Yahoo Sports Hurricanes Embark On Season-Long Road Trip
The Carolina Hurricanes have taken flight for what will be the longest road trip of the season.
The Canes hit the road following practice on Thursday, Oct. 17 and won't be back until Oct. 29 (next home game won't be until Oct. 31).
Carolina will play six games over that span starting with a back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Friday, Oct. 18) and the St. Louis Blue (Saturday, Oct. 19).
Airplane mode ✌️ pic.twitter.com/LrY32mH8jW
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 17, 2024
From there, the Canes will head up to Canada where they'll take on the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames.
Then they'll swoop back into America quickly to take on the Seattle Kraken before heading back into Canada to face the Vancouver Canucks.
The Hurricanes typically start their season with their longest road trip every year due to the NC State Fair which takes place in mid to late October.
It would be (and has been before) a logistical nightmare to have home games while the fair is in town due the proximity of the fairgrounds to the arena and the sheer volume of traffic that it produces.
After the reassignment of Brendan Lemieux to the AHL, the Hurricanes will be traveling with just 18 players which is a bit unusual for a long road trip, although having their affiliate in Chicago, a major travel hub, mitigates that problem.
Related: Brendan Lemieux Reassigned to AHL
"Right now, it's fine," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour on the smaller traveling party. "We'll see what happens. Obviously if we get nicked up a little bit then I think that strategy will change a little bit."
Any road trip is difficult because players and staff are constantly traveling and away from their homes and families.
"It's hard on anybody that has a job where you're away for a long time," Brind'Amour said. "But we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it."
But while the time apart from family is difficult, the emergence of modern technology like FaceTime helps with that a bit.
"I'm one of these guys who bashes technology and social media and this and that, but there's a lot of benefits to the technology because it feels like even though you're miles away, it feels like you're right there," Brind'Amour said. "That's the grace of technology."
The early road trip also allows time for a new group to bond.
"That's how you sell it," Brind'Amour said on the benefit of a long road trip. "Everybody says the same things, but yes, that's part of it. But I think more so, you can just focus on hockey. There really is no distractions and we're all together. At this time of year, everyone's more excited to have long road trips than in January and February where your season starts to drag a little."
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