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Now that NHL realignment is officially on for next season, the next step is figuring out the names for the four new divisions.

Because, let's face it, nobody really wants to hang a banner in their building to claim their "Division A Championship."

While hockey fans might be hoping for a return of the Patrick, Norris, Smythe and Adams divisions, or perhaps something that honors the NHL's greatest players, commissioner Gary Bettman said during a conference call on Thursday that the league will be sticking with geographic names.

Bettman said they will be "sensible geographic designations," which he called fan-friendly and the easiest way to remember.

"When you’re making this kind of change, people need to adjust in their thinking of where things are," said Bettman. "We’re hoping to use the names that make it easiest to conjure up where teams are."

How that's going to work for what is now simply known as Division C, which is made up of the current Northeast Division plus Detroit and the two teams from Florida, remains to be seen.

I thought SB Nation's Steve Lepore had one of the best suggestions for Division A, which is made up of the Alberta and West Coast teams.

Because the NHL hates good ideas, that's how. It's almost too perfect. Gretzky became a hockey legend in Edmonton, and his trade to Los Angeles made the Kings relevant on a league-wide level and arguably helped jumpstart western expansion. And let's not forget his run as owner/coach of the Coyotes (actually, on second thought, let's try to forget that).

Nice idea, but that's what it will remain as at this point.

The NHL first went to the geographic names for the 1993-94 season with the Atlantic, Northeast, Central and Pacific replacing the aforementioned Patrick, Adams, Norris and Smythe. That alignment remained until the 1998-99 season, when the NHL went to six divisions, adding the Northwest and Southeast ahead of the expansion that saw Minnesota, Atlanta, Columbus and Nashville enter the league.

The moral of the story: The NHL realigns itself quite a bit. If you're unhappy with this set-up, just ride it out for a few years because you're probably going to get a new one sooner rather than later.

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