Wings in the East?

Question

Everyone knows the Wings want to be in thes East. t Back when the Pens looked like they were heading to KC The Illitch's (owners) flat out said the league does not want them moved because of the money they bring in in the West. Will it ever happen or will some pointless expansion team that has no purpose in the NHL other than easy points (columbus) be moved instead of an O6 team?

BG Warrio - I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone I don't hate the blue jackets...just their fans. And only because they Detroit so avidly.

Future- I understand where your coming from but they are not a good team anyways so does it really make a difference?

Answer 1

The Wings belong in the East! Only two teams (the Wings and the Jackets) are in the eastern time zone that play in the western conference. And they do the most traveling. Through the first 13 games of the playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres NEVER LEFT THERE STATE. They didn't leave until Game 3 of the Conference Finals. The Wings however, had to travel to Calgary, San Jose, and Anaheim and back!! Tell me that doesn't hurt your overall/morale. Plus the fans have to stay up longer. In Game 6 against the flames it didn't end until 2:37 A.M when Franzen scored the double ot game winner! AND I HAD SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY!

But what about the Blue Jackets? Why shouldn't they go in the east? Because the Wings are consistently a playoff contender. And all the traveling puts wear-and-tear on there bodies. But they still te the West!

Answer 2

The Wings are the only element in the West that keeps the league from being totally lopsided. If the Wings headed to the East, the West would star the Ducks and be headed up by above-mediocre teams like Vancouver, Dallas, Colorado, and San Jose. The East would be a monster, and all Cup talk would be about the East. That wouldn't be good for business, so that's why the Wings won't be leaving the West anytime soon.

Answer 3

That would have been an interesting situation had the pens moved and the Wings ended up in the East. I for one would think the Wings would dominate in the East. But I would def finitely catch a few more B's games when the Wings came to town.
I say enough already with the expansion teams!! the league is already 'watered down' enough. Half the expansion teams out there are a joke and it has removed good players from the popular teams that make money.

Answer 4

There is no geographic reason why they should be in the East Conference, especially given the locations of all 30 current teams.

It would require the relocation of an eastern team (perhaps two) to a new destination farther west than where Detroit is located for the Red Wings to even be able to switch conferences.

West of Motor City: (14)

Anaheim
Atlanta
Calgary
Chicago
Colorado
Dallas
Edmonton
Los Angeles
Minnesota
Nashville
Phoenix
San Jose
St. Louis
Vancouver

East of Motor City: (15)

Boston
Buffalo
Carolina
Columbus
Florida
Montreal
New Jersey
NY Islanders
NY Rangers
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay
Toronto
Washington

Answer 5

Well if the NHL expands again it will most likely be Western cities, such as KC, Houston Las Vegas etc. so there should be a team from the West heading to the East to balance things out. If Detroit wants to move they should get first choice, if they refuse then Columbus. The Wings and the Jackets are tthe two Eastern-most teams in the west.

Answer 6

It sucks for Wings and Blue Jackets fans being stuck in the West. There are no other teams in their time zone. Watching the road games sucks because they don't start til 10:30 pm. Sadly Columbus is further east than Detroit.

Gwydyon - Most of those cities have no chance at getting an NHL team. The NHL has enough failing small market teams and teams in poor locations. Hamilton is too small and is located very close to 2 NHL teams already. Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Hartford Connecticut lost teams because they were too small to support the teams. Edmonton almost lost theirs several for the same reason. KC is bigger yet has failed several times at minor league hockey.

Grand Rapids, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse and Providence all fall into the same category as Hamilton, Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Hartford. Too small to support a pro team.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, even with the odds being good that some of the southern teams in non-traditional markets are going to start heading north, I doubt the Wings can be put in the Eastern Conference.

When you consider that there are three potential Canadian homes...just as one example...Hamilton, Quebec City and Winnipeg. Two of these are still further east than Detroit. In the US...yes there is KC, but when this exodus comes I'm thinking more along the lines of Grand Rapids, Rochester, Albany, Hartford, Syracuse and Providence...again, all but one is further east of Detroit.

Answer 8

detroit will stay in the west for awhile. the reality is that a higher percentage of the population is concentrated on the eastern side of the continent. it just naturally follows that more teams are physically located in the eastern time zone. thus, the west seems to be more "spread" out. so detroit is somewhere in the middle. too bad for them. the only way that they'll go to the east is if the nhl drops 2 teams. frankly i like that idea. at least one of the florida teams is a good place to start. and i'd say atlanta too. sorry people. it has to be someone. and they have the least tradition. panthers, lightning, and hurricanes have all made it to the SCF.

add - Puck, it's funny that every now and then, you and i think very similarly. scary.

Answer 9

The Wings WILL NOT move to the East... ever. That would leave the Blackhawks as the only O6 team in the west. For some stupid reason, the powers that be won't let that happen. Mike I. has been trying for it forever.

Answer 10

LOL - Detroit is 400 miles southwest of Toronto and they even use Eastern Time. Of course the wings belong in the east and they could be there if we dumped Florida and Atlanta and went back to 28 team league.