I can understand the worries of a long season - as you say, it is possible that teams will quit midway. That is unfortunate. (Not being sarcastic)
We want to offer a more serious option for NHL gaming and the first step is qualifications for the division system. In the future we can offer multiple leagues - some for the less serious players and some for HC players. It is not possible to please everyone, but we will do our best to cater to all audiences we want to be a community that takes NHL gaming into a more serious (yet fun) direction for those who want to be a part of that.
That's our plan in a nutshell. If your team feels strongly against it, please feel free to comment here or send me a PM. We value the opinions within the community, and if you feel we're making a mistake, we'll take the feedback.