CREDIT: CLAUS ANDERSON OF GETTY IMAGES AND THE LONDON KNIGHTS
Max Jones was suspended for 10 games for a cross check to the face against Owen Sound in late February; his presence on the Knights' bench is key to them winning another Memorial Cup.

After playing most of the first half of the schedule at Budweiser Gardens, the London Knights have spent a lot of time on the road in the last few weeks.

Only five of their last 19 games have been played in the Forest City; the rest have been all across Ontario.

That means trips to Owen Sound, Windsor, Flint and Sault Ste. Marie, just to name a few.

With teams stretched out across Ontario, travel can really take its toll, and affect the performances of a team. But it doesn’t seem to be an issue for the Knights.

In 28 road games, London has accumulated a 15-5-8 record. It’s nothing to write home about, but with so many of those games played consecutively, or without returning home in between, it’s impressive.

Their 37 road points puts them second in the league, just behind the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who have a remarkable 46.

The schedule has worked in the Knights’ favour this year; they don’t have a single road trip that lasts more than four games. Even so, four straight games is a lot of time away from home for junior players.

On their first trip, from Feb. 4 to 15, they played a slew of tough teams in Saginaw, Flint, Kitchener and first-place Erie. They finished .500 on that trip.

They’re currently in the middle of their second and final four-gamer. After a tough 7-3 loss to Owen Sound on Feb. 25, they responded with a convincing 8-1 win over the lowly Guelph Storm on the next night.

The Knights will face Kitchener and Windsor before the road trip is done. Those are two buildings that aren’t fun for opposing teams.

Regardless of the travel, the Knights have had a largely favourable schedule throughout the season, especially with a strong home presence in the first half.

With six wins in their last 10 games, they sit just four points back of Erie for first in the league. It may not sound great considering they’ve been fighting with the Otters for first place all season.

But take in the fact that Erie is coming off a 14-game win streak and it doesn’t sound so bad. Those are your two frontrunners in the Western Conference.

In other notes, Knights forward Max Jones was suspended 10 games by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for a cross check to the face of Owen Sound’s Jonah Gadjovich in late February.

The suspension came on Jones’ 19th birthday, at Budweiser Gardens. Along with his time at the Anaheim Ducks training camp, and including injuries, he’s on track to miss 35 of London’s 68 scheduled games.

He’ll be a huge factor if the Knights hope to make another Memorial Cup run, and he needs to be more disciplined moving forward.

Even with Jones out, the Knights have been playing some solid hockey lately—and most of it on the road.

With only nine games left in the regular season (and six of those away from home), the boys will be looking to finish strong heading into the playoffs.

As the team knows, anyone can beat anyone in the competitive Western Conference.

They’ve spent a lot of time away from Budweiser Gardens, but make no mistake, it will be rocking when the playoffs open at the end of March.