Devils owner NHL realignment offers opportunity, despite travel challenges

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The National Hockey League board of governors announced Monday night a plan to realign the league into four conferences, leaving questions of increased travel and financial implications up in the air.

The National Hockey League board of governors announced Monday night a plan to realign the league into four conferences, leaving questions of increased travel and financial implications up in the air.

In the new conference, the New Jersey Devils will continue to play against long-established division rivals in the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins; the conference will add the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes to the mix.

“I know there’s an issue with potentially more travel, but that remains to be seen, as far as I’m concerned,” said Jeff Vanderbeek, chairman of the Devils. “The NHL schedulers, they know what they’re doing … you’ll be surprised that by adding a game or two to a West Coast trip, you actually are not going to have to travel that much.”

The realignment comes after the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg during last offseason. The Thrashers competed in the league’s Southeast Division, and the team’s divisional games in the 2011-12 season required additional travel from the new location. Winnipeg will now be in a division with the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings.

“It is not a simple matter to decode how this will affect the Devils,” said Andrew Zimbalist, professor of economics at Smith College, in Northampton, Mass., in an e-mail. “More games with the Rangers and Islanders may save travel time and money, and reduce inconvenient start times for TV broadcasts. At least one home game with all out-of-conference teams may add excitement for fans. Mostly, though, this appears to be a technical accommodation of the move of one team from Atlanta to Winnipeg.”

“You never please everybody, so there was certainly a lot of different possibilities that were offered. As far as what eventually came out, I’m pleased,” Vanderbeek said.

The plan allows for at least one home and one away game against every team in the league. Teams will play their conference rivals six times during the season.

The playoffs would be restructured to have the top four teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, and use the first two rounds of playoffs to determine the conference champion. The winners of each conference would then advance to the third round, with the finalists playing for the Stanley Cup.

“I think that’s very positive,” Vanderbeek said. “I think it’s guaranteed much excitement for the first rounds.”

John Dellapina, vice president of communications for the NHL, said in an e-mail that the league is still assessing the financial implications of realignment. The board of governors continues its annual meetings today in Pebble Beach, Calif.