This may be the most off the wall idea I've had on this blog, but if you think about it, it'll actually make sense.
First off for the non-soccer fans out there, the Premiership in England just wrapped up their 07-08 season this weekend. What makes the Premiership one of the most popular leagues in the world is how they make it a selective league. If you aren't good enough to play in the league, then you get sent back down to the second division. The bottom three team in the premiership get relegated to the second division, while the top three in the second division get promoted to the Premiership. It greats drama, where normally drama would not be. Take for instance this weekend. There were up to 4 games played Sunday that could have had relegation possiblities. That's 4 games that normally mean nothing, all of a sudden turn into meaning everything. The difference between the second division and Premiership is huge, and results in those bottom teams playing their hearts out to avoid being sent down.
What hockey has right now is an image problem. Too many teams, in too many non-traditional hockey cities who don't get great support. However what hockey does have is perhaps the most sought after championship trophy in North American sports. No matter how far hockey has fallen, people still know the Stanley Cup, and what it means. In fact it's the only sport in North America that names their playoff after their trophy. Right now hockey is back on the cusp of getting into the good graces of sports fans. Ignore what you hear on ESPN, because the Worldwide Leader doesn't make any money on hockey right now, so as far as they are concerned, the sport is dead to them. HD and larger TV's had really helped hockey, and with one drastic change to their sport, could take it to the next level.
My suggestion would be to expand hockey. Stay with me, because it'll all make sense in a few moments. Expand to cities like Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Cleveland, New Orleans, Milwaukee (why a team isn't in Wisconsin is puzzling), Quebec, Winnipeg, Harford, and Indianapolis. That'll give you 40 teams overall in the NHL. Obviously that's way too many for a regular league. Once all those markets get their teams off the floor and running, you hold one season with all 40 teams competing against one another. The top 24 teams stay in the NHL and the bottom 16 drop to the second division. Now don't confuse the second division wth the minor leagues, because it isn't. After that initial season, the top 24 play their regular season, and the second divison play their regular season. After the season is completed, you look at the standings, and it's simple. The bottom three in the NHL drop down, while the top three in the second division rise up. Only I suggest a an added twist to this model. Both leagues will still hold a playoff, with the winner of the second division playoff getting a guarenteed spot in the NHL, regardless of where it finished in the season standings. So should the team in the second division that finished tenth in the regular season standings win the second division playoff, they get to move up, resulting in 4 teams moving to the NHL. That means the team finishing fourth from the bottom in the NHL won't be safe either. Also, I would give the NHL Stanley Cup champion a one year waiver on being relegated, mostly to keep recent champions from being sent down, and to give in a little bit to those who may be skeptical on the idea.
This would be a very radical change for American sports. We are not used to the idea of demoting a team that fails on the field, in fact it probably scares a lot of sports fans, because it this idea were to catch on, and take the NHL to new popularity, it could spread to the Big 3. However, imagine the drama and suspense that would be created by a relegation process. This year, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and Atlanta would be sent down, with St. Louis praying one of the top 3 in the second division wins their playoff. The difference between St. Louis and the last playoff spot this year (Nashville) was just 12 points. That's just 4 victories, or St. Louis winning 2 of the 4 games they lost to Nashville during the regular season. That's all it would take for a team to go from being in the playoffs to being on the brink of being sent down.
This idea would work, if implimented properly, and backed fully by the leaders in the NHL. Not only would it expand the sport into more major markets in the country, and back into some traditional cities, but also make it unique in the sports landscape. It works in other parts of the world, and it would work in North America as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
You have finally done it my friend. This makes sense. I have been thinking about this for the past few weeks. Although I thought baseball might be able to try it with their triple A teams. I never really figured out how it would work but through all the farm systems I thought some new process could be formed. Just think Jake if both the big league Yankees and the minor league Yankees were both playing in the World Series one year.
I agree with the premise of the idea, regulation would make the sport more competitive and interesting to follow, but that is not the objective of the owners of these teams. Their objective is to simply make more money. If putting a subpar team on the ice will still give them a profit, they will not take the chance of being regulated to the second division and potentially lose their profits.
I think basketball would really benefit from this format, but the sport has become more a form of entertainment. People are just happy to go see a bad movie. It's better than staying at home and brushing the dog.
A simple no would have been nice Peter. You must have a lot of time on your hands though, with sitting on the bench and all.
Post a Comment