Why does the NHL schedule seem to make more logistical sense than the NBA?

[bobholly39]

If the NHL was launched for the first time in 2024 (and somehow, was as big/successful as it is in year 1) - I think you wouldn't see much of this stuff.
If a team like Montreal or Ottawa goes to the west coast to play Vancouver? Well...it's just one game, they don't automatically also play Calgary/Edmonton same trip. They might play Vancouver one night, and then back in....NJ 2 days later or something.

Travel is a lot easier in 2024 then it was in previous eras
There's a LOT more revenue generated in 2024, so travel is a much lesser expense then it might have been 30-40 years ago

Back then - it made sense for a team to lump in a few games in a row to minimize travel...I don't think that's necessar anymore today. But they contiue, mostly out of habit.

 

[StreetHawk]

nba has more non eastern time zone teams than. NHL.

East has Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana and NO.

You ideally prefer not to do 1 off road trips, especially if that team just returned home from a 4-6 game road trip and played 1 home game before you send them on a 1 game trip then back home for 1-2 games before another road trip.

Team would rather, on their way home for that long road trip, play that short one off road game, then return home for 3-4 straight, vs break up a homestand.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

nba has more non eastern time zone teams than. NHL.

East has Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana and NO.

You ideally prefer not to do 1 off road trips, especially if that team just returned home from a 4-6 game road trip and played 1 home game before you send them on a 1 game trip then back home for 1-2 games before another road trip.

Team would rather, on their way home for that long road trip, play that short one off road game, then return home for 3-4 straight, vs break up a homestand.

when is New Orleans East, Street..... they're in the West/SW Division.....

 

[StreetHawk]

when is New Orleans East, Street..... they're in the West/SW Division.....

Right, guess I forgot that when Charlotte returned, that pushed NO over to the West.

 

[kingsholygrail]

MLB plays 162 games a year and also average about 40,000 miles per season.

Obviously NFL teams only play 17 games in a season, but they still manage to rack up 25,000 miles a season on average which surprised me!

Funny enough, when you condense the MLB schedule to series, it's more like 54 which is basically in line with the NHL and NBA for travel.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I think this whole discussion can be answered quite easily with a couple google searches actually. Let's learn together @IslesFan2017 !

Both leagues play 82 game seasons over roughly the same time period, over roughly the same geographical area - but as the NHL extends further north into Canada I think we can agree the NHL teams will probably have to travel just a bit more on average.

If the NBA has much less efficient road schedule planning, looking at the distance traveled by teams on average or in total would tell you pretty completely if you're right, yes? Here's what I found.

View attachment 882828

View attachment 882831


Looks like you were wrong. Seems about the same if you adjust for the extra Canadian distance. NBA also appears to have been pursuing strategies for reducing travel for years now, and this was the first result.

Uhh I’d like to report a body? Yes, the corpse of OP’s argument, it’s here.

Nothin the nhl does is logical, remember that OP. These folks will leave you dry on a Sunday and give you 14 games on a Tuesday, if there’s any logic involved it’s about saving money, das it, das all the troll men in their bidness suits care for.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Do you have an example of, say, the Knicks going out to California and playing only one team? I don't recall that ever happening.

Even in the WNBA, where there's only 12 teams, it's rare for a team on the east coast to go out to Vegas, LA, Phoniex, or Seattle, and not play at least two of those teams.

The NBA has a wider Eastern Conference, extending out to Chicago and an extra team down south with Atlanta, but traveling within your conference is nothing crazy. At most, you change timezones once and jet leg is minimal. Traveling down to Florida and coming back isn't a huge deal at all.

When it comes to cross-continental trips, I don't see any difference.

I feel like the OP has been asked 1/2 dozen times or more about that, and a one game sample is not a trend,
But has yet to come back and address those points.

 

[rojac]

I've been a little busy so I haven't had time to respond until now. I don't want to go through every team's schedule but I wanted to pick a couple of teams and their schedules from this past season to show what I mean.

First, the Canucks. Here are their road trips in order:
10/14~10/24 @EDM, @PHI, @TB, @fla, @NSH (southeast teams together)
11/9~11/12 @OTT, @TOR, @mtl (eastern Canada teams together)
11/22~11/25 @COL, @SeA, @sj
12/16~12/21 @MIN, @CHI, @NSH, @DAL (central teams)
1/4~1/15 @STL, @NJ, @NYR, @NYI, @pit, @BUF, @CLB (New York area teams together)
2/6~2/13 @car, @BOS, @DET, @Wsh, @CHI (a little bit messy but seems like the other eastern teams they hadn't visited yet)
2/19~2/22 @MIN, @COL, @SeA
3/3~3/7 @Ana, @LAK, @VGK (southern California)
4/2~4/6 @VGK, @Ari, @LAK (southwest region teams together)

Their one game one-off trips were 10/11 (home opener) vs. EDM, 11/2 @sj, 11/15 vs. NYI, 11/16 @cgy, 12/2 @cgy, 4/13 @EDM and 4/18 @WPG.

Next, the Hurricanes. Here are their road trips in order:
10/14~10/24 @LAK, @Ana @sj, @SeA, @COL, @TB (California and northwest)
10/30~11/4 @PHI, @NYR, @NYI (New York metropolitan)
11/10~11/11 @fla, @TB (Florida)
12/4~12/14 @WPG, @EDM, @cgy, @Van, @OTT, @DET (western Canada and a couple of northeast teams)
12/30~1/5 @TOR, @NYR, @Wsh
2/13~2/17 @DAL, @Ari, @VGK (southwest region teams together)
2/25~2/29 @BUF, @MIN, @CBJ
3/16~3/19 @TOR, @OTT, @NYI (Ontario teams together)
4/9~4/16 @BOS, @STL, @CHI, @CBJ (midwest teams together)

Their one game one-off trips were 10/11 (home opener) vs. OTT, 11/7 @BUF, 11/28 @PHI, 12/21 @pit, 12/23 vs. NYI, 12/27 @NSH, 1/24@BOS, 3/9 @NJ, 3/21 vs. PHI, 3/22 @Wsh, 3/24 vs. TOR, 3/26 @pit, 3/28 vs. DET, and 3/30 @mtl.

I'll admit that I'm surprised how many one-off trips the Hurricanes made. However, look at the Canucks schedule. It's pretty well-organized and the majority of their one-off trips are to Alberta or San Jose.

All of those one-off trips for the Canes are shorter than Vancouver to Dan Jose. Several are shorter than Vancouver to Calgary.

 

[StreetHawk]

All of those one-off trips for the Canes are shorter than Vancouver to Dan Jose. Several are shorter than Vancouver to Calgary.

The worst one off trips are those where you returned home from the road and only play 1 game before having to play that one off game. Players may appreciate breaking up a 6 game homestand with a one off game but they feel like it’s basically 3 extra road games on top of the one they come off from if it’s one at home then the one off then 3 more at home. Treat the 2 home games around the one off as road games.