Dec 13, 2011; Winnipeg, MB, CANADA; Minnesota Wild forward Guillaume Latendresse (48) is congratulated by Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu (9) and Minnesota Wild forward Kyle Brodziak (21) after Minnesota

Die-hard fans of the Minnesota Wild, who had also been die-hard fans of the North Stars before them, were drooling at the idea of realignment when it was presented by the NHL back in late 2011. Minnesota was slated to join Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Columbus, Winnipeg…oh…and Dallas in what looked to be the reincarnation of the old Norris Division. Momentum was lost, however, when the NHL Players Association voted down the proposed realignment in a move indicative of what would soon be a bitter lockout battle between the players and owners. With the details of the new proposal released, realignment is almost assuredly going to happen next season. The NHL will have four conferences—two comprised of eight teams and two of seven teams. Minnesota’s conference will also include Chicago, St. Louis, Winnipeg, Nashville and Dallas, while also maintaining the existing rivalry with Colorado. Here are a few reasons Minnesota benefits from the newly proposed conferences.

One—travel; fans don’t have to worry anymore about 9pm intra-conference puck drops! The only team in the conference that isn’t on Central Time is Colorado. Travel is going to be a lot easier, and less tiresome than in the previous conference format.

Two—it helps solidify Minnesota’s existing rivalries within the Central Division. Minnesota and Chicago have had some great, intense games here lately and games between St. Louis and Minnesota are always physical and fun to watch. Nashville has always been a tough opponent for Minnesota, and a move to the same conference/division would definitely make the whole Weber/Suter debate that much more fun to watch with more games against each other. Winnipeg has been a great opponent as well, and Wild players can’t wait to get their revenge on Zach Bogosian for his brutal boarding of Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Plus, it would be fun to watch Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, Jonas Brodin and Mathew Dumba play against Alexander Burmistrov, Evander Kane, Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba. Then there is the epic rivalry—in the minds of many fans—of “the old team” (Dallas) versus “the new team” (Minnesota).

Three—it’s character building. Though Detroit will not be in the conference, Minnesota will still face very tough opponents that will make the Northwest Division appear to be a cakewalk, aside from Vancouver, of course. If Minnesota can make the playoffs out of that conference, then they will certainly have earned every bit of it.

Four—Craig Leopold stands to make a lot of money with teams like Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville and Winnipeg gracing the Xcel Energy Center night in and night out. Fans will be more than willing to come watch Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Evander Kane, Shea Weber, Jaromir Jagr, Loui Eriksson, Jamie Benn, Vladimir Tarasenko and Minnesota natives T.J. Oshie, David Backes, Dustin Byfuglien and Alex Goligoski make regular appearances in downtown St. Paul.

Bottom line, this realignment could be the best thing to happen to Minnesota since the July 4^th blockbuster signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Minnesota will either sink or swim in a conference as competitive as the one they are likely to be in. I have no doubt the team will rise to the occasion and succeed. One thing is for sure, next season is going to be a blast.

Jan 29, 2013; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (20) during the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Wild snapped their three game losing streak with a 2-1 overtime win against the always difficult Nashville Predators. Top defenseman Ryan Suter looked great in his second game playing against his former team, notching two assists and logging a team-high 30:02 in ice time. His former defensive partner, Nashville captain Shea Weber, had three shots, two hits, two blocked shots and logged exactly 30:00 in ice time…but no points. In fact, Weber has notched exactly one point—an assist—in 11 games played this season. Compare that to Suter’s six assists in 11 games. So, while it is still early in the season, it makes hockey fans wonder, was Shea Weber really worth all the hype? Could Suter actually be the better defenseman? Let’s take a look.

The Nashville Years

Ryan Suter and Shea Weber were both drafted by the Predators in the fabled draft of 2003, Suter 7^th overall and Weber 49^th overall. Both defensemen had distinct paths to the NHL; Suter through the North American Hockey League’s U.S. National Development Program and NCAA’s Wisconsin Badgers, Weber through the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. Suter played only one year of college puck before turning pro, playing the entire 2004-2005 lockout with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals where he would score seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 63 games. Weber played the same season with the Rockets in what would be his fourth and final season in Kelowna, scoring 12 goals and 29 assists for 41 points in 55 games.

