Colorado Avalanche Face Brutal Travel Schedule in 2026-27
Colorado is facing a new challenge with this years NHL season. For the first time since 1993-94, every team has two additional regular-season games on the calendar, and the Avalanche's schedule comes with plenty of time in the air.
Colorado is scheduled to travel 50,652 miles during the 2026-27 regular season, a number that illustrates just how much ground the team will cover between Ball Arena and opposing rinks, per a recent report from Sound of Hockey.
Colorado Will Travel More Than 50,000 Miles
The Avalanche's 42 road games will take them all across North America, from Vancouver and Seattle to Florida, North Carolina and Buffalo. Because the Avalanche play in Denver, there are some unavoidable geographical challenges.
Every trip to the East Coast requires significant travel, but divisional trips through the Central Division still add up over the season.
At 50,652 miles, Colorado's scheduled travel is more than twice the circumference of the earth, and they'll lead the NHL in travel.
Ten Back-to-Backs Add Another Challenge
Travel becomes even more of a challenge when it's combined with 10 sets of back-to-back games. Four of those sets include one game at Ball Arena, according to this year's schedule. Several of the back-to-backs require Colorado to play in one city before quickly moving on to another.
For example, the Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 games are away games against the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues, respectively, which equate to about 772 nautical miles, a unit of measurement that is used in aviation.
The good news is that Colorado's longest road trip of the season is just five games, which is also the longest homestand of the season.
Saturdays Will Be Busy for the Avalanche
If there is one day to keep an eye on this season for the Avalanche, it's Saturday. Based on the calendar, Colorado is scheduled to play 17 games on Saturdays; Tuesday comes next with 15 games, followed by 12 on Thursdays and 11 on Wednesdays.
This means that nearly one in every five Avalanche games will take place on Saturday, giving the team plenty of opportunities to play in front of weekend crowds both at Ball Arena and on the road.
The Avalanche also have nine Sunday games, 10 Friday and 10 Monday games on the schedule. With the regular season stretching to 84 games, Colorado's schedule is spread heavily throughout the week.
The Avalanche have plenty working in their favor heading into the season, but the expanded schedule will still create challenges for the team to navigate. Between 84 games, 50,652 miles of travel and 10 back-to-back, Colorado will have plenty of opportunities to test their depth and ability to manage fatigue. While the Avalanche won't face one massive road trip, the cumulative toll of the season could make managing palyers' workloads increasingly important as the season progresses.
