The National Hockey League's plan for realignment would shrink the league's six divisions to four and add playoff wild-card spots for the playoffs, reports ESPN.com.
The report says that the NHL sent a memo to all 30 teams on Tuesday. The new setup would have divisional instead of conference playoffs. Each division winner with the most points in the regular season would play the lowest-seeded wild card team in the 1st round, and the other division winner plays the other wild-card.
Not sure if I am all down for this kind of playoff alignment. Would it improve the quality and competition? I don't know. It could very well just be something to gauge fan interest. I just hope we don't sacrifice anything significant if this is to happen. The last thing hockey needs is something that would hurt their potential popularity.
