The NHL Board of Governors have approved a four-Conference alignment format and authorized Commissioner Gary Bettman to implement the proposal.
There will be two eight-team conferences, and two seven-team conferences (they are yet to be named) which will debut for the 2012-2013 season.
Conference A: Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Conference B: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg
Conference C: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto
Conference D: Carolina, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
RATTO: NHL realignment -- the perfect plan
San Jose Sharks
Every team will play a home-and-away game against every other team outside of its division.
The two seven-team conferences will play fellow conference members six times each, and the two eight-team conferences will play intra-conference opponents either five or six times each season.
The top four teams in each conference will make the playoffs, with the No. 1 seed taking on No. 4, and No. 2 battling No. 3, with the winners meeting in the second round.
The winner of Conference A will then meet the winner of Conference B, and the champion of Conference C will meet the champion of Conference D.
Those two winners will then take part in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Stay tuned with CSNCalifornia.com as more details emerge.