NHL Travel Miles: The 2016-2017 Super Schedule Released
It's what you've been waiting for! The 2016-17 Super Schedule has arrived and it's gorgeous as usual.
As the tradition started (and continued) here at OnTheForecheck, former headmaster Dirk Hoag has again put together a complete list of team travel miles and back-to-backs across the NHL. Included is also a list of each teams totals from the previous year.
| Team | 2016-17 Miles | 2016-17 B-to-B | 2015-16 Miles | 2015-16 B-to-B | 2014-15 Miles | 2014-15 B-to-B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Oilers | 49,272 | 10 | 49,401 | 9 | 45,597 | 11 |
| San Jose Sharks | 48,872 | 16 | 50,362 | 14 | 45,318 | 11 |
| Calgary Flames | 48,488 | 11 | 48,341 | 12 | 38,874 | 10 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 47,869 | 13 | 40,504 | 15 | 49,818 | 13 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 45,782 | 16 | 45,711 | 13 | 45,173 | 12 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 45,742 | 16 | 43,750 | 13 | 44,100 | 9 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 45,173 | 11 | 42,901 | 10 | 44,167 | 12 |
| Dallas Stars | 45,091 | 10 | 48,419 | 12 | 48,216 | 12 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 44,121 | 14 | 44,653 | 11 | 46,967 | 13 |
| Washington Capitals | 43,303 | 14 | 35,487 | 13 | 36,487 | 16 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 42,042 | 16 | 40,974 | 13 | 37,221 | 12 |
| Florida Panthers | 41,435 | 15 | 41,891 | 14 | 42,786 | 12 |
| Boston Bruins | 41,095 | 14 | 38,236 | 11 | 38,938 | 16 |
| Minnesota Wild | 39,175 | 14 | 40,976 | 15 | 41,178 | 13 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 39,050 | 15 | 39,947 | 16 | 37,135 | 16 |
| Nashville Predators | 39,027 | 13 | 36,971 | 12 | 42,096 | 11 |
| St. Louis Blues | 38,738 | 12 | 40,649 | 12 | 38,965 | 14 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 38,135 | 16 | 33,487 | 17 | 34,179 | 12 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 37,804 | 16 | 41,558 | 16 | 40,800 | 16 |
| New York Rangers | 36,986 | 16 | 36,089 | 17 | 36,113 | 13 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 35,746 | 14 | 39,332 | 13 | 40,074 | 15 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 35,130 | 19 | 34,201 | 15 | 37,022 | 19 |
| Ottawa Senators | 34,787 | 13 | 38,796 | 14 | 33,421 | 13 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 34,397 | 16 | 42,380 | 12 | 42,027 | 9 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 33,455 | 18 | 34,811 | 15 | 31,272 | 14 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 33,388 | 15 | 33,660 | 17 | 32,444 | 17 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 33,239 | 19 | 37,602 | 18 | 35,139 | 19 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 32,973 | 18 | 33,880 | 16 | 34,020 | 18 |
| New Jersey Devils | 32,945 | 18 | 36,271 | 12 | 33,597 | 18 |
| New York Islanders | 32,425 | 16 | 35,015 | 15 | 33,214 | 16 |
It goes without saying that we here at OTF can't help but continue to thank Dirk for his continued efforts in providing this year after year. And much like last year, he's provided a Google Spreadsheet that's even more in-depth for each team -- including game-by-game breakdowns.
Here's a few noteworthy things that we can pull out of the Super Schedule just on initial observations:
- San Jose and Edmonton, who were number one and two respectively last season in miles traveled, will continue to hold that same reign with the Oilers jumping ahead and taking the top spot and the Sharks falling to number two.
- After cutting nearly 6,000 miles of travel off their schedule last season, Nashville adds a little over 2,000 this year -- with only one extra set of back-to-backs.
- Speaking of back-to-backs, which team had the biggest change? New Jersey. The Devils had only 12 back-to-backs last season, but will have 18 in 2016-17.
- Who has the most back-to-backs? Buffalo and long-time back-to-back champion Columbus share that distinction. Both have 19 this season, tops across the league.
- New York, New Jersey and Toronto are bottom-three in miles traveled this season and separated by a combined mileage total of 548 miles. All have an increased number of back-to-backs, however, from last season.
- Who changes the least from last season? Vancouver, where the Canucks will see a change of 71 miles. Who changes the most? Winnipeg! They go from traveling 42,380 miles last season to 34,397 this year -- a change of 7,983 miles./
Thanks again to Dirk for putting this together! You can still read his thoughts at his website.