If you’re like me, waiting out the dog days of summer until hockey starts again, I have good news: I’ve scoured the 2024-25 NHL schedule to come up with a list of road trip ideas for the coming season.

I’ll definitely be hitting the road for hockey on a few occasions this season. Last season I could say I had visited all 32 current NHL arenas, but not anymore. With the birth of the Utah Hockey Club, I’ll need to pay a visit to Delta Center in Salt Lake City sometime.

For those of you who’d like to put together your own NHL road trip this upcoming season, I’m here to help. Each year we put together a list of multi-city, multi-game itineraries designed to help you visit a number of arenas in as short a timeframe as possible, being mindful of a traveler’s time and budget.

We do posts like this for the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball as well. If you haven’t seen one of these road trip posts before, here are the guidelines that we follow:

• I look to pack as many games into as small a timeframe as possible, at least considering typical travel times (I won’t suggest you travel cross-country for games on back-to-back days, for instance).
• I’m only looking at trips where you’re traveling in the same general direction as you go from city to city (so no zig-zagging around).
• I try to limit the number of times you see a particular team to twice per trip (admittedly difficult, as many times it’s easier to plan a trip through a region because a certain team is on a road jaunt through it).
• And I look only at minimum four-city trips, because hey, longer trips are more fun.

With that out of the way, check out the NHL road trip itineraries we’ve come up with based off the 2024-25 schedule. And if you’re looking for tickets for these or any other NHL game this season, you can shop for them on Ticketmaster.

1) Spread-out season opener

Tuesday, Oct. 15: Kraken at Predators
Thursday, Oct. 17: Sabres at Blue Jackets
Friday, Oct. 18: Hurricanes at Penguins
Saturday, Oct. 19: Canucks at Flyers

A week into the 2024-25 NHL schedule, this four-city trip presents itself. Start in Music City with the Predators hosting the Kraken at Bridgestone Arena. From there, make your way east, with stops at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena, Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena and Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.

If you’re wondering about that Nashville-to-Columbus drive, don’t fret: It’s a very reasonable 380 miles from city to city. But you have a day in between to do it, so take your time and enjoy the scenery, as you’ll pass through Louisville and Cincinnati on the drive.

2) The Western hockey swing

Saturday, Nov. 9: Blue Jackets at Kings
Sunday, Nov. 10: Blue Jackets at Ducks
Monday, Nov. 11: Hurricanes at Golden Knights
Wednesday, Nov. 13: Hurricanes at Utah HC
Friday, Nov. 14: Capitals at Avalanche

Here’s the earliest road trip we found that includes the NHL’s newest franchise. While the driving distances increase once you leave California, that’s OK, there are some extra days built in.

The trip begins with the SoCal double, with Kings and Ducks games at Crypto.com Arena and Honda Center, respectively. Things pick up at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas before a stop at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, where the former Arizona Coyotes will be settling into their new home.

Finally, cross the Rockies and finish up in Denver with an Avs game at Ball Arena.

3) Thanskgiving week warmup

Saturday, Nov. 23: Bruins at Red Wings
Sunday, Nov. 24: Utah HC at Maple Leafs
Monday, Nov. 25: Flames at Senators
Tuesday, Nov. 26: Utah HC at Canadiens

If you’re one of the lucky ones who gets the entirety of Thanksgiving week off from work, why not spend some of it traveling to watch hockey? And as a bonus, you get to head up to Canada for most of it.

You’ll start south of the border, though, with a Red Wings game at Little Caesars Arena. Then cross over and head to Toronto to see the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena before stops at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa and Bell Centre in Montreal.

Oh, and if you want to continue the trip on the day before Thanksgiving, when the 2024-25 schedule has 30 of the NHL’s 32 teams in action, then cross back into the U.S. from Montreal and head to the New York City metro area. There you’ll have the choice of seeing the Devils at Prudential Center or the Islanders at UBS Arena.

