NHL Realignment? Yes, According to Craig Leipold

Ever since the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg, there has existed an imbalance between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, bringing an NHL divisional realighment to the minds of owners.

There have been rumors in the past that the NHL is considering a massive overhaul in which the current NHL characteristics would be cleared for a landscape featuring a two conference format with 2 divisions each. Those rumors have always been pure speculation stemming from mysterious voices... until now.

Craig Leipold, during a radio interview with KFAN Minneapolis, may have let the cat out of the bag and let the public in on the NFL plans for realignment during the 2012 season.

"Our division would include the Winnipeg Jets, us [Minnesota Wild], the Blues, the Nashville Predators, the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets... maybe not depending on if they go east or west. I am all in favor of that. I think that is a grand slam, home run, hat trick for our team.

We're all Central Division now. All of our teams, except for Columbus, all of our teams will be Central Division. We'll play less teams in Canada. We will play every team home and away at least one time."

Whoops.