The NHL re-alignment promised reduced travel and fewer time zone changes for all teams. For the Winnipeg Jets, only one of those is happening.
The Jets will play the 2013-14 season in the newly named Central division. In this new alignment, no division spans more than two time zones. Last year the Northwest Division covered three: pacific (Vancouver), mountain (Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado) and central (Minnesota).
So will there be less travel and fewer time-zone changes? We calculated flying distances (or in certain cases driving distances) from city to city for each of the past three seasons. For 2012-13, we used the Jets’ original 82-game schedule, not the 48-game schedule they actually played.
Jets travel by season
| Season | Trips | Kilometres |
| 2011-12 | 55 | 69,486 |
| 2012-13 | 57 | 77,609 |
| 2013-14 | 61 | 75,765 |
The schedule for this season requires the Jets to travel about two per cent fewer kilometers than last season’s original schedule, but nine per cent MORE than the 2011-12 season. And with 61 trips, the Jets will be flying more times than in either of the previous seasons.
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The number of times the Jets will change time zones has been cut down. Time zone changes are big for a couple of reasons: 1) Potential jet lag on the players; 2) Convenience for those of us watching on TV. The Jets change time zones one fewer time this season:
Jets travel
| Season | Time Zone Changes |
| 2011-12 | 29 |
| 2012-13 | 31 |
| 2013-14 | 30 |
… and they play many more road games in the Central time zone:
Away games by time zone
| Season | ET | CT | MT | PT |
| 2011-12 | 34 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 2012-13 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 2013-14 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 7 |
However, if you liked the 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. starts, those have been reduced from 33 to 16.
If you believe that changing time zones hurts performance more than distance flown, watch for the stretch from Dec. 17-Jan. 2. In that time, the Jets play eight games, changing time zones for each one.
8 games in 8 time zones
| Date | Game | Time zone |
| Dec. 17 | @ Buffalo | ET |
| Dec. 20 | Home vs. Florida | CT |
| Dec. 22 | @ Vancouver | PT |
| Dec. 23 | @ Edmonton | MT |
| Dec. 27 | Home vs. Minnesota | CT |
| Dec. 29 | @ Colorado | MT |
| Dec. 31 | Home vs. Buffalo | CT |
| Jan. 2 | @ Ottawa | ET |
The Jets season starts in mountain time (versus Edmonton on Oct. 1).
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