The plan was detailed in an NHL memo sent to all 30 clubs Tuesday, which a team source leaked to ESPN.com.

The new plan calls for divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs as the NHL currently has. The division winner with the most regular-season points will play the lowest-seeded wild-card team in the first round, with the other division winner playing the other wild-card team.

The plan still needs approval from the NHL Players’ Association plus the NHL’s Board of Governors. The NHLPA and NHL have been working on these changes for the past three weeks.

If approved by all parties, the plan would go into effect for next season.

The Eastern Conference would feature the Atlantic and Central divisions while the Western Conference would have the Mid-West and Pacific divisions.

The Pacific Division would feature Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver.

The Mid-West: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg.

The Central: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto.

The Atlantic: Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington.

Elliotte Friedman of CBC’s “Hockey Night In Canada” was first to report about these four new groupings over the weekend.

The playoff format as detailed in the league memo Tuesday calls for the top three teams in each division to earn postseason berths. The remaining four spots would go to wild cards, the top two records in each conference. That means there’s a possibility five teams make it from one division and only three from another.

The schedule matrix would see each team play teams in the other conference both home and away.

The NHL’s 30 owners voted yes to a new realignment plan in December 2011 that was based on a four-conference format but also saw Detroit and Columbus still in the West.

The change from the December 2011 configurations sees Detroit and Columbus go to the East plus Colorado join the Mid-West teams.

The NHLPA blocked the December 2011 plan, citing travel concerns for its players plus playoff inequity of having the top four teams in each conference make the playoffs under that format, unfair for the two eight-team conferences.

The changes proposed by the NHL in this realignment format come as a result of those concerns from the NHLPA, the two sides negotiating for the past three weeks on finding a better solution for realignment.

The NHLPA wants to further address it with its players before consenting to it.

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After a 36-hour vote that ended Saturday morning, the players’ association announced that its members approved the deal reached with the league last week.

It would be an understatement to say lot has happened since we last saw the NHL in action, when the Los Angeles Kings raised their first franchise Stanley Cup, writes Scott Burnside. Blog

However, the sides continued to work to complete a difficult memorandum of understanding that must be signed before camps can open and the new schedule to be released.

The NHL and NHLPA still “hope” to finish the memorandum Saturday night and keep training camps on schedule for a Sunday opening, but there is no guarantee.

Until then, hockey can’t get back to regular business.

The league’s board of governors unanimously ratified the contract on Wednesday. The plan was for training camps to open on Sunday, assuming the memorandum of understanding was finished. Voluntary physicals and medical exams were permitted to begin on Friday.

The players’ vote wasn’t unanimous, as a source told ESPN that 667 players voted “yes,” while 12 voted “no.” The players saw an 89 percent turnout in voting.

The remaining transition rules, such as when players can go on the ice and for how long, were still being finalized.

“While the players’ vote ratifies the new CBA with the NHL owners, a written memorandum of understanding consistent with what the players voted on, must be completed before the agreement becomes final,” a union statement said Saturday.

Less than a week after the league and the union worked all night to secure an agreement to save the season, players followed team owners and approved the tentative deal that was reached last Sunday — the 113th day of the lockout.

Unofficial team workouts have been taking place around the league all week. A 48-game season is expected to begin Jan. 19 without any preseason games in advance, assuming there are no more glitches in negotiations.

A total of 510 games, the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game were all casualties of the four-month lockout that began Sept. 16. The regular season was supposed to open on Oct. 11.

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While driving to the airport Wednesday morning, his thoughts centered around the end of the NHL lockout and what he might be able to do to bolster the team before the shortened season began.

Then his dream job of Maple Leafs general manager was taken away with one phone call and a quick meeting with boss Tom Anselmi.

“There’s sometimes when you get fired and you see the vultures circling and you understand it’s coming,” Burke said Saturday at a farewell news conference. “You’re not sure when you’re going to drop dead in the desert, but it’s coming and you can see the vultures.

“This one here was like a two-by-four upside the head to me.”

Burke was gracious in describing his exit as team president and general manager, showing few signs of bitterness while fielding some tough questions.

However, he acknowledged that reality had yet to truly set in. That won’t come until the colorful 57-year-old Burke has more time to think back on a roller-coaster, four-year tenure that included just as many playoff games at Air Canada Centre — none — as had been played during the four years before he was hired.

“We didn’t win,” Burke said. “Obviously, your job as the GM is to bring in players that win. We didn’t win.”

Beyond that, it still isn’t clear why the decision to replace Burke with Dave Nonis was made just 10 days before the new season is expected to begin. Burke said he hadn’t received a “satisfactory” answer to that question.

Rumors have swirled since the firing that Burke failed to impress the team’s new ownership group, in which Bell and Rogers control four of six seats with the organization’s board of governors. Burke came exactly as advertised when he was hired by the Leafs in November 2008 — brash, confident, passionate and occasionally confrontational.

