Since that season we have had 5 teams move. Some over great distances while others stayed within 50 KMs of their previous home. The Icedogs moved to Niagara, the Majors moved to Mississauga and eventually became the Steelheads. The Battalion brought OHL hockey back to North Bay while this past season the Whalers moved to Flint and became the Firebirds while the Belleville Bulls moved to Hamilton to become the Bulldogs.
You could argue all of these teams are in the correct division with the exception of the Bulldogs. With the current set up the way it is though there doesnt seem to be an easy fix. That's why it is in the OHLs best interest to scrap Conferences and go with 5 divisions of 4. From a distance perspective it is much easier to group teams in 4 rather than 5. This is especially true with the East and depending on how you align the teams the West and the North.
With no all star game in the OHL is there really any reason to have conferences? The obvious reason is for playoffs as you want to use it to seed teams. What is wrong with seeding teams 1-16 like they do in the QMJHL. Some want to keep the distance between playoff rivals to a minimum but with teams like Sault Ste Marie and Erie facing each other the last two years ( 969 km distance) and Niagara and Ottawa seemingly facing each other every other year ( 560 km distance) the conference set up as it is still has its fair share of travel.
Before we look into potentially newly aligned divisions lets look at the current set up.
East Division
In the chart above you can see the distance in KMs from arena to arena for each team. What stands out the most is the average distance that the 67's are from each team in there division at 342.25kms. This is the second largest average distance for any team in the O and while not totally unavoidable due to the fact that they are the most easterly team in the league it is a number that has jumped 60kms due to the extra 240km distance between Belleville and Hamilton. All teams in this division suffer but especially Hamilton as to travel to all divisional road games they must go through Toronto which only adds time due to traffic.
Central Division
Another Division that has seen its share of movement since the last realignment with 3 teams moving (although 1 just really took an old teams arena). Mississauga has gone from 2 rivals within 50 kms to two over 400kms away. Lets face it having Niagara one of the most southerly teams in the OHL in the same division as 2 of the most northerly in Sudbury and North Bay doesnt really make much sense.
Midwest Division
This division is the only one that has had zero movement since the last realignment. It has also developed some really strong rivalries. On top of that every team in this division has won the conference title since the last realignment. However 2 teams have moved significantly closer to Erie then any of its current divisional rivals with Niagara and Hamilton now located where they are. This brings up the question what is more important for divisions Distance or Rivalries? You could argue new rivalries can be made and old rivalries can be maintained but is it the preferred option?
West Division
What sticks out with the West division is that Sault Ste Marie has on average 500kms between division rivals. While Ottawa is in the extreme East and faces distance hurdles from that it is nothing compared to the Greyhounds who in the North West are pretty much in the middle of nowhere. What compounds things is the Great lakes which doesn't always allow for efficient travel. The recent move of Plymouth to Flint hasnt really changed anything in this division as they stay fairly close to rivals Saginaw, Sarnia and Windsor.
Realignment Option 1
I have broken realignment into 2 options both with pro's and con's and since we have gone over what the divisions are like in their current format we can move onto what is potentially out there for the OHL to chose from.
East Division
In a 4 team division format this is the easiest one to pick. Ottawa, Kingston and Peterborough are locked together and the only logical choice to add is Oshawa. The only other possible option woud be to add North Bay but you want to keep them with Sudbury and that takes away the Pete's closest geographic rival. Compared to the 5 team division Ottawa shaves off a little more than 50kms while Kingston loses close to 30kms while the Pete's are about the same and Oshawa adds a few more.
South Division
The newly constructed South division contains teams from 3 different current divisions. With Erie coming from the Midwest, Hamilton from the East and Mississauga and Niagara from the Central. While currently in different conferences the Icedogs and Otters already play more than twice a year. The biggest benificiary of this would be the Bulldogs who move from the East to having 2 teams less than 60km from their rink. While their farthest rival would still be less than a 2 hour drive. Much better then their current 5+ hour drive to Ottawa. This projected set up drops Erie's average distance down by 70kms. It drops Hamilton and Niagara's down by over 200kms while Mississauga shaves over 150kms. Geographically this makes sense and even though these teams come from 3 difference current divisions it is not all that far fetched that rivals can be easily created.
