Welcome back, Eastern Conference

I love it. Got tired of seeing Phoenix 8 times a year.

Yesssssss. The west has been getting screwed for years with travel.. Share the wealth

Outstanding news! This is overdue and I can't wait for the vote which will hopefully bring back the entire Eastern Conference.

Finally!

Not to overstep your reporting Rich, but if you read Bob McKenzie's blog, the most likely plan to be approved will see a team like the Kings play only 15 total games vs the eastern conference. That means that teams from the east will only come out every other year, not every year. This is how the schedule was before the lockout.

Thanks for clarifying that, Dave.

This would be a much needed and welcomed change to the NHL. The travel between conferences has been unbalanced for far too long. Not only would this bring more balanced for the teams, (as far a travel is concerned) but it would also serve in making the game more enjoyable to us fans, who really supply the NHL with there revenue. By bringing in all the teams to our building each year we would get the opportunity to see all of the talent in the NHL live and in person, which is much needed with this new NHL where players can be moved from team to team every year. Now all the league has to do is some how convince Mick "where are my glasses" Magoo to retire and then they would almost have this game completely fixed! :)

'Bout damn time! Now lets get rid of the instigator penalty

Dave, just to be more exact, this is how the story read,

"But just what exact schedule format is adopted remains to be seen. While the room agreed the unbalanced schedule had to go, there still isn't consensus on the right option to replace it. Here are some options:

-Drop to seven games against each divisional opponent play each team in the other conference once. That would mean a team from the West would play in each Eastern city at least once every two years;

-Or drop to six games against each divisional opponent and play a home-and-home with every team in the other conference. That would guarantee a visit each year from each team in the league."

So we actually may see every team every year. This is exactly what the NHL needs to grow it's popularity. WE need to have up front access to all the big names and the outstanding rookies every year. That is exciting

Terrific news. I don't hear the NBA complaining about their balanced schedules.

Rich or Matt,

Why can't the NHL go back to home white jerseys and away dark jerseys? I just don't get it. Call me old fashioned but I feel that Home Teams should always wear white in every game in every sport, forever. Just so they can sell a few more jerseys?

Love the modified layout of the site. Excellent work on training camp coverage. Really looking forward to this season.

This is excellent. Potentially having a home-and-home series with the eastern conference teams throughout the year would be awesome.

It would also be more fair. Having the kings travel to Detroit regularly while the furthest travel in the east is from Toronto for Florida is ridiculous.

Hey that is great news about the schedule, but Rich I'm now getting pop up ads on my computer. I really love the site but those things scare me can it be stopped?

Landon,

I, too, would like to see a return to the home team wears white and the visiting team wears their darks! I think the NHL made the switch to home teams wearing dark jerseys in 2001, as a way to recognize the victims of September 11th. (Could anyone please confirm this?)
With no disrespect to any of the victims or their families, and think its past time to switch the jerseys back.

HOORAY!!! I am really hoping it will go back to playing each Eastern team twice per season, home and away. Having 8 games against division rivals setup helped teams like Detroit and Nashville, who had three weak teams in their division, have better records. I hate seeing the same teams over and over. The East will always have a travel advantage but this would help to cut down on that. Changing it back to seeing every team every year will make the sport much more enjoyable and even.

Just to through some history in behind the home team wearing the dark jersey and the road team wearing white, back in the 50's that's the way it was. So I guess the leader of the rat pack wanted to go back a few years. My question about the jerseys is who in the hell decided that the jerseys should all be made cookie cut style and who's getting the kickback from Reebok as all the leagues are using them. Is some one trying to tell us that CCM or Nike, or Bauer aren't smart enough to design jerseys, socks and pants, skates, gloves and sticks. What is going on with this game???

"Through" should have been "Throw" duhhh...