Moldy Peaches

This is no Conan O'Brien skit. There will be no guest appearance by Andy. Instead these headlines come from a recent spring cleaning which netted this gem - National Hockey League 2000. The article appeared in The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix on Tuesday, December 12, 1989.

Bob Strumm - then Sports Editor - peered into his crystal ball and made a series of fearless predictions of what the National Hockey League would look like in the year 2000. Strumm figured the league would maintain the traditional four divisions but would grow to an amazing 28 teams - including a series of new markets in the United States. Strumm's predictions are below:

Patrick Division

Atlanta*
New Jersey
NY Islanders
NY Rangers
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington

Adams Division

Boston
Buffalo
Hamilton**
Hartford
Montreal
Toronto
Quebec City

Norris Division

Chicago
Denver*
Detroit
Los Angeles
Milwaukee**
St. Louis
San Jose*

Smythe Division

Calgary
Edmonton
Minnesota
Saskatchewan**
Seattle**
Vancouver
Winnipeg

Strumm's predictions were bold and some were even right. His thoughts were mused at a time when it looked like league would expand - 6 years after Saskatoon was deemed a poor fit for Blues. In his column he indicated that the NHL may gamble on non-hockey markets in Texas and Florida. He was right there.

In the spirit of Strumm, Moldy is offering a snapshot of what the NHL will look like in 2012. There will still be 30 teams, but a few will have moved around. Gone will be Columbus and Nashville. Kansas City will scoop Columbus and Portland will grab Nashville. Atlanta will move, again. The team will be playing out of the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. And, Saskatoon will still be without a team! One of the results will have nothing to do with these guys.