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Let’s talk travel, NHL style

by Forechecker on 01/16/09 at 10:38 AM ET
Comments (3)

As a followup to all the talk this week about the travel requirements of various NHL teams, here’s my interview with Mark Stephen and Jock Wilson, the hosts of Sportstalk on Calgary’s CHQR 770 AM.  Mark and Jock were particularly interested in how the Flames, already

Head on over to CHQR 770’s AudioVault to hear the interview; simply select the appropriate date & time (Tuesday, January 13th @ 9:00 PM), and when the audio stream launches, go ahead and skip to the 18:00 mark, which is where the segment on NHL travel begins.

Included below is a table highlighting one aspect of our talk, the number of one-game trips that each NHL team has had to log, for this season and last. Part of the reason the guys in Calgary are noticing so many of these trips this year is that in 2007-8, Calgary actually had the least one-game trips of any team in the league (6).  This year they’re more in the middle of the pack, but in terms of local perception, it’s a bigger issue right now.  It’s interesting to note that on this aspect, as well as that of back-to-back games, the Columbus Blue Jackets probably have more right to complain about the schedule than anyone else in the league.

And remember, if you want all the details, consult the full NHL Super Schedule.

Remember, of course, that a one-game trip for a team like the Rangers is often just a bus ride over to Long Island, while a one-game trip for a team from the Northwest is more of a burden.

A one-game trip is here defined as having a change in location before and after a given game. First and last games of the season are excluded if they are at home.

UPDATE: In response to the comment below, I added the number of times each team has to change time zones to play a game as well. These Time Zone numbers apply to all games on a team’s schedule, not just the one-game trips!

UPDATE (1/17/09): Some of the data in the 2007-8 column was off (values switched between some teams), that has now been corrected.

Filed in: NHL Statistical Analysis | On the Forecheck | Permalink
 

Comments

What’s not shown in the chart is the number of time zones a team crosses in order to makesome of those trips. For instance, the Pens may log about the same number of miles going to play the Lightning as the Wings do going to play the Avs, but the Wings cross two time zones on their way to Denver (which means their internal clocks think it’s 9:30 when the game starts instead of the actual 7:30 start time).

Teams like Detroit, Columbus and Nashville, and to a lesser extent Chicago and St. Louis, will always be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to their West Coast road trips.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 01/16/09 at 11:27 AM ET

If you want to run those numbers, earlier this week I added a column to the spreadsheet (far to the right) which has a TRUE or FALSE as to whether a team had to change time zones to play a given game.

Just ‘cause I’m feeling nice today, I’ll add a first-cut of the number of times each team has to change time zones to play a game above.

Posted by Forechecker from Nolensville, TN on 01/16/09 at 11:41 AM ET

BTW, if you’re interested in the number of time zones crossed (Eastern to Pacific count as 3, for example), there is a column for the time zone of each game in the spreadsheet. You can assign a numerical value to that, and sum that up as well..

Posted by Forechecker from Nolensville, TN on 01/16/09 at 11:48 AM ET

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