North Division
While the first 2 divisions kind of fell together the last 3 are a little trickier as their always seems to be one team that gets a raw deal. In this scenario that team Owen Sound who add nearly 100kms to their total. While Barrie adds 20kms Owen Sound is a closer geographic rival than Niagara. Their jump though is more attributed to losing Mississauga who they are closest too. North Bay and Sudbury though shave about 50kms apiece in this option. When you have 2 teams so far away up in Northern Ontario it isn't always easy finding divisional foes without making things difficult for other teams.
Midwest Division
While Owen Sound got the short end of the stick with the North Division you could say Windsor gets it by being moved to the Midwest. Windsor actually has a lower average distance in this scenario than in their current set up although that is horribly skewed due to a 573km distance from Sault Ste Marie. London benefits from less travel as Windsor is closer than both Erie and Owen Sound but Kitchener and Guelph add a few more clicks to the odometer in this 401 division.
West Division
Flint, Saginaw and Sarnia all lose closer rival Windsor while keeping divisional rival Sault Ste Marie. The Soo is in a difficult spot as they are a 3 hours drive from their closest rival (Sudbury) but Saginaw and Flint and their 2nd and 4th closest respectively. To further complicate things it is a better drive to those two teams due to a divided highway rather than the 2 lane highway 17 between Sault Ste Marie and Sudbury.
Realignment Option 2
East Division
Same as in Option 1. A no brainier as there really isnt another option out there to stick with these teams.
South Division
Once again a no brainer as this division has the least amount of travel as any.
North Division
In this incarnation of the North Division we have Sault Ste Marie swapped out for Owen Sound. This works out for the Attack but not so much for Barrie and Sault Ste Marie. The Wolves and Battalion more or less swap spots in terms of distance but the Hounds are a more natural rival than the Attack. The Greyhounds lose current rivals Sarnia, Saginaw and Flint and gain a 599km trip to Barrie. The Colts on the other hand lose Owen Sound and gain the long trip up to the Soo.
Midwest Divsion
Owen Sound Stays in the Midwest in this scenario and I am sure they wont complain about that. On average they are 120kms closer then in option number 1. Kitchener and Guelph join Niagara and Hamilton as teams with less than 100kms of travel on average between divisional foes and London loses Windsor for Owen Sound which isnt too much of a loss for them.
West Division
This is likely the preferred option for these 4 teams. All 4 teams keep their average distance below 150 kms. These 4 have been divisional rivals since the last realignment so they have had plenty of time to develop a history and in this scenario they get to keep it.
Final Verdict
While part of me prefers option number 1 for a few reasons the only option to chose when comparing these two options is the superior choice. Number 2 obviously hurts Sault Ste Marie and Barrie but it is hard to go with Option 1 at the expense of 8 other teams who come off much better with the 2nd option. The West Division and Midwest shave so much distance off that it is hard to justify option 1.
Schedule
There are plenty of options to go with the schedule in this scenario. One would be 8 games vs division rivals (24 games) with 48 to split between the remaining 16. You could go with 3 vs each of the remaining 16 alternating years in which team X and team Y host each other twice in a season. It also leaves open the option of playing certain rivals more than others. Currently that already takes plays with teams like Sault Ste. Marie/Sudbury and Niagara/Erie. While some will complain that causes a more unbalanced schedule it should be pointed out that it is something we already deal with.
Potential 5 team Division Realignment
I wont touch on this much but here is one possibility
East: Ottawa, Kingston, Peterborough, North Bay, Sudbury
Central: Oshawa, Mississauga, Hamilton, Barrie, Niagara
Midwest: Same
West: Same
So which option would you prefer? Would you like the status quo? Is there an option that you have that I didnt post? I would love to hear what others think when it comes to Divisional Realignment.
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