If the Pittsburgh Penguins leave Pittsburgh and go to Kansas City, what will happen to the divisions?

Question

Seeing that Kansas City is a western city, what will happen to the divisions and conferences in the NHL. There is no way that Kansas City will be in the Atlantic Division.

Also, will the name change or will the team still be the penguins with the same uniform?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2788701

Answer 1

Two possibilities:

1) Kansas City to the Central, Columbus to the Atlantic
2) Kansas City to the Central, Columbus to the Northeast, Boston to the Atlantic (would make both the Atlantic and the Northeast a little better geographically, but would also make some rivalries, e.g. Boston-Montreal, Boston-Buffalo less frequent).

And why anyone would think of getting rid of the Devils is beyond me.

Answer 2

I don't live in either Pittsburgh or Kansas City, so I don't have a dog in this fight. But I do think its funny to see the Penguins fans blame the owners, the Governor, the city of Pittsburgh, politics, economics and the environment for the fact that their team might be leaving for greener pastures. Then they will turn around and say that the Kansas City area is a terrible market for hockey because they lost their franchise in the early 1970's for many of the same reasons (i.e. bad owners, poor city government, the economy).

The only real difference I can see is that the Penguins are an established franchise with a winning record, where the KC Scouts were a horrible expansion franchise that won very few games in the two years they were in Kansas City.

Mario and Ron Burkle have been trying for about seven or eight years to get a new arena in Pittsburgh and have been largely ignored by the politicians. If they make the decision to move, all of you Pens fans should direct your frustration towards the voting booth, not the team owners or the hockey fans in Kansas City. Its the politicians in Pennsylvania that let you down.

I think I read somewhere that if all this happens, Detroit will most likely move to the Atlantic Division. But I can't remember what the source was at the moment.

Answer 3

I believe then that nashville and pittsburgh (or then will be kansas city) would switch, nashville is more on the eastern coast anyway, and would probaly become and eastern conference team in the atlantic divisoin, while kansas city is in the middle of the country they would be considered western conference because they are closer to the west coast (kansas city is in missouri by the way) and they would definately play in the central division. As it stands right now nashville is a western conference team in the central division, and pittsburgh is an eastern conference team in the atlantic division, this "swap" makes the most sense. If the pens keep the same name, (cause kansas city did use to have a team called the scouts) then i believe they would keep the same jerseys, but if they go to the scouts then they would probably modify the old scouts jerseys. I think the pens should stay the pens, but i dont know about in pittsburgh, i mean they dont get any support there from the city

Answer 4

Well I think the name will be changed. Possiable they will realign the NHL again, perhaps it will look better if they do. After all it would be unfair to the other Atlantic Division teams to keep K.C. if that is where the Pens are. Probably move Buffalo or the Caps in to the Atlantic in place of the Pens. Not sure how they would organize the rest though.
I agree that Columbus likely ends up in the East but I just want to say that Rendell is already out of a job after elections so no threat that way. He just started his second term this year and he can't be re-elected because Term Limits.

Answer 5

I don't think the Pens will move. While politicians are useless people, I don't think they are that stupid to let the Pens skip town. If they gave an arena to the Pirates (MLB) and Steelers (NFL), then why not the Penguins? The Penguins are more profitable than the Pirates.

That being said, if the Pens have to move to KC, I think Columbus will shift to the Eastern Conference. The Pens will group with Dallas, Edmonton, Calgary, and Colorado to form the Midwest Division. Detroit, St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago, and Minnesota will be in the Central Division. Vancouver, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, and Phoenix in the Pacific Division. Columbus will then take the place of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division.

Of course, knowing Gary Bettman, he might just do something so out-of-this-world that makes sense to nobody except to him. So we'll just have to see.

Answer 6

There is talk of realignment if this happens. Making four divisions instead of 6 and placing Kansas City in a central division with Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit. Nashville would move to the Eastern Conference.

As for the name change, I hope they keep it. It is one of the great nicknames in all of sports and the term "Penguins" is universal.

Answer 7

Kansas City would be a western conference team. What gets interesting is what team would move to the eastern conference to replace Pittsburgh. Currently two western conferene teams are in the eastern time zone, Detroit and Columbus. Those two teams would have first right of refusal to move to the other conference. I don't see Detroit making that move given their current rivalries. However I can possibly see Columbus making that move. So my bet would be for Kansas City to go to the west and Columbus to move to the east.

Answer 8

It really bugs me that teams like the Penguins are moving. Great teams like Anahiem, Atlanta, and New Jersey are so close to moving. At least the Penguins fans are not to blame-they at least go to the games. If I ran the NHL I would put more teams and Canada and just end some franchises-keep about 24 teams. Get rid of Nashville, Atlanta, Florida, Anaheim, Phoenix, New Jersey, Columbus. Put a team back in Quebec and Winnipeg.

Answer 9

Nothing is Set in stone yet but rumors have the NHL cutting down to a total of four divisions. obviously Pittsburg would move to the west and I assume Columbus would take thier place in the east.

Also for those of you talking about the name...Gary Bettman has said the name "Penguins" will stay in Pittsburg even if the team does not.

Answer 10

My guess is that the divisions would have to be re-done, but I believe the name would stay the same because of the rich history of the franchise. And for all of you Pens fans out there that think KC is not a possibility better wake up. The negotiations have already gone on way too long and KC has put too sweet of an offer on the table for the owners.