HockeyCanadian division could get a push, plus 30 thoughts

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It was 1992, and the ground was unsteady below baseball commissioner Fay Vincent. He wasn't exactly popular with MLB's owners.

Despite that, he tried to realign the National League, trading the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to the old Western Division for the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds. Unwilling to move from the TV-friendly East to the late-starting West (sound familiar, Red Wings fans?), the Cubs began an uprising that ended in Vincent's resignation. That's when Bud Selig took over.

Gary Bettman is on much more solid ground than Vincent, not in any danger of a revolt. But Vincent's failed strategy is an illustration of how dangerous a minefield realignment can be. Wisely, he's made it very clear that no teams will move anywhere for the upcoming 2011-12 season (excepting, of course, Atlanta to Winnipeg upon completion of the sale). The Southeast teams won't be thrilled, but it's better than a quick decision that infuriates everybody.

While people are looking at obvious maneuvers like Columbus, Nashville or Detroit to the Eastern Conference; Dallas to the Central; or Colorado to the Pacific, there is the possibility for much more. Understand that the league will investigate everything before finally deciding how an NHL with Winnipeg and without Atlanta is going to look -- particularly since the long-term prognosis in Phoenix remains uncertain.

Three factors will be taken into account: travel; how many time zones will be involved in any new conferences/divisions; and how rivalries will be impacted. That last factor may be the most important. For example, when Washington was moved out of the old Patrick, the organization felt it was heavily damaged for years by losing head-to-heads with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

(That's yet another reason Detroit faces such a fight to move East on its own. There is a resistance to lessening the Red Wings/Blackhawks rivalry.)

I do believe the NHL would like to try and make things easier for the likes of Detroit and Columbus (the only Eastern Time teams in the West), of Dallas (which is isolated with no one in its time zone) and of Minnesota (which doesn't want to end up the lone American-based team with Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg). That's why it would be narrow-minded to look at this solely as an East/West situation.

Yes, there will be a suggestion to split the league into three 10-team conferences going across North America. But, there will be other proposals, too. How about a realignment among North/South lines? Don't be surprised if some U.S./Western Canadian teams push for an All-Canada Division.

The bottom line: Everything is up for debate, including the playoff structure. If you've got an idea, send it to Avenue of the Americas.

30 THOUGHTS

1) Whatever anyone may think about Ben Eager and Jamie McGinn, neither hide. Both faced the media after the game and the following day. There are a lot of players (and some teams) who would have gone into witness protection.

2) What an awful two weeks. First Derek Boogaard, then Ian Jenkins. Jenkins, 15, died Monday, four days after suffering a severe head injury when he fell out of a pickup truck. Despite his age, the London Knights committed to him as their backup goaltender next season, so impressed by his decision to leave the powerhouse Michigan-based Honeybaked hockey team for a greater challenge in Belle River. The Knights will honour his memory for a long time, including presenting the family with a team jersey featuring Jenkins' number (35). Let's pray the off-ice news gets much, much better.

3) Two weeks ago, I was conducting a first-intermission interview during Game 4 of the Boston/Philadelphia series. At TD Garden, there is a large curtain separating the Bruins' corridor from the opponent's. After finishing the conversation, it was impossible not to notice the screaming coming from behind it. I peeked around (before security shooed me away) and saw an infuriated Daniel Carcillo storming up and down the hallway. The officials had already gone by, so I didn't realize he went after them. What I did notice was Jody Shelley working hard to calm him down. Carcillo got two games. Without his teammate, he might have received 20. Shelley (who attended Boogaard's funeral) showed a lot in the past 14 days.

4) Lasting image of Doug Weight, who will retire Thursday: when Ryan Smyth was traded to the Islanders, his first game was against Weight's Blues. Weight waited for his former Edmonton teammate after that game, grabbing him in the hallway. You could tell Smyth was still in shock. Weight spent 20 minutes saying everything would be ok.

