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Super Schedule: The Winnipeg Jets will lead the Eastern Conference in miles travelled

Last Tuesday, I released an article stating the Winnipeg Jets‘ Eastern Conference travel schedule would be ferocious — potentially one of the league’s worst behind the Dallas Stars.

Well, I was wrong. Partially.

Earlier today, our pal Dirk Hoag who does excellent work at his blog, On the Forecheck, released his modified super schedule which is used for tracking the travel miles of each NHL team.

As it pertains to the Winnipeg Jets' travel milage, things aren't as dire as they were previously made out to be.

Of the thirty NHL franchises, the Jets will rank 8th in travel, amassing 27,431 total miles. For reference, the Minnesota Wild (a team with similar geographical constraints as Winnipeg) leads the league with 31,345 miles travelled. At the other end of the spectrum, the New Jersey Devils will have the colossal advantage of keeping things close to home, travailing a measly 11,659 miles this year.

Another bit of fortune worth pointing out is that Winnipeg will rank 22nd in back-to-backs played, as their schedule only contains eight of them. The Chicago Blackhawks lead the league with twelve back-to-backs’ while the Boston Bruins are 30th with only six.

Having said all of this, the Jets’ will still lead the Eastern Conference in total miles travelled. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning place second and third in the eastern travel, coming in a full 2,000 and 7,000 miles behind Winnipeg respectively.

So while the Western Conference will see an influx of travel due to western road swings, it's fitting a team named the Jets will be spending a lot of time in the air this season.

And in a twist of irony, the travel incurred would have likely been worse for the Jets had they been realigned in the Western Conference this year.

Who would have thought?

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