Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
When realignment was discussed in the National Hockey League, the obvious plan was to make things better in regards to distances between divisional teams and having more games in each team’s own time zone. While that plan sounds great on the surface, there were bound to be teams that got the short end of the stick. The team that is now bound to suffer the most from the proposed realignment has to be the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets would move from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference and would be bunched with teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals. It is basically a division that is all on the east coast bordering the Atlantic Ocean except for Columbus. The Blue Jackets go from a division where they may have had a fighting chance in the next few years to a division where their hopes go up in smoke before the season ever starts.
How are the Blue Jackets going to compete with all those east coast teams on a regular basis? There is no way that it is going to work out well ever for Columbus. There are simply too many good teams in their new proposed division and Columbus may find themselves near the cellar every single season. Is that fair to the players? Probably not, but this is going to force ownership to get better people on the roster. If this realignment goes through as currently planned, Columbus can stare at former star Rick Nash several times each season on the other side at all. That won’t be enjoyable at all for the Blue Jackets.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.
