Advantages of a Canadian Division for the Ottawa Senators

The prospect of a Canadian Division in the NHL is the kind of thing that fans have dreamed about for years. Despite the fact that the Ottawa Senators still find themselves in the midst of a rebuild, this proposal could provide some much-needed entertainment to a fanbase in need, after a few years of doom and gloom.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend I have any idea about what the NHL is actually doing next season. Is there even going to be a season? That’s anybody’s guess.

For the sake of this argument, let’s pretend the rumours are true and the NHL has its eyes set on a division featuring all seven of Canada’s teams, battling it out for the bragging rights of an entire nation.

This would likely come with a shortened regular season, we’ll say 48 games (like the lockout-shortened 2013 season), which means the Senators would play the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers eight times each.

I’ll also throw in a rumoured playoff clause too, which could see Canadian teams battle it out in the first two rounds of the playoffs as well. The Senators are more of a long-shot for this, but crazier things have happened.

Now that we’ve established some realistic rules, we can examine what advantages this theoretical season actually poses to the Senators and their fans.