The league-mandated bye week seems to have come at the perfect time for the Boston Bruins, who have posted wins in six of their last seven matchups since returning from a nine-day break between contests.
Good on Bruce Cassidy's club for making the most of its time off, because this roster isn't in line for much of a reprieve over the next couple of months.
"It's kind of like a marathon here," Sean Kuraly said of Boston's schedule.
He's not kidding, given that Boston must slog its way through four sets of back-to-back slates over a three-week stretch in February. It's all part of a sprint to the finish that will see the Bruins play 16 games over the final two months of the regular season, all setting up for what could be another two months of grueling play in pursuit of Lord Stanley's Cup.
Still, for as much as the hectic itineraries and frequent flights can add up over the course of a long season, things could always be worse — especially when it comes to comparing travel in the NHL to the grind that comes with traveling in the lower levels of the sport.
“You kind of forget about it,” Chris Wagner said of traveling down in the lower ranks. “Well, actually you kind of don't."
Whereas many members of the Bruins' roster can recall tales of bus breakdowns, snowstorms and other horror stories during their tenures in the AHL, college and the junior circuit, things are thankfully much more streamlined up at the top level. Bruins team travel and services manager Whitney Delorey keeps tabs on the club's demanding itinerary, while the team is often able to cut down on long hauls by way of chartered team flights.
"What's nice is we don't deal with as many surprises, like in juniors," Kuraly said. "That's huge. If we were dealing with those still with this schedule, that would be really tough. So we were lucky to have Whitney, who keeps everything on schedule. We definitely don't take it for granted."
Things might be considerably less hectic these days when it comes to hitting the road, but many years of overnight bus treks and weather woes have led to some great stories from within the B's locker room. As such, we asked a few Bruins players — what was your worst hockey-related travel story?
Jake DeBrusk
Swift Current Broncos, WHL — Swift Current, Saskatchewan
"There's a couple, but that's what makes it fun. That creates bonding, is that everyone's going through it together. I would say one of those — one of those 20-hour trips where I was doubled up. So you're on a normal bus and doubled up the whole time. So you don't have a lot of room. I do remember one time we were, I think we're driving home from, I want to say Everett (Washington), the Everett Silvertips (WHL) or something like that and we were coming home and our bus broke down. It was like four in the morning and it was around Christmas time and no one knew where we were.
"And so what we had to do is all the rookies would try to push the bus — try to get going. And it wasn't meant to be. So we were out in the snow, four in the morning. We played technically that night before and just got speedbagged. So everybody was miserable. Then we were trying to push the bus out that didn't have anything, then we had to wait four and half hours, unload everything from our bus, onto another that one.
"So that was kind of a little bit hectic. Middle of nowhere. Then you're going on for 16 more hours to get to the frickin’ province of Saskatchewan. So that's probably one of my worst stories from hell, I guess. Just because I was a young guy and a rookie at the time and that's a pretty big thing in junior. I remember just the whole, we were all kind of laughing about it. Like I said, there's always pros and cons to different situations, but it's never easy when you're up at 4:30 in the morning in the wilderness trying to push a bus. When everyone else was chirping and you had to push it. So that kind of sucked."
Charlie McAvoy
US National Team Development Program — Ann Arbor, Michigan
"Oh man. I know one.
There was one where we bused up — we played against Cornell, my U-18 year. I don't know why I remember this one. We played against Cornell and we tied them, and the following night we played against Oswego (State) and we lost to Oswego and we were like, 'This doesn't make any sense.' But they were a really good team that year. So we lost to them and we got right on the bus and we started driving home and we didn't make it back to Ann Arbor until I think like the sun was coming up. And then those Sundays would always be like — just nothing. Like you'd sleep the whole entire day.
And then you were right back at it for school on Monday in practice and everything. So they were tough. Some of the drives from Nebraska. The sleeper buses are nice, because you at least fall asleep. We went down somewhere and played in March during March Madness. So we were like all sitting on the bus. The bus had a TV in the back and you're all watching all the games — we felt like rock stars on a tour bus. That was really cool. But there's so many good memories."
