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Recently “How to Fix Hockey” has become the topic de jour.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>And almost all of these “solutions” involve shrinking the league (*Spoiler alert: so does mine*) but I don’t think it’s as simple as just looking at the teams that aren’t doing well and cutting them off like gangrenous limbs.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Instead I think that European Soccer holds the key for the NHL’s success in North America.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>That key is…relegation.<\/span> <\/span><\/span> For those of you unfamiliar with England’s soccer hierarchy, there is the Premier League (the top league, it has 20 teams.)<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Each season the worst 3 teams in the league get relegated (demoted) down to the Championship (think: AAA baseball.)<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Meanwhile at the end of the Championship’s season the best two teams automatically get promoted to the Premiere, while teams 3 through 6 have a playoff, the winner of which also gets promoted.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I love this concept and for years have tried to figure out ways to make relegation a part of the American sports scene- the problem is that the Big 3 (NFL, MLB, and NBA) don’t have a system in place that would work well with relegation.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>For instance, if baseball believed in relegation, the Tampa Bay Rays would have been kicked out the year before their World Series run.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>But that just means the idea is still there for hockey to adopt.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Because here’s the thing about relegation: it can only work once, if this system was already in place in the American sports scene it certainly wouldn’t have this appeal.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>But because it’s never been done here it has a lot of appeal and can fix a lot of hockey’s problems.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The schedule<\/span><\/i><\/span> is a problem because it fits the exact same schedule as the NBA, but shrinking the league and adding in the relegation element changes up the schedule.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>(Maybe a Sept through January regular season allowing the playoffs to take over the baron wasteland that is February?)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Lack of differentiation?<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span>I’ve already got the marketing material ready.<\/span> <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>‘Hockey: Only the strong survive.’<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The quality hierarchy too engrained?<\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Well if a team isn’t good, kick them out.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And lastly <\/span>over-expansion<\/span><\/i><\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Well there’s the rub: exactly how over-expanded is the NHL?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Basically, what’s the right number of hockey teams?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n My guess, simply because it’s what England’s Premier League uses, is 20.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Kick 10 teams out of the league and see what happens.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>But how?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>I have a few ideas about how to get down to the right fighting weight.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Hatchet- just kick ten teams out<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Again, I don’t like this idea.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Because do you kick the Ducks or the Kings out?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>One has been around longer and had Gretzky, the other has had more success including a Stanley Cup Championship.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>So you’ve got to get rid of one, but how do you do it fairly?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Again, relegation makes the decision on the ice.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Who do you kick out?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>The team that loses.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Royal Rumble- a one-time tournament<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n One way would be to set a date a few years out- like say when the current collective bargaining agreement ends after the 2011 season.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>This date gives you time to re-organize the minor leagues in order to create a clear hierarchy, it lets you negotiate the new CBA, and it gives you a few years to promote the biggest sports event of the decade.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Want to take March Madness to another level?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Want to make the sporting event of the decade?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Then take the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs and set up a one-time playoff system where they all battle.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n You’ll already have the 3 teams from the minor-leagues ready to take the new spots, and the winner of this tournament will also stay.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Basically you’ll get down to the finals, and then the two teams will battle.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>One team stays, the loser goes.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Honestly, you wouldn’t watch this?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>One more bonus: this tournament would generate a significant one-time revenue that could be split among the relegated teams as a severance package.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Then each season after, you simply have 3 go down and 3 come up.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The problem with the royal rumble solution is that it’s a one-time fix.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Like ripping the band-aid off.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>What if you could take this morbid anticipation and make it last for years?<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Ten Year Plan<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n What if every year the bottom four teams were dropped from the league and only three were promoted to replace them?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>So instead set up a second bottom-feeder mini-playoff.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Last two teams definitely go but take the next bottom 4 teams, and have them battle for survival.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>It would be like the Anti-Super Bowl.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Even if you’re not a Toronto fan, if the Maple Leafs were playing for their NHL-lives, wouldn’t you watch?<\/span> <\/span><\/span>I would.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>After ten seasons of 4 down, 3 up, the league would be down to 20 teams and could then continue with a 3 down, 3 up plan.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>While a royal rumble, loser-goes match would be a fun onetime thing, this plan lets the league slowly shrink.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>This way lets the league not alienate ten team’s fanbases all at once.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>In fact, odds are that we’d see former-NHL teams battling in the Top Tier Minor League and could see the return of a once-removed team, which could soften the blow to future relegated teams to let their fans know it’s not necessarily the end.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>In fact, most of the teams relegated down are going to have a soft fanbase but if they get promoted people are so excited by the one year boost that they could come back in droves.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Basically 3 teams each year will be like expansion teams and have the ensuing community excitement that comes from expansion.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n While the New Jersey Devils don’t have a lot of support right now, their fans have spent years hating the Rangers and Flyers and everybody else.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>These fans aren’t just going to jump on some other team’s band-wagon.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>If you kick the Devils out, those fans are just gone from hockey.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Instead the hardcore fans will still keep an eye on the Devils even if they are a minor-league but the first year that they start challenging for promotion their will be an instant buzz back in Jersey.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>If Euro Soccer is any guide the minor-league playoff to determine who gets promoted could be as big a draw as the major league’s playoffs.<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Ultimately that just generates a lot of excitement that could carry over to the following season in the NHL.<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There have been other ideas- like moving teams to Canada.<\/span>
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