Winners and losers in 2015-16 NHL schedule mileage
For yet another year, Pacific Division teams will be burning up the jet fuel for travel.
The one and only Dirk Hoag, former head of On the Forecheck, looked at the NHL’s schedule and came up with an estimate of how many miles teams will travel. Teams in the Pacific Division occupy six spots in the top-10.
Behold the table below that shows … Edmonton’s Connor McDavid will go way, way further to play his hockey games than Buffalo’s Jack Eichel in their rookie years.
Miles and back-to-backs games go through the 2013-14 season, the first year of the NHL’s current divisional format.
The table was originally released by OTF:
|
Team |
2015-16 Miles |
2015-16 B-to-B |
2014-15 Miles |
2014-15 B-to-B |
2013-14 Miles |
2013-14 B-to-B |
|
San Jose Sharks |
50,362 |
14 |
45,318 |
11 |
57,612 |
10 |
|
Edmonton Oilers |
49,401 |
9 |
45,597 |
11 |
45,192 |
12 |
|
Dallas Stars |
48,419 |
12 |
48,216 |
12 |
46,660 |
13 |
|
Calgary Flames |
48,341 |
12 |
38,874 |
10 |
48,970 |
12 |
|
Vancouver Canucks |
45,711 |
13 |
45,173 |
12 |
48,510 |
17 |
|
Anaheim Ducks |
44,653 |
11 |
46,967 |
13 |
48,568 |
14 |
|
Los Angeles Kings |
43,750 |
13 |
44,100 |
9 |
48,432 |
14 |
|
Colorado Avalanche |
42,901 |
10 |
44,167 |
12 |
49,007 |
10 |
|
Winnipeg Jets |
42,380 |
12 |
42,027 |
9 |
46,477 |
10 |
|
Florida Panthers |
41,891 |
14 |
42,786 |
12 |
45,136 |
14 |
|
Carolina Hurricanes |
41,558 |
16 |
40,800 |
16 |
38,879 |
20 |
|
Minnesota Wild |
40,976 |
15 |
41,178 |
13 |
44,273 |
13 |
|
Tampa Bay Lightning |
40,974 |
13 |
37,221 |
12 |
43,102 |
12 |
|
St. Louis Blues |
40,649 |
12 |
38,965 |
14 |
39,328 |
13 |
|
Arizona Coyotes |
40,504 |
15 |
49,818 |
13 |
52,633 |
12 |
|
Montreal Canadiens |
39,947 |
16 |
37,135 |
16 |
39,327 |
17 |
|
Chicago Blackhawks |
39,332 |
13 |
40,074 |
15 |
38,680 |
18 |
|
Ottawa Senators |
38,796 |
14 |
33,421 |
13 |
34,850 |
16 |
|
Boston Bruins |
38,236 |
11 |
38,938 |
16 |
42,389 |
17 |
|
Columbus Blue Jackets |
37,602 |
18 |
35,139 |
19 |
36,597 |
17 |
|
Nashville Predators |
36,971 |
12 |
42,096 |
11 |
39,810 |
15 |
|
New Jersey Devils |
36,271 |
12 |
33,597 |
18 |
33,151 |
22 |
|
New York Rangers |
36,089 |
17 |
36,113 |
13 |
29,839 |
13 |
|
Washington Capitals |
35,487 |
13 |
36,487 |
16 |
36,250 |
17 |
|
New York Islanders |
35,015 |
15 |
33,214 |
16 |
29,933 |
18 |
|
Philadelphia Flyers |
34,811 |
15 |
31,272 |
14 |
34,929 |
14 |
|
Buffalo Sabres |
34,201 |
15 |
37,022 |
19 |
34,812 |
13 |
|
Toronto Maple Leafs |
33,880 |
16 |
34,020 |
18 |
35,975 |
16 |
|
Pittsburgh Penguins |
33,660 |
17 |
32,444 |
17 |
37,061 |
17 |
|
Detroit Red Wings |
33,487 |
17 |
34,179 |
12 |
35,324 |
15 |
Hoag also made an incredibly detailed spreadsheet on this.
A few reactions to this…
• The Detroit Red Wings must really, really love playing in the Eastern Conference. Per the 2011-12 super schedule, Detroit traveled 42,865 miles. On this graph they will travel an estimated 33,487 miles. Those 9,378 or so fewer miles go a long, long way. In 2011-12 the Blue Jackets, the other former Western Conference team moved East, went 42,831 miles. On the above graph they will travel an estimate 37,602 miles.
• A total of 14 teams will travel fewer miles than last year. Which means 16 teams will travel more.
• I’m amazed the Philadelphia Flyers don’t travel the fewest miles for the second straight year. Have they lost their favored status with the NHL?
• Teams that joined the Central Division after the 2012-13 season seem to still have the screws put to them from a travel perspective. Out of the top-10 most traveled teams, the only Central Division teams are relative divisional newbies Dallas, Winnipeg and Colorado. Minnesota is the fourth-most traveled Central team. They rank 12th overall. So much for that whole realignment limiting their miles.
• San Jose will travel the most miles for the second time in three years since the new alignment. Guess that’s the price you pay for being able to play Putt-Putt in the middle of winter.
• The Western Conference team with most back to backs is the Arizona Coyotes. Seven Eastern Conference squads have more with Columbus topping out at 18. Columbus will travel close to 2,902 fewer miles than Arizona. Would you rather play three more back to backs or travel 3,000 more air miles?
• The top-three most traveled Eastern Conference teams, Florida, Carolina and Tampa, all play below the Mason-Dixon line. The South will rise again!
• After Jan. 18, the Penguins will not have to leave the Eastern timezone.
• The Nashville Predators will travel 5,125 fewer miles than a year ago and only play one more back-to-back. They owe the NHL schedule maker a cold one.
• Hopefully McDavid knows how to pack a suitcase.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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