2013-2014 NHL Regular Season Mileage

Have you ever wondered how many miles each team will travel during the 2013-14 NHL Regular Season? Once again statistical wizard Dirk Hoag has calculated the mileage for all 30 NHL teams this season.  His figures are presented below by conference and division.

                                    WESTERN CONFERENCE

Pacific	2013-14		Central	2013-14
San Jose Sharks	57,612		Colorado Avalanche	49,007
Phoenix Coyotes	52,633		Dallas Stars	46,660
Calgary Flames	48,970		Winnipeg Jets	46,477
Anaheim Ducks	48,568		Minnesota Wild	44,273
Vancouver Canucks	48,510		Nashville Predators	39,810
Los Angeles Kings	48,432		St. Louis Blues	39,328
Edmonton Oilers	45,192		Chicago Blackhawks	38,680
Average	49,988		Average	43,462

                                    EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic	2013-14		Metropolitan	2013-14
Florida Panthers	45,136		Carolina Hurricanes	38,879
Tampa Bay Lightning	43,102		Pittsburgh Penguins	37,061
Boston Bruins	42,389		Columbus Blue Jackets	36,597
Montreal Canadiens	39,327		Washington Capitals	36,250
Toronto Maple Leafs	35,975		Philadelphia Flyers	34,929
Detroit Red Wings	35,324		New Jersey Devils	33,151
Ottawa Senators	34,850		New York Islanders	29,933
Buffalo Sabres	34,812		New York Rangers	29,839
Average	38,864		Average	34,580

With an eye towards reduced travel and pairing teams with their time zone neighbors, this season's NHL realignment has resulted in the reshuffling of teams from six divisions in to four divisions, including the disappearance of the Northeast, Southeast and Northwest, addition of the Metropolitan, and retooling of the Pacific, Central and Atlantic.

This year the most traveled team (San Jose Sharks) nearly doubles the mileage of the least traveled team (New York Rangers), with the average Western team logging 46,725 miles to the Eastern's 36,722 miles for a NHL average of 41,387 miles.  Breaking it down by division, the Pacific leads all others averaging 49,988 miles, followed by the Central (43,462), Atlantic (38,864) and Metropolitan (34,580).

The chart below sorts teams by most mileage to least for 2013-14 showing their total travel for the last 82 game season (2011-12) and the differential between miles traveled before and after realignment.

                                                 SUMMARY

Team	Division	2013-14	2011-12	+/-
Sharks	Pacific	57,617	43,994	+13,623
Coyotes	Pacific	52,633	49,192	+3,441
Avalanche	Central	49,007	48,945	+62
Flames	Pacific	48,970	49,104	-134
Ducks	Pacific	48,568	50,296	-1,728
Canucks	Pacific	48,510	46,826	+1,684
Kings	Pacific	48,432	55,591	-7,159
Stars	Central	46,660	49,622	-2,962
Jets	Central	46,477	44,627	-1,850
Oilers	Pacific	45,192	50,006	-4,814
Panthers	Atlantic	45,136	52,751	-7,615
Wild	Central	44,273	42,860	+1,413
Lightning	Atlantic	43,102	43,717	-615
Bruins	Atlantic	42,389	33,770	+8,619
Predators	Central	39,810	39,534	+276
Blues	Central	39,328	38,781	+547
Canadiens	Atlantic	39,327	39,174	+152
Hurricanes	Metropolitan	38,879	38,114	+765
Blackhawks	Central	38,680	39,288	-608
Penguins	Metropolitan	37,061	33,439	+3,622
Blue Jackets	Metropolitan	36,597	42,831	-6,234
Capitals	Metropolitan	36,250	37,969	-1,719
Maple Leafs	Atlantic	35,975	32,239	-3,736
Red Wings	Atlantic	35,234	42,865	-7,631
Flyers	Metropolitan	34,929	34,193	+736
Senators	Atlantic	34,850	33,915	+935
Sabres	Atlantic	34,812	35,911	-1,099
Devils	Metropolitan	33,151	28,597	-4,554
Islanders	Metropolitan	29,933	32,410	-2,477
Rangers	Metropolitan	29,839	36,385	-6,546
	Average	41,387	41,565	-178

Interestingly, NHL realignment has yielded an average savings of 178 miles per team, for a total league-wide savings of 5,340 miles. The San Jose Sharks (+13,623) and the Boston Bruins (+8,619) lead their respective conferences in terms of increased travel as against their pre-realignment 2011-12 mileage. Ten teams (1/3) have been impacted by less than 1,000 miles as compared to their 2011-12 mileage.

The NHL's new season structure calls for each team in each rink every year. Thus, the mileage savings achieved through pairing teams by proximity have been spent to afford improvements in the schedule. While most teams are now aligned with their geographic neighbors, there are still some peculiarities. Most notably, the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have been paired with six teams in the northeast under the ambiguous Metropolitan namesake.

In addition to counting clicks, Hoag's Schedule tallies each team's number of back-to-back games showing an average of 15 such occurrences per club, the New Jersey Devils (22) leading all others and the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets playing the least (10).
NHL life is indeed a highway, flying thousands of miles all season long.