HockeyExtra flight time won't ground these Jets

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Defenceman Ron Hainsey and his Winnipeg Jets will travel about seven thousand more air-miles than they did last year when the team was in Atlanta. (John Woods/Canadian Press)

The Winnipeg Jets faded down the stretch as the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010-11. Imagine how they will feel later this season with all the travel flying back-and-forth from Manitoba to play their Eastern Conference opponents.

The Jets, however, don't feel that being situated in the Midwest, but playing mostly in the East, will be a difference maker.

"I don't think it will be a huge issue," veteran Winnipeg defenceman Ron Hainsey said. "Most of our travel will be extended trips. We have one at the end of October in which we hit Florida and Carolina and up through New York. We have a stretch in December, in which we're home for [28] of the 30 days.

"It could have been way worse. I think they did a good job getting the trips together in an extended manner and the cities are close together."

The Jets longest road stint is at the end of October and into November that will take them to Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Miami, Long Island, New Jersey, New York city and Buffalo. They also play six straight games away from Winnipeg that is broken up because of the all-star game.

Like Hainsey mentioned, December could be a key month for the Jets when they play 13 of 15 games at home. The two road games are separate trips to Detroit and Denver.

In total, the Jets will travel about seven thousand more air-miles than they did last year. That's approximately 14 more hours of air travel. But overall, they are 10th in the league in terms of travel miles, according to the website ontheforecheck.com.

Weary teams

Here will be the top-10 most travel-weary teams as well as the Canadian clubs this season: 1. Los Angeles (55,591 miles); 2. Florida (52,751); 3. Anaheim (50,296); 4. Edmonton (50,006); 5. Dallas (49,622); 6. Phoenix (49,192); 7. Calgary (49,104); 8. Colorado (48,945); 9. Vancouver (46,826); 10. Winnipeg (44,627); 18. Montreal (39,174); 25. Ottawa (33,915); 29. Toronto (32,239).

New Jersey has the shortest travel schedule this season at 28,597 miles.

Coach: In his only previous NHL experience as an NHL head coach, Claude Noel went 10-8-6 to finish off the 2009-10 Columbus Blue Jackets season as a replacement for Ken Hitchcock. The 55-year-old from Kirkland Lake, Ont., has long been considered a fine teacher. As head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, he supplied talent for the Nashville Predators and made two appearances in four years in the AHL Calder Cup.

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff, 41, also is known more for his success in minor pro even though he has a Stanley Cup ring as an assistant GM of the 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks. The former minor-league defenceman won four championships in 12 seasons at the helm of the Chicago Wolves.

Last year: 34-36-12--80 points, 12th in the East (13 points out of the playoffs)

Who's in: D Randy Jones, LW Tanner Glass, D Derek Meech, RW Eric Fehr, LW Kenndal McArdle, C Angelo Esposito, C Kyle Wellwood

Who's out: RW Anthony Stewart, RW Radek Dvorak, LW Eric Boulton, D Freddy Meyer, C Rob Schremp

Payroll: $51.5-million (23rd in NHL)

Key stat: As the Thrashers last season, the Jets were sitting pretty on Jan. 10 in seventh spot in the Eastern Conference at 22-16-7. But they floundered down the stretch with a 12-20-5 finish to miss out on the playoffs.

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