(Photo courtesy of SimplyFlying.com)
After my flight was canceled by Delta and I wasn’t even given the option to rebook, I sat in the airport for 12 hours, and naturally, all the usual travel nightmares were on my mind.
Sure, the Golden Knights don’t have to endure most of the hassle that us mere mortals experience (seriously, Delta, what?!), but playing in the Pacific Division is no joke when it comes to travel.
This season, the Golden Knights are scheduled to travel more than 43,000 miles to complete a 41-game road schedule.
#SeaKraken He is on track to record the third-most mileage this season.
(Excluding “Global Series” trips) https://t.co/PzPo0xxKfj pic.twitter.com/JSbmJHa8lY
— NHLtoSeattle (@NHLtoSeattle) July 8, 2024
43,491 miles is actually not a bad distance for Las Vegas, who ranks fifth in the Pacific Division and has just a few thousand more miles than the other three teams.
Despite one of their teams relocating, VGK’s travel load is roughly the same as last year (43,747), except Vegas was 13th in the league last year and is 9th this year.
The most the Golden Knights have traveled in a season was in 2022-23, when they missed the playoffs, with a total of 47,787.
VGK’s longest trip this year will be just five games, but they will also have four trips to Western/Central Canada, three trips to the Midwest and four trips across three time zones to the East Coast and Canada.
Any way you look at it, playing somewhere like Las Vegas is never easy travel-wise, but there has been a bit of a respite this year compared to years past, and maybe in the future (I wouldn’t be surprised at all if VGK plays Europe or Australia in the near future).