4) The Eastern Seaboard tour

Saturday, Dec. 7: Flyers at Bruins
Sunday, Dec. 8: Avalanche at Devils
Monday, Dec 9: Blackhawks at Rangers
Tuesday, Dec. 10: Kings at Islanders
Thursday, Dec. 12: Red Wings at Flyers
Saturday, Dec. 14: Sabres at Capitals

You can check off six of the NHL’s East Coast arenas in an eight-day span — and thanks to the abundance of train travel in that part of the country, you can even ditch the car if you want to.

The journey begins in Boston with a Saturday matinee at TD Garden and works its way southward. See games at all three NYC arenas in three days, from the Devils’ Prudential Center to the Rangers’ Madison Square Garden to the Islanders’ UBS Arena. Then finish up with games at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and Capital One Arena in Washington.

5) Holiday week out west

Friday, Dec. 27: Golden Knights at Sharks
Sunday, Dec. 29: Oilers at Ducks
Sunday, Dec. 29: Flyers at Kings
Tuesday, Dec. 31: Canadiens at Golden Knights

When the NHL returns from its post-Christmas break on Dec. 27, be right there with them, picking up at San Jose’s SAP Center. Two days later, you can see both of Southern California’s hockey barns on the same day, with the Ducks in a matinee at Honda Center and the Kings in the evening at Crypto.com Arena (despite all the traffic in SoCal, it’s doable)!

Finish up this trip by taking in a Golden Knights game at T-Mobile Arena on New Year’s Eve. Puck drop is at noon, so you’ll have plenty of time after the game to gear up for NYE festivities on the Las Vegas Strip.

6) An epic East Coast swing

Friday, Jan. 17: Golden Knights at Hurricanes
Saturday, Jan. 18: Penguins at Capitals
Monday, Jan. 20: Blue Jackets at Islanders
Tuesday, Jan. 21: Senators at Rangers
Wednesday, Jan. 22: Bruins at Devils
Thursday, Jan. 23: Senators at Bruins
Saturday, Jan. 25: Devils at Canadiens

Want to see seven different NHL arenas in just over a week? Check out this epic journey that starts in North Carolina and ends in Quebec. You can see PNC Arena in Raleigh, Capital One Arena in Washington, the three NYC metro arenas (UBS Arena, Madison Square Garden and Prudential Center, in that order), TD Garden in Boston, and Bell Centre in Montreal.

The only unfortunate aspect of this itinerary is it skips over Philadelphia. But if you really want to add Wells Fargo Center to your list, you can on Jan. 21 when the Flyers host the Red Wings. You’ll just have to head down from New York and skip that visit to MSG.

7) The post-Four Nations trip

Saturday, Feb. 22: Wild at Red Wings
Sunday, Feb. 23: Maple Leafs at Blackhawks
Tuesday, Feb. 25: Kraken at Blues
Thursday, Feb. 27: Jets at Predators

If you’re wondering why there’s a two-week break in the 2024-25 NHL schedule in February, it’s because the league is staging the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off, an international tournament featuring teams from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

Once the league resumes play, you can hit the road to catch four games in the Midwest (and into the South). Start at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit for a Saturday matinee before making stops at Chicago’s United Center, St. Louis’ Enterprise Center and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

8) Stretch run in Western Canada

Wednesday, April 9: Blues at Oilers
Friday, April 11: Wild at Flames
Monday, April 14: Sharks at Canucks
Tuesday, April 15: Kings at Kraken

This four-game trip features a two-day break between games, but you’ll need it to traverse the long distance between Alberta and British Columbia.

It’ll be worth it, though, to check out four of the NHL’s most raucous arenas: Rogers Place in Edmonton, Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Rogers Arena in Vancouver and finally, Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. With the regular season set to end just a couple days later, you’re bound to catch at least a couple games that are crucial toward the playoff race.

By the way, there are undoubtedly more trip ideas that I passed over or simply overlooked on the 2024-25 NHL schedule. if you’ve got a trip idea you’d like to share, or better yet, if you’ve got a great hockey road trip already planned, let us know about it!