie
Canada
247 Posts |
 Posted - 11/30/2007 : 07:17:05
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NHL schedule changes accent variety
John Kreiser | NHL.com columnist
Nov 29, 2007, 10:07 PM EST
The NHL Board of Governors approved a scheduling change Thursday that will produce more inter-conference matchups, increasing the variety of teams fans can expect to see next season.
Under the new format, approved at the League meetings in Pebble Beach, Calif., and scheduled to begin in 2008-09, teams will play each club in their division six times, a total of 24 games, and the 10 other clubs in their conference four times, a total of 40 games.
The remaining 18 games in the 82-game schedule will involve each club playing all 15 clubs in the other conference at least once, home or away. The three remaining games will be devoted to inter-conference “at-large” scheduling.
"The sense of the board was we heard the concerns raised by some of the fans, and this was an attempt to be responsive to the concerns of our fans," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Under the current format, adopted for the 2005-06 season, teams play their four division rivals eight times each, the other 10 teams in their conference four times apiece, and 10 games against teams in the other conference — five home games against one division and five away games against another, with no games against teams in the remaining non-conference division.
The new schedule allows for each team to play every other team at least once a season.
Also, from TSN http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=223975&hubname=nhl
Thoughts?
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Edited by - spade632 on 11/30/2007 07:22:17
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Leafs Rock Planet
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
902 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2007 : 08:14:02
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I dont know if this new schedule is great, but there is definetely an improvement.
At least every team will be playing every other team in the league at least once.
Playing division rivals 8 times in the year makes no sense and I am glad that they are correcting that. It gets boring to always watch division teams squaring off against each other, especially Toronto vs. Ottawa and always seeing Ottawa coming out on top. |
Edited by - Leafs Rock Planet on 11/30/2007 08:14:19 |
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nashvillepreds
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1053 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2007 : 12:14:02
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I like the idea of playing every team in the league. This way, it will be more exciting for fans because they won't be seeing the same teams over and over again.
GO PREDATORS GO |
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Alex
PickupHockey All-Star
Canada
2816 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2007 : 12:43:53
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I disagree Nash. Maybe for the players, which there is an argument for, it is better to be able to travel to a whole bunch of different cities and not wind up playing 32 games in either Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo or Boston (I'm taking the case of the Maple Leafs for argument's sake.)
But from the actual hockey point of view, which, let's not kid ourselves over here, is what the NHL is and should be all about -- it is loads better. The rivalries make the game. The knowledge that every point counts when playing conference and especially division rivals make for better hockey. Travelling less far means less jet lagged players, fresher legs and better mentally prepared athletes. It is so much better strictly from the game's point of view.
Habs get number 25 this year |
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2008-2009 NEW Schedule Structure 
