NHL bosses approve league realignment plan

The NHL board of governors approved a radical realignment plan to give the league four conferences rather than the current six divisions in two conferences. The plan was approved on the opening day of the board's meeting, but won't be implemented until NHL commissioner Gary Bettman discusses it with the NHL Players Association. Realignment became an issue after Atlanta moved to Winnipeg earlier this year. The NHL could have switched one team from the Western Conference but decided to make a bigger change. The NHL said the four conferences are designed to alleviate geographic concerns among several current Western Conference teams that had been unhappy about their extensive travel through one, two, and sometimes even three time zones. Some of those teams argued that the late start of road games in the Pacific time zone were affecting fan interest, especially among younger fans. Under the new plan, two conferences will have eight teams and two will have seven, rather than having six divisions with five teams each. Teams will play five or six intra-conference games and home-and-home series with non-conference teams. Under the plan all teams will play each other at least twice every season, once at home and once on the road, so fans will have chance to see every team and star in the league.