NHL All Star Break

Last night was the first All Star Game in the NHL in 3 years, and it lived up to its expectations. With a 12-9 final score, goaltenders and hard-hitting defencemen were resigned to watch the league's best skill players put on an offensive show for the fans. But the bigger story happened off the ice; the league has decided, by the slimmest of margins, to keep the current schedule format for one more year.

Under the current format, teams play within their own division a total of 32 times (8 games versus 4 opponents) which takes up almost half of a team's schedule for a season. Also, there is one division in the opposing conference which a team will not meet at all. While the format will be looked at again next year, and probably changed, this is not enough. The league is one, not truly separated by division or conference lines. Unlike baseball, which has a rich history of two distinct leagues, hockey has constantly rebuilt as it has expanded, and forcing division rivalries down the fan's throats only results in teams and fans getting sick of playing a team.

Take the Leafs, for example. They played the Bruins 5 times in a span of a month, and when that happens, no rivalry can be established. All it means is that if a Leafs/Bruins game is crucial late in the season, they won't have many opportunities to play each other.

I have long been a proponent of ditching the division/conference setup, and simply allowing the best 16 teams to make the playoffs. But I know that this option is extremely unlikely, so how about this - let each team play each team every season.

Yes, there should be rivalry games set up, and those teams should play each other more often, but the league should be more creative in it. Like setting up games between Original six or all-Canadian franchises would be more interesting to the average fan than seeing Atlanta play Carolina 8 times a year.

So, here's my plan: 4 games against division teams (2 home, 2 road, 16 total) 4 games against conference teams (2 home, 2 road, 40 total), 1 game against each team in the other conference (8 home, 7 road {alternating each year}, 15 total), and 11 games left over for each team to build their own setup. Original six teams: play each at least once. Canadian teams: play each at least once. But the best part is that all teams can have a say in who they want to play; Los Angeles may choose to host Pittsburgh or Washington an extra time to help fill the arena. Not everyone would get their top choice, but it would allow owners to have a say as to who they play, at least for 11 games a year.

This will create matchups that fans want to see, and it would still allow Calgary to play Edmonton at least 5 times, as well as Toronto and Montreal. Plus, each team would play everyone all year, and the star players like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin would visit your local arena at the bare minimum of once every 2 years.

Here's hoping the NHL makes a concerted effort this off season to fix the schedule, otherwise fans may find themselves on the outside, with no desire to look in.

Super Bowl pick to come next week...