Detroit Red Wings fans won't have to wait up for as many 10 p.m. games with the newest realignment.
/ FILE
A younger generation of Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets fans has something to smile about with the latest and most radical form of NHL conference realignment: Fewer games starting at 10 p.m.
The league decided Monday to split into four conferences, each with seven or eight teams. Each team would play a home-and-away series with every other team in the league, with the rest of the schedule weighted toward conference play. Four teams from each conference, which have not yet received names, would make the playoffs.
Joining Detroit and Columbus, each of which will enjoy fewer trips to the west coast, will be Chicago, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg.
"We like this new format," Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press by phone. "We get every team in the league in our building at least once. The first two rounds of the playoffs are within the conference. We don't have to travel nearly as much.
"It's a much better set-up for us," Holland told the newspaper. "We're going to play many more road games in prime time, our fans won't have to stay up till 10, 10:30 to watch us on the west coast. We're very happy with this."
Some debate exists about whether the player union needs to approve the realignment, which will take effect in 2012-2013.
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