I knew as soon as the KHL announced an expansion team in Vladivostok that I had to create a KHL Super Schedule, adding up the total miles traveled by KHL teams over the course of the 2013-2014 season. For years now I've done the same thi...
I knew as soon as the KHL announced an expansion team in Vladivostok that I had to create a KHL Super Schedule, adding up the total miles traveled by KHL teams over the course of the 2013-2014 season. For years now I've done the same thing for the NHL (check out previous editions of the NHL Super Schedule), but recent additions to the KHL lineup have pushed that league to a remarkable geographic extreme.
Having been fortunate enough to take one year of Russian language classes in high school, one thing I do remember is that Vladivostok was described as roughly translating into English as "furthest East". The new Vladivostok Admiral club, along with fellow Chernyshev Division team HC Amur, is located over 2,000 miles to the east of any other KHL team!
Yesterday the league announced their 2013-2014 regular season schedule, so once I put together a matrix of distances ("as the crow flies") from each KHL team's location to every other team, I was able to build upon the spreadsheets I use for the NHL Super Schedule to calculate the distance each club will travel along the course of their season.
You're Not In Kansas Any More
Google Map of KHL Teams
Take a look at how widespread KHL teams are in this interactive Google Map.
Imagine you're part of this year's other KHL expansion club, playing out of Zagreb, Croatia. For many road games you'll travel about 1,000 miles to the greater Moscow area, which is home to 5 teams. Then, maybe you head another 2,000 miles east for a road game at Metallurg Novokuznetsk. Feeling like a big-time hockey player, are you?
OK, just hop aboard that jet and head all the way across Mongolia, then add several hundred more miles before touching down in Vladivostok for a game against Slava Fetisov's team. Once you're done, buckle up for a 5,000 mile trip back home!
So yeah, adding a franchise at the East Pole is sure to introduce a massive amount of travel for fellow KHL teams, who play every other team in the league twice during the upcoming season (once at home, once on the road).
So without further ado, let's take a look at the numbers...
Team
Travel Miles
1-Game Trips
82 Game Equivalent
HC Admiral Vladivostok
58,462
0
88,776
Amur Khabarovsk
56,322
0
85,526
Metallurg Novokuznetsk
35,506
0
53,917
Sibir Novosibirsk
34,269
0
52,038
HC LEV Praha
33,014
3
50,132
KHL Medvescak Zagreb
32,717
1
49,681
HC Slovan Bratislava
31,556
1
47,918
Barys Astana
27,728
3
42,105
Donbas Donets’k
27,633
3
41,961
Traktor Chelyabinsk
27,120
2
41,182
Dinamo Minsk
26,487
2
40,221
Dinamo Riga
26,231
2
39,832
SKA St. Petersburg
25,800
3
39,178
Avangard Omsk
25,566
2
38,822
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
25,544
0
38,789
Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk
25,015
0
37,986
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
24,136
2
36,651
Salavat Yulayev Ufa
24,054
1
36,526
Ak Bars Kazan
23,741
1
36,051
Atlant Moscow Oblast
23,197
4
35,225
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
22,828
1
34,665
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
22,702
3
34,473
Dynamo Moskva
22,603
0
34,323
Vityaz Podolsk
22,411
10
34,032
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
22,022
2
33,441
Severstal Cherepovets
21,768
0
33,055
CSKA Moskva
21,628
3
32,843
Spartak Moskva
21,621
5
32,832
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Keep in mind that the KHL is set for a 54-game season in 2013-2014, so I've added a column here reflecting an 82-game equivalent for comparison against NHL teams. Along those lines, here are a few observations:
Even in just 54 games, HC Admiral Vladivostok & Amur Khabarovsk will travel more than any NHL team in any of the last four 82-game seasons!
These travel numbers would be even more arduous were it not for careful management of the schedule. For example, one common issue in the NHL is having teams play on back-to-back nights, with most teams playing a dozen