Pack Your Bags: San Jose Sharks Will Log Most Mileage Next Season
Mar 9, 2015; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks left wing Matt Nieto (83) celebrates with teammates after a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The San Jose Sharks are no strangers to travel miles and next season will be no exception. According to Jonathan Garcia and Dirk Hoag of On the Forecheck, the Sharks will log the most miles in the NHL during the 2015-16 season with 50,362 miles.
San Jose will travel over 5,000 miles more than last season when the Sharks were forced to fly 45,318 miles. Also, the Sharks are going to see an increase in their back-to-back games as they will play 14 sets of back-to-backs in 2015-16 as opposed to 11 last year.
The Sharks won’t be alone in racking up their frequent flyer miles as the rest of the Pacific Division teams except the Arizona Coyotes represent some of the top traveling teams as well.
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Similar to last season, San Jose will begin the season with a road-heavy schedule. While it won’t be as bad as last year when the Sharks had 16 of their first 21 games on the road, San Jose begins their 2015-16 schedule with 13 of their first 21 away from home.
After squaring off against their two Southern California rivals to open the season, the Sharks will head out East to take on Washington and the New York area teams. In November, San Jose embarks on their longest road trip of the year with a six-game, nine-day trek through the Eastern Conference. Finally, the Sharks will make a swing through Canada as part of a five-game road trip that will take them up to Christmas.
However, in the second half of the season, the Sharks will only have to travel once to face Eastern opposition during mid-February – three games against the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes. Also, San Jose only has three road games during the month of January which will be a critical month for accumulating points.
While the travel schedule is not ideal, the Sharks are used to logging the most mileage during a season. It will be imperative for San Jose to get off to good start as there will be stretches during the 82-game season where their road-heavy travels will wear on them.