Gary Bettman held his annual press conference yesterday before the All-Star Game was played. Bettman was there to discuss with the media, multiple goings-on in the league and no one really liked the answers offered.
Gary Bettman alluded to the complexities of changing the playoff format, is the reason why they're keeping it the same. He also made mention of changing the Wild-Card formats, along with a return to Conference Playoffs, if the change did occur.
Honestly, this is just an excuse to keep the format as is, especially after Sidney Crosby came for the current format in the public sphere. Bettman is here to save face for himself and the board of governors, which isn't possible. With Crosby attacking the format, you have to question what the NHLPA really has to say about it. Bettman says that 2/3rds of the General Managers in the league are okay with it, but they also get paid to say so.
The re-alignment occurred in 2013-2014, in order to create and foster rivalries and ignore the legacy rivalries built throughout the history in the NHL. With news of viewership down and TV Blackouts happening, it looks like the NHL has figured out how to simultaneously piss off the fanbase and squeeze us out of cold-hard cash for a mediocre product now with advertisements.