Chris Wagner
Norfolk Admirals, AHL — Norfolk, Virginia
"I was in Norfolk, so I had probably had some of the longest bus rides, especially when we came up here. We'd leave on Wednesday at midnight. And we'd have a sleeper bus — drive 10 hours, to Providence, Albany or Springfield — get a day off, get home at 7:00 a.m. on Monday.
"There is one story I have in Norfolk, where we were driving home, I don't know where we were coming from. Somewhere up around here, and the trailer fell off, like off the back of the bus. We all had to, I have the video, I think it might be on my Instagram, but we had to, like it was on one wheel and we had to all get out of the bus, like pick it up at a gas station, and leave it there. So then the equipment people had to go back, like a three-hour drive, to get it like the next day. It was something."
Brandon Carlo
Tri-City Americans, WHL —Kennewick, Washington
(Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)
"I think we are only going to Kamloops (British Columbia). And we were on our way home after a pretty long road trip and we were hitting Kamloops on the way back. And after that road trip or after that game, it was like eight hours of driving, but we would just straight shoot up straight up there all the time. And our bus broke down twice. And so we had our one bus that was one we rode on all the time that broke down and we were about two hours away from getting home.
"And then our new bus broke down and our original bus picked us back up — which just made no sense. So, that was a long one, but they're good stories to tell. Like we got off the bus, played sewer ball at like three o'clock in the morning in a Walmart parking lot or something like that. So it was kind of fun just to be able to do that with the guys. But during that time, it kind of sucks."
John Moore
Chicago Steel, USHL — Geneva, Illinois
"I mean, how much time, do you have? I remember in the USHL, we like blew a tire on the way to a game. So we're sitting on the side of the highway waiting for like a epair truck and then you pull up like 20 minutes before the actual game starts. So you just go out there and play — so it's fun. But during that time it's pretty stressful. You're a kid too, so you don't really know much better.
"So, we're very fortunate that, with our demanding travel comes unparalleled luxury in terms of how they look after us. It's a difficult job playing at the highest level, but there's really no excuses with the way that they treat us and the amenities that are afforded to us."
Matt Grzelcyk
US National Team Development Program — Ann Arbor, Michigan
"I can remember going to play teams out in Nebraska and Omaha and Tri-City, which is a 16-hour bus ride and you're playing the next day. I mean that was interesting, for sure. And then you finally get to play that game, that game gets over and you go the next city — which is a couple more hours in the wrong direction.
"For those we have a sleeper bus. It was like a double-decker and I had the top bunk so the ceiling was like pretty much right there in front of you. I wasn't moving, it was probably like 20 degrees out. So I think I remember every single hour of that trip. I think, at the same time, it makes getting to this level that much more of a great feeling. That you're kind of making it this far. But yeah, those are really tough at the time. At the same time, I think it kind of builds a little team camaraderie too. You're complaining together at least. So those are fun to look back on."
Sean Kuraly
Providence Bruins, AHL — Providence, Rhode Island
"Man, I mean in the minors we'd bus a couple of hours on the day of the game and that was tough to get yourself going after a couple hour bus ride from Providence to Bridgeport. We had some long bus trips in juniors where there weren't enough beds for all the guys. So the younger guys were sleeping on the floor with empty pizza boxes. So that was when I was in Indiana and the USHL. A lot of times at school (Miami), we flew out but it was commercial and that comes with its own challenges with traveling with all your gear and with 26 guys, delays and all that."
Anders Bjork
Notre Dame, NCAA — South Bend, Indiana
"Those are brutal. But at Notre Dame actually, we would fly, we would charter flights a lot. Back then we were in Hockey East, so we'd fly out here a ton. One time on the way home, I think we were out in Maine too, so we were flying back and it was a snowstorm or something and we couldn't land. So we like fly to the South Bend area and we couldn't land for some reason, so we had to fly over to Ann Arbor in Michigan.
"So we land there at like two in the morning there and we had to wait in the airport for a bus to drive us back to Notre Dame. Bus got there in like three hours, picked us up and then drove us back. I'm pretty sure the Michigan basketball team like took our plane the next week and they — did you ever see that? They took that plane during the NCAA tournament and something happened. It was crazy."
