East vs. West Question

[growl89]

So after looking at the way the conferences are set, I am left with only one question... wouldn't it make more sense and balance the league more if the Gateway division was considered western conference this season until there is more expansion out west? for example, the way it is set up right now, the east has 20 teams while the west has only 11... making it an obvious twice as much... if the Gateway was in the west, then that would make it 15 in east and 16 in west.... that seems a little more logical to me... but maybe i missed something... any insight on this?

[TheSnake22]

i already suggested this a while back...

http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28905

doesnt make sense, and doesn't look like anything is going to change...

without pissing anyone off too too much, i think it is a mistake to add an amazingly talented division in the gateway division to a conference that is already ridiculously competitive... not saying the west isn't good, because i've seen first-hand that colorado can play, but the east is a mega-super conference whether anyone wants to admit it or not...

and when all else fails, just go back to numbers... 20 and 11 or 16 and 15...

[growl89]

honeslty i don't even care about the talent... yeah the east is a little more stacked as of right now, but you gotta beat everyone to win the whole thing anyways right? i just think it looks a little lopsided, like you said snake, go to the numbers... i didnt look back through your post BUT was there ever an explanation about why it is like this?

[GROWL99]

Oh my goodness, Bill. This is a classic case of the pot calling the kettel black. I want everyone to know that I am being accused of being conceited by a guy that told me on the bench,:D that he didn't give me a pass in the slot because it was more fun for him to make a move on the defenseman instead. I believe the quote was "Jimmy, you are playing with the 2004 PIHA energy player of the year award winner, don't ever doubt my skills"... lol Just for the record, I instantaneously started to throw up my lunch on the bench....

[Aston11]

Q: what do you call a hockey player that talks non-stop about himself?


A: Bobby B.

[GROWL99]

I can see why you thought I was talking about Bobby B.. Those of us that know him, realize that he has more stories than Readers Digest, however, the quote on our bench was made by Billy K., himself.

[Troho9]

Of all the people to accuse someone else of "having more stories that Readers Digest". And you accussed Billy of "The pot calling the kettle black"...man where is Ying when you need him!

[phantoms12]

man we can all sit around a camp fire one night drinking some beers listening to Jimmy tell stories all night and never get a word in. He has done it all he is the Man and the legend. Jimmy your still the man bro

[GROWL99]

Troho, are you sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong again ? So far, you've escaped my wrath, but don't push your luck. I'll attack you faster than S. Ying does at the $1 menu of his local McDonalds... haha

[GROWL]

To answer the question again...

The league explained this by saying that it was done geographically. Don't forget that Cincinnati is in this division and when all is said and done, someone will have to travel for Conference Finals and that would mean they have to go to Colorado. With limited budgets the league is trying to keep travel down to something that is reasonable.

[33]

wow jimmy, a fat joke. how original. i'm here tro, but it's just way too easy. who in their right mind walked jimmy through getting logged back in here anyway. it was such a peaceful couple months.

[Troho9]

Ok what would you rather happen...

1. Stuck in an elevator with Vivona for 6 hours.

or

2. Have all of your finger and toe nails pulled out by tweezers.

[TheSnake22]

without disrespecting cincinnati, i dont really think anyone expects them to be able to win that division with the copious amount of talent on the st. louis teams... that being said, as i stated in the previous post, st. louis is closer to denver than philadelphia, a likely spot for the eastern conference finals... so if you really want to cut down on travel costs, you're probably much better getting on 70 and heading west right the whole way right to denver than going east...

the one thing i do agree with is that you still have to beat everyone to win the title, so it's not the end of the world... but that doesn't mean the league should ignore common sense... might be nice to have the 2 best teams in the finals if they are actually going to get some exposure this year...

[yokes]

Probably rather pour bleech in my ears after stabbing them with a pen.

[Hystyk28]

Those of us that know him, realize that he has more stories than Readers Digest...

something Kettle something black

[insomniac]

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok

[GROWL]

That is complete bogus. While I tend to agree with Jake about the travel being closer from St Louis to Colorado, then to Philly. You can't count out the Cincinnati team from the equation, there for you must figure that in as well. I also doubt that Philly will be a conference final site, i'd bet more on Harrisburg or Pittsburgh.

[TheSnake22]

Ya thats way off the mark to think that charley has an agenda like that. The reason for the current setup is because next year there will be a division in california that will be in the western conference, and there will be likely be 3 divisions in each conference, however anything can change there with the way charley adds teams...

the issue is that it's a little disappointing that the league couldnt think outside the box a little and balance the conferences for this season... with the way teams are being added every year, im sure the divisions and conferences are going to be rearranged many times in the coming years...

[GROWL]

There is supposed to be a division in Florida next year too, so i doubt that was the reason for the alignment. I've been told first hand by Charley that the reason was for Cincinnati's travel to conference finals.

[Center_ice]

I agree with Snake

Regardless of what Charley says, it just doesn't make any sense.

St. Louis & Colorado do very little league travel as it is, so why penalize everyone else. Cincinnati if they make the conference finals would need to fly to Colorado, should the whole conference suffer because of one team?

It would be much more balanced if they were moved to the west. When the expansion comes again then realign. Relignment has been going on in pro sprots for years. I mean disrespect to Cincinnati and I admire their commitment to join the league having to make the trip to St. Louis to play, but what happens if then don't make the finals or even the playoffs for that matter.