form of Travel in Juniors?

[SI90]

Was wondering what form of transportation did the Junior leagues use...


OHL, many of the cities are within a few hours of eachother, mayby with the exception of a sundbury.

Do they use Bus,Train, or plane?

 

[Pierre Dagenais]

I know they mostly use Buses in the QMJHL.

 

[R S]

All buses.

In the WHL final, the teams fly charter.

 

[SI90]

All buses.

In the WHL final, the teams fly charter.

Thanks....Also On the isles draft board I responded to your post and had a question on Ryan Murray...

 

[ALine]

Yea i know they bus it in the Q and O. but I do wonder if they also in the W. For instance, what if Brandon played Prince George (does this happen often, given that they're in different divisions)?

EDIT: got my answer,

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

I find the lifestyle of junior hockey very interesting.

How long are these kids out on the road for? I know that in the OHL (particularly the teams in SW Ontario) the players sleep in their own beds most nights because the other teams are pretty close. But in the WHL those cities seem awfully far apart - are the players away for long periods of time?

anyone know what the class of accommodations is like? I know it's nothing luxurious...but is it of the "cheap motel" variety or do they get nicer?

 

[Tryblot]

I find the lifestyle of junior hockey very interesting.

How long are these kids out on the road for? I know that in the OHL (particularly the teams in SW Ontario) the players sleep in their own beds most nights because the other teams are pretty close. But in the WHL those cities seem awfully far apart - are the players away for long periods of time?

anyone know what the class of accommodations is like? I know it's nothing luxurious...but is it of the "cheap motel" variety or do they get nicer?

Living in London I was walking by the Delta Armouries during the playoffs when the Knights were playing Saginaw ( I think it was Saginaw) and they had their bus parked outside of that hotel. That hotel is very nice and is the nicest hotel in London.

 

[Use the Schwartz*]

The Q uses buses to not give the richer teams the advantage of airplanes and less travel time.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

The Q uses buses to not give the richer teams the advantage of airplanes and less travel time.

Some teams do fly at times though, the Remparts fly for their Abitibi trips I have heard.

It should also be pointed out the schedules are usually done the same way as the NHL when it comes to road trips. A team from the Western part of Quebec won't just go to the Maritimes for 1 game, they'll visit pretty much all the Maritime teams on the same trip.

 

[Patchey*]

A Cranbrook vs Brandon Playoff series would be ridiculous.

 

[Jamie Benn]

A Cranbrook vs Brandon Playoff series would be ridiculous.

A Victoria vs Brandon playoff series would be nuts.

That is not fully updated to the current WHL teams.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

A Cranbrook vs Brandon Playoff series would be ridiculous.

I hate to say it but there are very few cities in the WHL that I would want to play in. Can you image being stuck in Prince George or Prince Albert all winter?

Some of those cities are so far apart...the bus rides must be just brutal.

 

[KingJet*]

A Cranbrook vs Brandon Playoff series would be ridiculous.

Having a final of Prince George and Brandon would be hell, what I know is Prince George is the least popular place for someone in the WHL to play for, I know Carter Rigby would rather play in the BCHL than PGC, which is why he got traded to Kelowna.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Cape Breton to Rouyn-Noranda is the worst trip in the entire CHL if I'm not mistaken. I did it once in my life and I'd rather never do it again.

 

[Patchey*]

Finals series would be normal since they can fly.

 

[pdxshark]

A Cranbrook vs Brandon Playoff series would be ridiculous.

Would be cool to dust off ArcGIS and make a map of network distance between WHL cities. Gotta remember once you get off the coast the roads are pretty snowy. I can't imagine driving so spokane in the winter as regularly as the winterhawks do.

The linear distance looks bad but when you consider there are not always direct routes and its pretty mountainous terrain its a lot more daunting. I know you've made good time if you get from PDX to seattle in 2.5 - 3 hours and thats probably the closest road city down here.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I hate to say it but there are very few cities in the WHL that I would want to play in. Can you image being stuck in Prince George or Prince Albert all winter?

