Mike Sundheim

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Visiting teams in Raleigh enjoy what is perhaps the most convenient travel set-up in the NHL. Our airport is a mere two exits from our arena. And the hotels where most teams stay just so happen to be at the one exit that lies between those two exits. That makes for an easy visit, with very little time wasted sitting on the bus either before a game or on the way out of town after a game. I am guessing that the total travel time for the back-and-forth for the morning skate, the ride to the game and the ride to the airport after the game probably is not more than 30 minutes.

Ottawa is probably on the other end of that spectrum. Though Google Maps will tell you that Scotiabank Place is a mere 17 miles from downtown Ottawa, I can assure you that the traffic situation here does not make those very fun miles. It is similar to what it would be like if the RBC Center was in Wendell, NC, both in terms of distance from Raleigh itself and from the airport. So traveling from the hotel in downtown Ottawa to Scotiabank Place for the morning skate and back, and then back there for the game the next day dwindles everyone’s down time to a minimum for game days against the Senators.

I actually kept a stopwatch on the bus time today. The three legs of our bus trips so far (To and from the morning skate, and then back to the arena for tonight’s game) have totaled just under 1 hour and 45 minutes. Add in what will be at least a 40 minute trip to the airport after the game tonight, and the Canes will spend more than two and a half hours looking out onto the snowy Ontario countryside from the seats of their charter bus today.

Enjoy the game from Canada’s capital, where a steady snow means a long night after the game tonight for the Canes as well. After the long drive to the airport the Canes will need to clear customs and de-ice before finally heading home.
 

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