17 hour bus trip. Yawn.
That is a standard weekend for almost every Junior team.
Most youth travel teams, especially in the UP, make those sorts of trips regularly.
Most AHL team take LONG bus rides
All other minor pro teams take long bus rides.
MOST college programs take lengthy bus rides. As early as about 10 months ago, most WCHA teams were bussing to Houghton -- often 9-10 hour bus rides, in bad weather, from Grand Forks or Mankato or Omaha.
So my suggestion: Go look for problems and concerns someplace else. If you want to be critical of the LSSU program, feel free. But find something legitimate to be critical about. Bus rides aren't a very wounding assault. Its sort of like saying the coach needs to go because of his treatment of a 3rd string goalie. The coach may indeed need to go -- but not because of a 3rd string goalie. Ergo, the program may need to adjust its finances in some areas -- but bus trips are not likely to be the cause of any hand-wringing in the Athletics department.
Meanwhile -- Northern Michigan, with the alleged large budget -- is really thriving in the standings right now, eh?
Please, list all the 17 hour one way bus trips in the AHL. Now I worked at the minor pro level for six seasons. I never had one 17 hour one way trip. Not one. There were some 10 or 11 hour trips, but you also play several teams on those runs and so it may be the long ride one way or the other, but not both. Which AHL teams are making 17 hour bus trips? Utica to Syracuse? Providence to Worcester? Milwaukee to Chicago? Now I've got 11 years of college hockey travel under my belt as well. The longest busser has been 14. And that's going six hours, then spending a hotel night on the way out. 17 hour bus trips? They may happen occasionally. But they are very few and very far between. They happen about as often as a Truth post that's worth reading.
UP Junior teams regularly make 17 hour trips? Really? Which UP Junior teams are playing in Alabama or Wyoming or Arkansas? And there is a huge difference between a 10 or 12 hr trip and one of 17.
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