Some of those cities are so far apart...the bus rides must be just brutal.

thats a pretty ignorant statement to make...sure Prince Albert, Swift Current and Brandon are kinda dumps (PA is an awful town...)
but big cities like Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Victoria aren't bad to play in

Cranbrook is a gorgeous town with great skiing, Med Hat and Lethbridge are pretty warm in the winter, Red Deer is a bigger town and close to Edmonton-Calgary...Kelowna is my favorite place in Canada

I mean, how is it worse than playing in the Soo, Sudbury, Sarnia, Owen Sound or place like that?

 

[3 Minute Minor]

thats a pretty ignorant statement to make...sure Prince Albert, Swift Current and Brandon are kinda dumps (PA is an awful town...)
but big cities like Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Victoria aren't bad to play in

Cranbrook is a gorgeous town with great skiing, Med Hat and Lethbridge are pretty warm in the winter, Red Deer is a bigger town and close to Edmonton-Calgary...Kelowna is my favorite place in Canada

I mean, how is it worse than playing in the Soo, Sudbury, Sarnia, Owen Sound or place like that?

Edmonton plays in Rexall Place... The atmosphere must be absolute garbage. Average attendance has been ~5,000-6,000. That's ~11,000-10,000 empty seats each night. No thanks.
Similar situation with Calgary, Vancouver, Portland.

On a separate note, the best place to play in the CHL would probably be London.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

thats a pretty ignorant statement to make...sure Prince Albert, Swift Current and Brandon are kinda dumps (PA is an awful town...)
but big cities like Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Victoria aren't bad to play in

Cranbrook is a gorgeous town with great skiing, Med Hat and Lethbridge are pretty warm in the winter, Red Deer is a bigger town and close to Edmonton-Calgary...Kelowna is my favorite place in Canada

I mean, how is it worse than playing in the Soo, Sudbury, Sarnia, Owen Sound or place like that?

I've spent time in western canada...and i'm not being ignorant. I simply wouldn't want to live in most of the cities. I'm sure some of them are great...Van, Kelowna, Seattle, Victoria, Portland...but a lot of them wouldn't be great to live in for 8 months of the year, sorry. My reasons aren't only because of cold weather.

You're right about the OHL cities...I wouldn't want to live in the ones you mentioned either.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

Edmonton plays in Rexall Place... The atmosphere must be absolute garbage. Average attendance has been ~5,000-6,000. That's ~11,000-10,000 empty seats each night. No thanks.
Similar situation with Calgary, Vancouver, Portland.

On a separate note, the best place to play in the CHL would probably be London.

Kitchener and Ottawa would be good, too (although, K might get pretty boring).

 

[Lux Aurumque*]

Edmonton plays in Rexall Place... The atmosphere must be absolute garbage. Average attendance has been ~5,000-6,000. That's ~11,000-10,000 empty seats each night. No thanks.
Similar situation with Calgary, Vancouver, Portland.

On a separate note, the best place to play in the CHL would probably be London.

Uh...

Have you ever watched a Winterhawks game..?

 

[3 Minute Minor]

Uh...

Have you ever watched a Winterhawks game..?

Yep, it was in the Rose Garden and it was like watching Denmark vs. Latvia in the Saddledome.

 

[jfb392]

Here's an example of the Mooseheads using a plane for at least part of their trip to Québec City during the playoffs:

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

here is a clip of Day 1 of a roadtrip of the Mooseheads to Shawinigan. It shows them flying out.

 

[Trevor3]

I have to admit I've never been to western Canada, actually never west of Toronto really, but I just don't get why someone would consider playing in a smaller city terrible, or why that city is considered a dump. I'm just looking up Prince George since it was mentioned, seems like a nice place from pictures and has over 70,000 people. By comparison, Bathurst only has about 13,000 people in its CA, which isn't a whole lot more than where I am, and they have no trouble attracting players... at least that I know of.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. When I lived in Sydney it was a pastime of mine to go down to C200 on game days to see the visiting team busses, some of them were really cool looking. I also know that Halifax leases a bus from A.S.H. Coachlines in NL. A couple of years ago my high school chartered a bus for its band trip and we ended up with the Mooseheads bus. Ironically, the trip was to Halifax so we got to ride around the city in Moosehead colours for a week.

Also, when the Fog Devils were still in St. John's, teams flew in and out. CanJet was the official air carrier of the Fog Devils. If not, the 12 hour drive across the island would have been brutal.