Both young blue-liners would make their NHL debuts in the 2005-2006 season.  While Suter would play the entire season with the Preds, scoring a goal and 15 assists for 16 points in 71 games, Weber bounced back and forth between the Admirals and Nashville. However, the 2003 2^nd round pick was impressive in his limited showing, scoring two goals and 10 assists for 12 points in just 28 games. He was certainly proving to be an intriguing young player, it especially didn’t hurt that he was big at 6’4” and over 200-pounds compared to 6’1” Ryan Suter.

Since their rookie seasons, both Suter and Weber were relied upon by Nashville to be their number one defensive pairing, and they were—while also being one of the most effective pairings in the entire NHL. In seven NHL seasons together, the two put up a combined regular season effort of 137 goals and 364 assists for 501 points and a plus-87 rating. Although there was only a 25 point difference in their career totals, Weber’s goal totals nearly tripled that of Suter. It wasn’t Suter’s slap shot other teams were looking out for—it was the 106 MPH howitzer that Weber could unleash at a moment’s notice. As far as many fans were concerned, Suter wasn’t “the guy”: he was the player passing the puck to “the guy”.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

That all changed on July, 4^th 2012, when Suter, and top free agent forward Zach Parise, signed identical 13-year $98 million contracts with the Minnesota Wild. The Philadelphia Flyers then tried to entice Weber, then a restricted free agent, with an even more impressive front-loaded 14-year $110 million contract. Unwilling to lose both of their top defensemen, the Predators would match the Flyers’ offer sheet, meaning that Shea Weber was in Nashville to stay.

Hockey fans then spent the remainder of the offseason—and the entire half-season lockout—debating back and forth over whether people would realize how bad Suter would be without Weber. It’s now 11 games into the lockout-shortened season and it would seem the opposite has been true. While Weber has posted a better plus-1 rating over Suter’s negative-7 rating, he has failed to put the biscuit in the basket and has but one point to Suter’s six. Obviously, it’s going to take a lot of time for both players to adjust to playing with their new defensive partners. However, both players have promising young blue-liners playing alongside them that should make the adjustment a lot easier to handle.

Weber may already be playing with Nashville’s next Suter in 2008 38^th overall pick Roman Josi. The Bern, Switzerland native is in his second season in the NHL and scored five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 52 games last season. While there are arguably better young defensemen in the system like Jonathan Blum and Ryan Ellis, Josi looks like he could be a very good defenseman in the NHL for a long time.

Suter started out the season skating alongside Jared Spurgeon, who led Minnesota’s defensive corps in scoring last season. However, after taking a shot off the inside of the leg during the Wild’s first game against Nashville this season, Spurgeon has yet to play a game since. As a result, Minnesota called up 2011 10^th overall pick Jonas Brodin from Houston and hasn’t looked back. Brodin, a native of Karlstad, Sweden, is an elite level talent that has handled his promotion to the Wild—and the top pairing—with confidence and poise. His skating is among the best in the NHL, he’s a very mobile defender and isn’t a liability in his own end. The young blue-liner also makes a great first pass up the ice, uses his stick well to break up plays and, although it needs to be dialed in, wields an impressive slap shot for a defenseman once labeled as “not a physical or offensive player whatsoever”. In eight career NHL games—the majority while skating alongside Suter—Brodin has notched three assists, is a negative-3 rating and has fired 10 shots on net. The elite play of the kid is sure to have boosted Suter’s confidence level and has most likely made the transition that much easier.

So, can we honestly say whether or not Shea Weber or Ryan Suter is the better defenseman? It’s easy to formulate opinions on the matter, but—no—it’s likely too early to make any solid statement saying one is better than the other. However, the success each has with their new defensive partner may be a determining factor in the long run.