25,000 miles of travel difference between first and last team in the NHL next season

[Three On Zero]

Saw this earlier and thought it was crazy the difference in miles travelled next season.

Click to read more...

 

[Leonardo87]

Well, Penguins can’t fly so it makes sense.

 

[Three On Zero]

Well, Penguins can’t fly so it makes sense.

 

[tmg]

New Jersey, Buffalo, Florida, and Dallas get a big spike from their trips to Europe.

A lot of the rest of the teams are unsurprising just because of their lack of proximity to other teams.

The real outlier seems to be Montreal - so much more distance than, say, Ottawa when they really should have similar travel demands.

 

[HabsQC]

How are the Habs and Sens so far apart ?

 

[tmg]

How are the Habs and Sens so far apart ?

I took a look at their road schedules earlier when this was fresh on Reddit. The best I could see is that Montreal has four short (3-4 game) road trips out west, while Ottawa has two short ones and one really long one. I don’t think that accounts for all of the difference but it’s a chunk of it.

 

[StreetHawk]

How are the Habs and Sens so far apart ?

Can ask the same question for Ana/LA, Sea/Van, and even Utah/Col (next door states).

If it's that big a margin and unless they were going to Europe, it means that the schedule maker wasn't very effecient on their road trips or you ended up on multiple shorter trips, thus have some wasted mileage. Always better to do longer trips to the East or West and knock off as many as you can.

Van's road trips this season all see very logical. Not perfect, but very limited overlap of of mileage.

 

[Ceremony]

Colorado usually tops these lists. Good to see it's getting easier for us

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

It's only fair. Pittsburgh's roster is old and it makes traveling more difficult for them.

 

[LarKing]

I don't feel bad for any teams travel after watching the wings, an EST team, play in the west for years

Not that travel isn't a factor, but I feel like teams on the second game of a B2B playing a rested team would have a much bigger impact

 

[Drake1588]

It's true but there's not a ton anyone can do about it.

Take solace in the fact that living in the megalopolis of the NE means you're more clustered together in an industrial wasteland or post-industrial Rust Belt, scrambling on top of one another to get ahead. Long travel means living in nicer places with better weather, cleaner air, and more room to yourself (well, maybe not so much in LA for that last bit). Quality of life versus easy proximity to your rivals.

I have at times wondered whether baseball-style series in one city could make sense for hockey. It would have been easier to pull off when you played your division opponents a lot more (up to eight times per season) in the early 2000s. It would certainly cut down on travel and raise the intensity/temperature as each series evolved.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

It's only fair. Pittsburgh's roster is old and it makes traveling more difficult for them.

My grandma was from Pittsburgh and absolutely hated flying. I think twice in her life she got talked into going on a trip by plane, once to California and once to Florida. Both times she was so upset that she refused to fly back and ended up taking the bus back to Pittsburgh.

 

[SillyRabbit]

New Jersey, Buffalo, Florida, and Dallas get a big spike from their trips to Europe.

A lot of the rest of the teams are unsurprising just because of their lack of proximity to other teams.

The real outlier seems to be Montreal - so much more distance than, say, Ottawa when they really should have similar travel demands.

Wish they would've published one without the Europe trips, that would be more representative of the normal expected travel for teams over a season.

 

[Yorkshire Leaf]

So the difference is about 600 miles per road game, or just over an extra hour on a commercial airliner (500mph), hardly a hardship for the players flying first class.

 

[GKJ]

How’s Colorado in the bottom half of the league? They’re one of the top 2 or 3 most isolated teams in the league. They get a lot of long road trips?

 

[JoVel]

This disparity could be avoided if all the teams were relocated to Toronto.

 

[njdevils1982]

Wish they would've published one without the Europe trips, that would be more representative of the normal expected travel for teams over a season.

devils minus the prague trip is 31,772... then add a trip to buffalo instead = 32,450 miles

 

[cowboy82nd]

I don't feel bad for any teams travel after watching the wings, an EST team, play in the west for years

Not that travel isn't a factor, but I feel like teams on the second game of a B2B playing a rested team would have a much bigger impact

That works for ALL teams.

 

[Section 104]

What we need is Larry Brooks of the NY Post telling us the Rangers should be compensated for the least travel miles in a comfortable airplane while it is clearly an advantage for Florida to fly so much. Rangers have to take a bus to Newark and Edmonton where half the Devils and Islanders crowd are Ranger fans

 

[Lunatik]

I took a look at their road schedules earlier when this was fresh on Reddit. The best I could see is that Montreal has four short (3-4 game) road trips out west, while Ottawa has two short ones and one really long one. I don’t think that accounts for all of the difference but it’s a chunk of it.

Another factor, which we also see with Toronto is the NHL likes to get teh Habs and Leafs home on Saturday nights whenever possible, or at least they used to.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

This disparity could be avoided if all the teams were relocated to Toronto.

But then the Stanley Cup would never get awarded because every team would choke in the first round.

 

[My3Sons]

What we need is Larry Brooks of the NY Post telling us the Rangers should be compensated for the least travel miles in a comfortable airplane while it is clearly an advantage for Florida to fly so much. Rangers have to take a bus to Newark and Edmonton where half the Devils and Islanders crowd are Ranger fans

I don't think taking a bus to Edmonton is fair. The Rangers should at least take a train.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Once you're on a plane, you're on a plane. 2 hour vs 3 hour flight isn't a world of difference in your day, but that's a lot of miles adding up over the course of the year nevertheless.

 

[Machinehead]

Surprised by Columbus. They're not that close to the teams in their division compared to the other Metro teams.

 

[LarKing]

That works for ALL teams.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. I'm curious to see if there's a big disparity with this