Brock Nelson remembers the “Death Valley” road trip all too well.
Forgive him if he has the odd nightmare or two about it.
Nelson’s first trip to California as an NHL player came in early December of 2013. Back then, the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks were all among the top Stanley Cup contenders in the NHL.
It was one of the hardest road trips for any NHL team. Nelson’s new team might be part of something similar in the near future.
“It always felt like we would have three (games) in four (days),” Nelson said. “The Kings were obviously so tough to play against. The Ducks had all those big guys.
“There were games, especially at the Shark Tank, where we just wanted to survive the first period. There was a game where we got outshot like low 20s to three or four, and it was only 1-0 and we were all sitting there saying, ‘Great job. Way to survive it.’ ”
His New York Islanders team had to play the California teams on the road in rapid succession on his first “Death Valley” trip. The results? A 3-0 loss in Los Angeles, a 5-2 defeat in Anaheim and then a late rally to salvage a 3-2 shootout win in San Jose despite being outshot 48-28.
It was a pretty simple situation. Teams from the East Coast flew across the country, enjoyed the warm temperatures, maybe a quick trip to the beach and the food … then tried not to get embarrassed before heading back to the cold weather.
“If we went out there and got one, it was, ‘Alright, not bad.’ And if we got two, it was incredible,” Nelson said. “That was always a tough, like, measuring stick trip.”
The peak of the “Death Valley” era was from 2010-16. San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles were all in the top 10 in the NHL in regular-season points across that span. One of those three teams won the West, either in the regular season or playoffs, in five of those six seasons.
“Between L.A. and us, and even though San Jose might not have the Stanley Cup to prove it, they were especially at home a really hard team to play against,” said Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri, who played for Anaheim from 2010-15. “You went into the Shark Tank and it felt like they had seven guys on the ice.”
During that period of NHL history, the Colorado Avalanche was an isolated franchise. The Phoenix Coyotes were about 760 miles away in Glendale, Ariz. The Dallas Stars were about 800 miles away.
Then, the geography of the NHL changed.
Las Vegas was awarded a team, which began play in 2017. Salt Lake City welcomed the club formerly known as the Coyotes in 2024.
Denver now has other NHL clubs in close proximity. That means it’s easier for the NHL to cluster those games in a shorter amount of time.
And it’s not a fun road trip, at least on the ice.
“Absolutely,” Palmieri said last week when asked if Vegas-Utah-Colorado could be the new “Death Valley.” “Just having gone through Vegas and Utah, those are both hard places to play. They come out buzzing. Our first period against Utah, we were lucky enough that (David Rittich) had a really good first period, or it easily could have been 4-0, 5-0.
“There’s the travel, the time zone change, and it’s three really good teams. We know we have to be ready to go at the start against (the Avs).”
The trio of stops needs a clever nickname. Utah is the key, both in being a middle stop for a three-games-in-four-nights gauntlet and because the Mammoth are an improving club with a bright future.
Colorado won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and has collected the most points in the NHL since the start of the 2019-20 season. Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023 and has the fifth-most points in that span.
The Avs have the altitude. The Golden Knights have the spectacle at T-Mobile Arena and, well, the distractions of Las Vegas.
Utah has the excitement of being a new franchise, with a newly renovated arena that puts fans right on top of the ice in the lower bowl. Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood said after the morning skate at Delta Center earlier this season that he was going to be looking into fans’ eyeballs that night.
If the Mammoth keep improving and become one of the best teams in the league, having to play those three teams in short order is going to give opposing players nightmares.
“Vegas is a tough place to play. Utah has an incredible rink and atmosphere,” Nelson said. “That’s an up-and-coming team, tons of talent and speed. I mean, they’re dangerous right now. We are obviously good. You can even toss in Dallas, like the Islanders just had to go there as well.
“When they came in here, they said it was a tough trip for them, and a good measuring stick. It’s different, but also similar if the schedule matches up like that, it is a hell of a trip.”
The Buffalo Sabres only had to play two-thirds of this trio last week. They’ll get Vegas tacked onto the California trip later in the year. But the Sabres got a taste of what’s coming.
Utah blitzed Buffalo for four goals in the third period Nov. 12 in a 5-1 win. Colorado scored twice in the first six minutes the next night en route to a 6-3 win.
Nelson’s old pals from Long Island survived the gauntlet quite well. The Islanders won in Las Vegas in overtime, won in Salt Lake in overtime and played quite well against the Avs despite the 4-1 final score. That’s a very successful four days, both in results and process.
The New York Rangers are doing the trip out of order, going Vegas, Colorado and then Utah, but they also get a day in between each instead of it being a dreaded three-in-four.
Colorado has always had a built-in advantage at home because Ball Arena sits at 5,280 feet. Mentally, physically or both — opposing teams feel that.
Now, thanks to the shifting geographical footprint, the Avs are likely to get even more home games where the opponent just played in Salt Lake City the night before and is about to play for the third time in four nights.
It’s already a tough trip for foes — Colorado, Utah and Vegas were a combined 17-4-6 at home as of Thursday morning. That’s the equivalent of a team playing at 121-point pace, and it’s only going to get tougher as the Mammoth continue to integrate some of their top prospects.
“I think we will start to see that more often. The schedule is going to spit out that sort of combination,” Nelson said. “For us, we want to take advantage of all our opportunities at home that we can. We’ve done that so far this year. With the altitude, and then a back-to-back, we can use that as an advantage for sure.”
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