Metaphorically speaking, the Penguins have been miles behind the competition for the past three seasons, having missed the playoffs in each campaign. However, the Penguins are literally miles behind the competition every season, regardless of their on-ice success, or lack thereof. Let me explain. In terms of actual miles traveled in an NHL season, the majority of the other 31 teams lap the Penguins. This year is an anomaly with the team traveling to Sweden for a pair of games versus Nashville in November, but in a normal season the Penguins are usually in the bottom-five in the NHL for frequent flier miles.
Interestingly, although the Penguins do not top the list of total travel miles this season, they do top the list as far as total number of road trips at 22. The Avalanche, Bruins, and Capitals come in a close second at 21. The teams that take the least number of road trips are the Kraken, Mammoth, Panthers, and Ducks.
Largely due to the Sweden trip, this season the Penguins are slated to travel the tenth-most number of miles out of all 32 NHL teams this season with an estimated 43,980 miles. Compare that to the Dallas Stars’ projected 50,601 miles, tops in the NHL and the Islanders’ 28,477 miles, lowest in the league. That is a difference of 22,124 travel miles between the Stars and Islanders! That is a huge difference. Consider that 18,800 miles would be the equivalent of approximately two round trips from Pittsburgh to Honolulu! Conversely, consider that the round-trip voyage when the Devils and Rangers play is a paltry 29 miles.
The travel for teams like Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton each season may seem daunting, but consider the plight that the Los Angeles Kings used to face. From 1976, when the California Seals left for Cleveland, until 1991, when San Jose entered the League, the closest team to the Kings was the Colorado Rockies. Things got even worse for the Kings in 1982 when the Rockies left Denver and headed to New Jersey. So, from 1982 to 1991 the closest geographic team to Los Angeles was, amazingly, Vancouver at about 1,200 miles away. From 1982-1991 the cities in Los Angeles’ division were Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton. Additionally, there were also many more East vs. West games back then, so one can imagine the jet lag that Kings players had to endure during those years.
While some scheduling complaints are valid, most quirks in the schedule are simply unavoidable. With building availability, restrictions on start times, travel logistics, and a plethora of other obstacles, putting together an NHL schedule is an unenviable task, even if it is done mostly by specialized software. Consider that New York’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena are regularly booked for over 300 days every year and many NHL arenas share their homes with an NBA team, including the two aforementioned arenas.
Teams may also put in special requests, adding another variable to an already complicated equation. For example, many teams that share a city with another professional franchise shy away from October home games because of competition from the other teams. For instance, the Penguins will try to avoid playing a home game on the same day as a Steelers home game.
Of course, every team wants as many home games on Saturdays and the eve of Holidays. Furthermore, some teams prefer games on a particular day of the week. For instance, this season the Penguins will play 21 weekend home games. One on a Friday, 13 on a Saturday, and seven on a Sunday. Additionally, they will play at home on Thanksgiving Eve and New Year’s Day.
As we take a deeper dive into how the scheduling process comes to fruition, it is a wonder how someone ever did this without a computer. The whole process starts when teams turn in a minimum number of acceptable home dates as well as “blackout dates” when they cannot play. Once these dates are submitted, the league looks for gaps in the calendar and periods when a team’s building is not available for long stretches like the former annual “Circus Trip” for the Blackhawks. While this annual trip finally ended in 2017, the team would have to vacate the United Center each season for at least two weeks while the circus was in town.
There are also some rules that must be adhered to such as Pacific Time Zone teams going to the East Coast must play a minimum of three games; likewise, Central and Eastern Time Zone teams must play a minimum of three games when they travel to the Pacific or Mountain Time Zones.
There’s no doubt that some teams have it tougher than others, but in the end all teams have to play 82 games. So, before you begin to construct your conspiracy theory as to why the Penguins’ schedule seems to be much less favorable than others’, consider that the two teams that have appeared in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons, Edmonton and Florida, regularly face some of the most grueling travel in the entire league. In the end, there are going to be 1,312 games played in the NHL this season and each team will have to play the requisite 82 games. In Pittsburgh fans will be hoping that the team will only be miles behind the competition in the literal sense, but not miles behind in the standings.
Leave a comment