MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks are about to embark on an almost unbelievably long road trip, playing nine straight games in hostile cities.

That includes a super challenging second weekend of the road swing, when they will play three games in three nights in three different cities.

The long string of road games is highly unusual for the United States Hockey league. And this is not like a big-league road trip. In the NHL, for instance, the Detroit Red Wings might go on a long western road swing, playing in Colorado, Anaheim, Los Angeles and Seattle over the course of a week or two, but they would stay in very nice hotels between games without returning home.

The Jacks’ road swing involves all weekend games, which means they have to get on the bus and hit the highway for the next three weekends, play their games, then take the long trip home, practice for a few days, then get on the bus again.

To complicate matters, the final game of the road swing has the Jacks playing a Friday night contest in Chicago, then coming home and hosting Chicago the next night in the last game of the regular season.

But the schedule is the schedule, and the Lumberjacks’ final spot in the USHL’s Eastern Conference standings (and their likely playoff pairing) will be determined by how well they perform during the long road stretch.

“I would say this is the longest road trip of my career here – there aren’t too many nine-game road trips,” said Lumberjacks Coach Mike Hamilton. “It’s not ideal. We talked about it when the schedule came out, and we were told there were numerous reasons why it happened, reasons out of our control.”

Lumberjacks coach Mike Hamilton. Photo/Tonya Pardon

Crucial games at every stop

It all begins this weekend, when the Lumberjacks will play a crucial three-game series in Youngstown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Jacks are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference with 62 points, and would like to catch second-place Dubuque, which has 69 points.

But the Lumberjacks are equally concerned with hanging on to third place, because Youngstown is in fourth with 57 points and has been playing very good hockey. The best-case scenario would have the Jacks winning all three games this weekend and pushing the Phantoms back in the standings, and the worst outcome would be a Youngstown sweep that would knock Muskegon down to fourth.

Hamilton said he would be happy winning two out of three.

“This is a huge weekend,” said Hamilton, whose team has won three of its last four games. “Youngstown recently beat Chicago and the Team USA 18-Unders. They are playing some really good hockey, and they are only five points behind us. It’s an opportunity to create a little separation, or things could get really tight.

“In a perfect world we would get all three, but if we find a way to win the series it would put a smile on my face.”

The following weekend, April 8-10, will be the biggest challenge of the road swing. The Lumberjacks play in Dubuque on Friday, April 8, Cedar Rapids the next night, then Green Bay on Sunday night.

“That weekend is going to be a challenge for everybody,” Hamilton said. “Each night we will be packing up after the game, going to another city and getting there around four or five in the morning. It’s clearly unprecedented during my time in the league, but it is what it is.”

The third weekend of the road swing will take the Lumberjacks to Plymouth, Michigan to play two games against the Team USA 17-Under squad, then they finish off their bus schedule with a single game in Chicago against the first-place Steel on April 22.

The Jacks will return home for the final game of the regular season against the Steel on April 23.

Lumberjacks forward Quinn Hutson, who is eighth in the USHL scoring race with 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists). Photo/Tonya Pardon

Team bonding and some extra fun…

Hamilton and his staff are putting a positive spin on the situation, even though it’s highly unusual and extra challenging.

“It’s an opportunity for us to spend a lot of time together on the road,” Hamilton said “We can control what the guys eat, do a lot of video work, chat on the bus, and learn more about what’s going on in the players’ lives. So there are positives. We don’t want it to become a negative.”

The team’s management is working to make the trip as fun as possible for the players by adding some extra activities. For instance, the team will leave Muskegon a bit early next week and find some lodging where the Jacks can all watch the NCAA hockey tournament Frozen Four semifinal games on Thursday, April 7, before the busy weekend of games begins.

The travel party will include extra faces, because the Jacks will be bringing several young affiliate players with them to provide depth.

“Our owners are spending some extra money out of their own pickets to mix in some fun,” Hamilton said. “We will find a place to go enjoy the Frozen Four. It will be more fun than a normal trip.”

Jacks forward Joey Larson, who is 12th in the league in scoring with 59 points (29 goals, 30 assists). Photo/ Tonya Pardon