5) What I'll remember about Brian Rafalski: As we approached the one-year anniversary of Sidney Crosby's Golden Goal, how many reporters wanted to do a story? 1,000? Rafalski refused, wanting no part of it. Here's a guy who won three Stanley Cups and two Olympic silver medals. But he was so bothered about being beaten on that one goal he wouldn't discuss it. I admire that, considering there's one thing in my career I'll never get over, either.

6) Was talking with Nick Cotsonika, who covers the NHL for Yahoo and has spent a lot of time around the Red Wings. He pointed out something very interesting: last year, Rafalski made $6 million US, so Detroit paid Nicklas Lidstrom $6.2 million.  With Rafalski retiring, the next-highest blue-line salary is Brad Stuart at $3.75 per. Assuming Lidstrom comes back, will he take less to give Ken Holland more cap flexibility? After all, Lidstrom is all about winning and he did drop $1.25 million from his previous deal.

7) How about this scenario: with the extra cap room, Holland makes a run at Brad Richards. Imagine giving Mike Babcock the ability to play around with Richards, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg - yikes. Trade the maddening Valtteri Filppula and then work on your blue-line. Two reasons this won't happen: the Red Wings believe in spending money on defence first and, with a new CBA looming, this may be Richards' last chance to hit a contract Grand Slam.

8) Understandably, a lot of interest in Shea Weber's contract talks. (He's an RFA.) But it's bigger than that, as Ryan Suter is a UFA next summer. In a below-cap budget like Nashville's, Poile's got to worry about both - now.

9) Ok, Winnipeg. My bet: sometime soon, we get an announcement that a tentative deal has been reached pending Board of Governors approval on June 21 (as reported by Pierre LeBrun). Then, the team begins a season-ticket drive, asking for a long-term commitment from the fan base and sponsors.

10) Really hope some of the money from the sale (assuming it happens, of course) goes to a decent severance package/medical coverage for Thrashers staffers who won't be moving and are getting supremely jerked around by Atlanta's ownership.

11)  Winnipeg home opener? Let's say Sunday, Oct. 9. Don't have to share the spotlight with anyone else and it's holiday-free on the Bettman/Chipman calendar.

12)  One NHL GM, on what his scouts thought of Jaromir Jagr at the worlds: "He would have to be a specialist in the NHL now. He can make a difference on the power play, but wouldn't have the speed to be effective on a regular shift." Another said he wouldn't recommend a return, because people would be expecting what Jagr used to do, and that's no longer a possibility.

13)  Met a guy in university who grew up a Leaf fan and, until they win the Stanley Cup (insert punchline here), will never get over Game 5 of the 1986 Norris Division final. Toronto blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 to St. Louis in overtime. Mark Reeds scored the winner. Every time my friend would get angry at something, he'd say, in a quiet voice, "Mark %&*#@ Reeds." When Owen Sound (where he coaches) reached the Memorial Cup, I got an email that read, "Mark %&*#@ Reeds." First time I'd heard from the guy in 15 years.

14)  A couple of years ago, after the Flyers were eliminated in the playoffs, I texted Mike Richards to ask him if he would give me some input on the following series. He said no, he was on vacation and didn't want to talk. No problem, it's a long season and you need your "me" time. That's why I was so surprised, and impressed, he did this interview from Mexico with Chuck Gormley of The Courier-Post. He does confirm something long suspected: the accusations about his nightlife had a lot to do with his dislike of some media.

15)  First playoff series I ever worked for HNIC was Montreal/Boston 2004. Canadiens came back from 3-1 down to beat the Bruins. Joe Thornton, bothered by a painful rib injury, had zero points in seven games. He was shredded in the media. That's why he'll go in Game 5, even if his shoulder falls off in the warmup.

16)  Huge night for Dany Heatley on Tuesday. Prior to Game 3, asked him if there was an injury. He said "No, that is not an issue." Whatever the case - conditioning, an injury he understandably won't use as an excuse, something else - he looks two steps behind. If it's not an injury, the Sharks have to be concerned.

