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Sharks’ Kennedy on travel: ‘You change time zones like you change your underwear’

tkennedygetty

Road trips shouldn’t always be measured by the amount of away games a team plays. Just ask the San Jose Sharks, who face a deceptively tough five-game tour.

CSNBayArea.com summarizes the trek as such:

San Jose is midway though a zig-zag trek across the western half of North America. The Sharks started with a 1500-mile flight to Winnipeg, and worked their way backwards to Calgary. The current stop in Vancouver will be followed by a return flight back east to Edmonton, and will continue on to Chicago. The Sharks will fly home after the game against the Blackhawks on Sunday, and when they land, they will have accumulated approximately 6,400 miles, or enough to go back and forth across the continental United States.

Yikes.

As members of a California-based team, Sharks veterans are probably as accustomed to such a schedule as one can get. Tyler Kennedy switched from Pittsburgh to San Jose this summer, however, so he’s facing an adjustment.

At least he has an ... interesting way of describing the change, though.

“You change time zones like you change your underwear. It’s crazy. I can’t believe it,” Kennedy said. “It helps a lot when you have a nice plane, and the staff has been great. It’s been a little bit difficult, but everyone’s been really helping me out in trying to get used to it. It’s not that bad, but it’s the time change that kills you.”

The Sharks’ estimated 57,612 miles of scheduled travel time tops the league, although a forgiving level of back-to-backs (only 10) probably drove PHT readers to say that the Vancouver Canucks had a slightly tougher schedule. Either way, it’s certainly not an easy haul for San Jose.

In other words, Kennedy & Co. might want to pack some extra britches.

In less amusing news, the Sharks still seem puzzled about Brent Burns’ window of return. That doesn’t exactly help a team already facing some adversity.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins