Runaway Future

This is pretty non sequitur from anything else I posted, but I just came up with a pretty decent solution to the NHL scheduling problem.

First off, every team in the NHL plays a home game and an away game against every other team in the NHL. That way every fan in every arena gets to see every other team. So that’s 58 games off the bat (29 other teams to play, twice).

Then every team in the NHL plays an additional game against the other teams in their conferences. This could be home or away games. That’s another 14 games, bringing us up to 72 games.

Then every team in the NHL plays an additional game against the other teams in their division. This should be in the opposite location of the game that is covered in the conference definition. That’s an additional four games, bringing us up to 76 games.

This enables four games amongst divisional rivals (hopefully opening up the possibility of a home and home), three games against the rest of the conference and two games against the other conference.

So six games get cut from the season. Big deal. If 82 is such a magic number, add on another trip through your division, so it’s five games in the division and so on. I’d actually prefer a shorter season, even if it is just six games. That’s a little over a week and a half in the schedule, which will allow the playoffs to come and go just that much sooner.
With big draw teams, specifically Crosby and the Penguins, having that home and away between every team in the league is key for buy-in. Divisional rivalries stick in place, and inter-conference play also gets the nod.