It's been a while, and you might have forgotten, but realignment is here in the NHL. The NHL approved the long-awaited realignment plan in March after more than a year of discussion with the players. Not only do the divisions have a new look (and one new name), but the playoff format has been tweaked, in a nod to the old-school NHL divisional playoff format. It's all a little complicated, though, and you're probably a bit confused, so let's figure this out together. First, the new divisional setup. There was a lot of talk two years ago that the NHL would abandon the two-conference format and move to four "conferences," but that's not really what's happening. The Eastern Conference and the Western Conference still exist, but the playoffs won't be determined by taking the best eight teams in each conference anymore. Instead, the top three teams in each division -- the Metropolitan, Atlantic, Pacific and Central -- will qualify for the postseason, and the final spots in the postseason will be determined in a "wild card" format. Here are the new divisions...

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto Contrary to what you're thinking after glancing at the map, teams like Florida and Tampa Bay could benefit -- both short- and long-term -- from these changes. As the Panthers and (to a lesser extent) the Lightning struggle to field quality teams, being placed in a division with teams like Boston, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, and even Buffalo should help them immensely at the gate. Just look at this video of a Habs vs. Panthers game in Sunrise back in 2009. No, it's not always fun to welcome thousands of fans of the opponent, but it beats playing in front of a bunch of empty seats because no one in the area cares about a Panthers vs. Hurricanes or whoever game. There's always the hope playing with great, historic franchises makes them a better one, too. The Canadian franchises in the East are in one division, which is definitely a good thing. Also nice is the fact that you have old rivals Detroit and Toronto back together, and Detroit and Boston should crank up a very nice rivalry. Metropolitan Division Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington Six of these teams just seem to belong together, and they've belonged together since the old Patrick Division was dissolved in 1993. To finish off the division, the NHL brought in Carolina and Columbus from the Island of Misfit Hockey Teams. The Blue Jackets should do well with this grouping. They'll develop rivalries with the Pennsylvania teams, as well as the Capitals, and they won't have to deal with regular trips to the West Coast. And we're huge fans of getting the Capitals in a division with the Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Flyers, and Penguins once again. That's a big-time win for the NHL, and old school Caps fans finally have their original rivals back. This division name is dumb. It probably comes from the New York connections, which make up 35 percent or whatever of the division, but I mean, nothing says "Metropolitan" like Tobacco Road.

Western Conference Central Division Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg Love this division. Chicago, St. Louis, and Minnesota are all old rivals from the Norris Division days, and getting Minnesota and Dallas in the same division makes sense. That would be why it took a dozen years of the Wild being around to finally make it happen. The NHL seems to be a bit slow on things that make perfect sense. So many of these teams were miscast in the old alignment. Minnesota and Colorado were with the Canucks, Flames, and Oilers. Dallas was in the old Pacific Division, where the closest rival was Phoenix. Winnipeg got stuck in the Southeast Division after the franchise moved from Atlanta. They loved seeing Alex Ovechkin a few times per season and all, but Jets fans will really like the regular trips to (especially) Minnesota and Chicago. Pacific Division Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver Another rock-solid geographic pairing. It's even one that could survive a franchise relocation. You know, when the Coyotes move to Seattle in five years. (Just kidding, Phoenix fans, but this division would live through inevitable NHL expansion to the Emerald City as well.) Anyway, it keeps the California rivalries intact, and it's safe to say Los Angeles and San Jose will be quite enjoyable to watch after their playoff battle last spring. We're sure the Canucks are thrilled to be paired up with the Kings and their deadly Twitter account, too. The Oilers, Flames, and Canucks all belong together, and the Coyotes don't fit anywhere else. Actually, it should help Phoenix quite a bit to have the southern California teams for proximity and the Canadian teams to get the snowbirds interested, much like the situation in Florida.