One of the first lessons he learned on the job was not to wear his expensive cuff-links on game nights. More than a few pairs met an untimely ending when he responded to a boneheaded play on the ice by smashing his fists against a table in the press box.

That image might not have fit in well with a board that got more corporate and buttoned-down with the addition of Bell and Rogers executives in August.

“I can stand here and say it’s my personality, they didn’t like my personality, but those all become pretexts and excuses later,” Burke said. “If you’ve won enough games, you can be as obnoxious as you want to be.”

The Leafs went 128-135-42 during his reign and finished a disappointing 13th in the Eastern Conference last season. Despite it being a constant talking point around the team, his biggest failings were an inability to stabilize the goaltending situation or acquire a true No. 1 center.

Toronto last qualified for the playoffs in 2004 — the longest current drought in the NHL.

Burke will remain with the Leafs in the role of senior adviser to the board for the time being. But he made it clear he wasn’t comfortable simply riding out the final 22 months of his contract, and that he would relish the opportunity to run another NHL team.

“Tomorrow, if I can,” Burke said. “I don’t think I’m done from a hockey perspective. I am definitely in the job market, no question.”

If a general manager job doesn’t materialize, he could be a good candidate to end up with a role in the league office.

Despite the fact the Leafs failed to qualify for the playoffs with Burke at the helm, there have been some encouraging signs that better days might be ahead for the organization. The Toronto Marlies are fresh off an appearance in the Calder Cup final and currently have the best record in the American Hockey League’s Western Conference.

Burke also expressed pride in being able to use his position to help out with so many charitable initiatives — something that he was honored for Saturday evening for his support of Canadian troops.

But his dream of winning another Stanley Cup title never came close to materializing in Toronto.

“I did not accomplish what I set out to accomplish here,” Burke said. “That’s clear. Absolutely clear.”

On the day he said goodbye to the Maple Leafs — at least as the team’s public face — he had no interest in looking back on what might have been. The team has lived by the motto “no excuses, no complaints” and Burke made it clear he didn’t have any of either.

Truth be told, he probably wouldn’t change a thing.

“The people that hired me hired Brian Burke,” he said. “Maybe the new guys don’t like that brand, maybe they want someone who is a little more conventional. They’re entitled to that, that’s fine.

“I’m not changing. I’m not going to change how I do things. That’s not possible.”

Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press

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The 30 governors on hand for the league’s board of governors meeting voted unanimously to pass, completing one half of ratification.

All that is needed for the deal to become official is for the players to vote. The vote, which will be held electronically for the 700-plus membership, is expected to be finished by Friday or Saturday, a source told ESPNNewYork.com. Training camps are tentatively set to open Sunday, the source said, with a 48-game regular season scheduled to start Jan. 19.

Assuming the players ratify as well, the lockout officially will come to a close after almost four months.

In a statement following Wednesday’s meeting in midtown Manhattan, Bettman offered an apology to the fans for the lockout, the third work stoppage during his tenure as commissioner.

“We know no words of apology or explanation will soften the disappointment. I read the letters, I followed the tweets, I read the blogs. We have a lot of work to do,” Bettman said. “The National Hockey League has a responsibility to earn back your trust and support, whether you watch one game or every game. And that effort begins today.”

Bettman said there would be initiatives and campaigns to win back the fans, but said they would be announced at the “appropriate time.”

Despite the resounding support Bettman received in the vote, there was speculation his future could be in jeopardy as a result of the long, bitter battle that cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars.

“It’s nothing more than speculation and it’s nothing more than unfounded speculation,” Bettman said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to grow this game, both on and off the ice as we have over the last 20 years. I think the opportunities are great and I’m glad to be a part of them.”

Bettman said realignment and Olympic participation, neither of which were included in the new (tentative) CBA, will be dealt with separately, and soon.

When asked whether any violation of the league’s agreement with Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League could threaten Olympic participation, Bettman declined to place any blame.

“I don’t want to get into ‘what ifs,’ ” he said. “We’ll see what happens and deal with it in an appropriate fashion.”

New Jersey forward Ilya Kovalchuk’s return to the NHL from Russia has yet to be verified, but Bettman did not issue any threats when questioned about the matter.

“The NHL represents the highest level of hockey in the world,” he said. “We expect that the best players will want to play here.”

Bettman said he hopes to build a relationship with what he called a “stable union with strong leadership” and one that provided the opportunity to create a partnership. He admitted that the 113 days it took to reach a deal with the union was a “long and extremely difficult” negotiation in which “everyone lost in the short term.”

He said he hoped the 10-year deal, pending ratification, would provide stability to the game moving forward.

The memorandum of understanding, the document the players will be voting on, was still being finalized by lawyers on both sides Wednesday afternoon, a source confirmed.

Bettman declined to provide details about the schedule, other than that one won’t be released until after the CBA is signed.

He did acknowledge that, for hockey fans, that day cannot come soon enough.

“The players are ready to play their hearts out for you, the teams are prepared to welcome you back with welcome arms, the wait is just about over,” he said. “Like all of you, we can’t wait to drop the puck.”

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