The 2014 National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs: New Alignment Edition

When the National Hockey League (NHL) owners and players approved the plans to realign the Eastern and Western conferences, there were obvious changes. The conferences were reformed into two divisions (down from three). Western teams were moved into the East for more accurate geographical location, i.e. Columbus Blue Jackets moved to the Eastern Conference along with the Detroit Red Wings. The moves created an interesting arrangement as the Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions now had one more team in their set-up than the Central and Pacific segments of the NHL.

The alignment radically affected rivalries and the Stanley Cup Playoff picture. In Round 1, match-ups are now arranged based on this new system: For each conference, there are two confrontations per division as the top three teams are automatically in with the 4^th ranked team as a wild card entrant thrown in to balance the field. This seems pretty simple, but it is not as easy as saying “number 1 in the conference is set to face the 8^th ranked team”.

The Western Conference set-up:

Central Division

#1 – Colorado Avalanche

#4(Wild Card-No Pun Intended)-Minnesota Wild

#2-St. Louis Blues

#3-Chicago Blackhawks

Pacific Division

#1 and Western Conference Champions-Anaheim Ducks

# 4-Dallas Stars

#2-San Jose Sharks

#3-Los Angeles Kings

The Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Round 1 playoff picture:

Atlantic Division

#1, President’s Trophy winner, and Eastern Conference Champions-Boston Bruins

#4-Detroit Red Wings

#2-Tampa Bay Lightning

#3-Montreal Canadiens

Metropolitan Division

#1-Pittsburgh Penguins

#4-Columbus Blue Jackets

#2-New York Rangers

#3-Philadelphia Flyers

Based on these brackets, here are some facts to consider: 1-the three California teams are in the playoffs while the lone Canadian presence in the round is Montreal; 2- Some rivalries remain intact, which makes for the normal passionate drive from players and fans alike (see New York Rangers versus Philadelphia Flyers); 3-Round 1 marks the playoff return of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Round 1 commences Wednesday April 16^th, 2014.

*I want to give credit to NHL.com for the Round 1 bracket information.