17)  If I'm Doug Wilson, the first player I'm signing this summer is Raffi Torres (assuming he hits the market). In 2006, the OIlers, down 2-0 to San Jose, charged back to win four in a row. One of the major turning points was a huge Torres hit on Milan Michalek. Sunday, his shoulder-to-shoulder third-period shot to Joe Thornton sent the Sharks' captain from the game. If anything, it will keep Torres from injuring any more of Wilson's guys.

18)  Meant to use this last week, but forgot: when Joe Thornton and Ryan Kesler rammed at each other during the opening faceoff of Game 1, Craig Simpson said it reminded him of Mark Messier and Joel Otto. That's pretty impressive.

19)  Was really impressed with Keith Ballard as he prepared to return for Game 4. There we were, throwing all sorts of leading questions at him and he just wouldn't say anything negative about the Canucks or Alain Vigneault. He blamed himself, basically saying, "If you can't figure it out in 65 games, it's no one else's fault."

20) He threw a beautiful hip check on McGinn and said he saw McGinn coming all the way. It was pretty smart thinking, with Ballard knowing if he was on the ice, chances were San Jose's hard forecheckers were going to be out there, too. But the defenceman added something else. "Watch the puck. I don't even play it...But he's not even interested in getting it, he just wants to make the hit." We're seeing that more and more.

21) The Sharks had an impressive forechecking drill at one of their practices. Assistant coach Jay Woodcroft had the guys who play 8-10 minutes a night stand where the red line meets the boards. Then, they would charge out two at a time as hard as they could toward centre ice, and back. (There were a couple of slight variations.) It keeps their footwork and conditioning up, plus gets them practising as fast as Todd McLellan wants them to play.

22)  The Canucks phoned Chris Tanev at 10 p.m. Friday telling him he had a 7 a.m. flight to California the next morning. They didn't tell him he was playing until Sunday. Associate coach Rick Bowness told Tanev he wouldn't be able to hear his partner, the goalie or the bench. But, "he has great instincts," Bowness added, "and we told him to trust them." Kelly Hrudey was really impressed with some of his decisions under pressure. Ballard compared him to childhood friend Paul Martin. Very calm, similar physique too. That's pretty, pretty good for the Canucks.

23) Referenced this before, but finally had the chance to ask Tanev about his unbelievable novice team, the North York Canadiens, which included Steven Stamkos and PK Subban. "We," he said, before stopping and laughing, "The two of them were a great team. No one could catch Stamkos, and, already at that age, PK could put it just under the crossbar from the blue-line."

24) One of the Canucks let it slip that Henrik Sedin needed those four days without practice after the Nashville series. "How much did you need it?" I asked him. "It was beneficial, but that's as much as I'm telling you," he said with a smile.

25) Roberto Luongo, on Sedin's between-Antti-Niemi's-legs pass to Alexandre Burrows, "No way that was supposed to be a pass...wait, it was Henrik, so maybe."

26) Tweet of the Year: Ryan Kesler re-tweeted someone who sent him a four-word message: "Stop diving, you [blank]." It took me an hour to stop laughing. Why do that? "I thought it would be funny," he said. It was.

27) In some ways, Guy Boucher going with Mike Smith in Game 5 was a bigger gamble than Vigneault going with Cory Schneider in Game 6 Vancouver/Chicago. While the Canucks had more to lose, Schneider's body of work was far more impressive than Smith's. Plus, he hadn't started a game in six weeks. Funny how things work out. This performance probably gets him a decent NHL contract next season. Without it, Smith might be out of the league.

28) Had a chat with Smith earlier in the season where he talked about how hard it was to deal with so few shots against in the Tampa system. He stressed he wasn't trying to make excuses, but it was clear he didn't believe in himself at the time. Frantz Jean, Tampa's goaltending consultant, has done a great job with Smith, but it's proof that confidence is everything, especially in goal.

29) Is it just me, or does it look like teams are trying not to hit Milan Lucic so he doesn't get angry? Certainly happened with Montreal and Philadelphia. Haven't seen the Tampa series as closely, but still get that impression.

30) Confirm or deny: The Vancouver Flasher was sitting in her employer's seats that night and her bosses weren't as impressed as the rest of us were.

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