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Do injured players travel with the team on away games & do wives and kids travel with them?

Do nhl players own their own planes or hire charter flights?

Public Comments

1. most have Private i know this because my dads friend works for the sabres and flys with the team. injured players flying on the plane is unlikely because of the fact that not all NHL team benches are the same lenght so there is no room and depending on the injury the would be uncomfortable. parents, wives, and kids also do not fly on the planes because of the size of some of these planes, we all know NHL players salary is limited and to fly a wife and kids to every away game would hurt their pocket. just for a FUN FACT- one Mario Lemuix's(sorry about my spelling) sons never saw his father play in person.
2. Injured players may travel if they are healthy enough to do so...if a player just had surgery...he's not going anywhere, but if its something like a broken arm, he may travel to offer his support. Family usually does not travel with the team, mainly because of the age of the players,(mid 20's-late 30's) they have young children
3. Depends on the level of injury. Some injured players travel with the team to work out with the team's specialist/trainer. If the injury level is high, they stay at home for rehab. I don't think wives and kids travel with them, unless the team holds a special thing where they invite everyone. And I also think they hire chartered (private) flights. This is all what I think though, I'm not 100% sure
4. I believe all teams charter flights after 9/11. Many teams used to fly commercial before that, but the delays and tighter game schedules made charters more practical for them. As for injured players, it varies. During the playoffs, the extent of an injury and the schedule will influence a team's decision. Holmstrom, for instance, knew he was a scratch for game 3 in SJ, so he joined the team before game 4, when he was scheduled to return to the line-up. Not sure about the wives and kids, but I believe they don't enter into travel discussions unless their team's in the finals.
5. Some injured players do and some don't. I'm not sure exactly how that is determined. Family members don't travel with the team except for the cool "father trips" that some teams had this season, and very special occasions. Alexei Kovalev is the only player know of that owns his own plane. And numba1234567, that Mario special must have been quite old...pre December 2000. Mario has 3 daughters and only one son Austin who absolutely has seen his dad play. In fact in 2000 when Mario returned, Austin was the only one out on the ice as his dad's jersey was unretired and lowered from the roof. Mario also said that Austin never seeing his dad play was the biggest factor in his return. EDIT - Chernz, former pro player...your first name wouldn't be Rich would it?
6. Injured Players do not travel with the team. The only circumstance where they do is if the player will be coming back midway through a long road trip or if the player is a gametime decision. When a player is hurt, he stays home. That is standard practice for every team during reg season. Playoffs are the different though when most players go to show support. Every team has doctors and trainers that stay home so the injured player can do his rehab and get healthy as soon as possbile. Wives and kids are on their own for away games. They do not fly with the team by any means. If the rangers play the islanders, Im sure the wives of the visiting will make the trip for example. Only the wealthy/rich players own planes or the ones who like to fly. Majority of teams charter but some have owners who own more than one professional team so they share the private jet. For example, the NYR and knicks share a private team jet and it is very nice I might add. Everything you could want. Im almost positive Detroit has a private jet as well.
7. i know that midway through the season the wings fly their dads in from everywhere and the dads go on the road trips with them and they fly out. and the wings have a plane.... i saw it! LOL
8. Most teams have their own private planes. And injured players travel depending on the severity of the injury, but mostly they do not. If they are healthy enough to fly they generally are health enough to play. Only in important games do the injured players travel to away games. There really is no point to them going if they can't play. They'll have the step-by-step play talks when the team gets back. And wives and kids do not usually go to away games because most hockey players are young so the kids are young and do not travel that far away.
9. Injured players may be on trips but quite often they stay behind to keep up their rehab routine. Wives NEVER go on trips. Kids rarely. I have heard of teams arranging for trips where players Dads go with them. NHL teams usually charter their own flights as a team but some teams (like the Canucks) have their own plane available too. It's rare for teams to travel using standard domestic flights any more.
10. The type of injury plays a role in wether the player travels with the team. Sometimes, the injuried player will stay behind or fly ahead to meet up with the team. Wives and children generally go along on a different plane if it is a Stanley Cup game. Most teams have their own planes for financial and economical reasons. It's s easier to get everyone on the plane at the same time or they can travel on their own schedule.