Game 6: Leafs @ Sabres 7:00PM LeafsTV

[Brian Glennie]

Having competed in competitive sports, I can attest that the general atmosphere can have some impact, particularly when you're fading. But generally, I was completely tuned out to what was happening around me. I competed in Tae Kwon Do, wrestling, and volleyball. In the one-on-one competitions, I found it especially irrelevant.

With all due respect though there's a pretty big gap between participating in competitive sports and playing it professionally in front of thousands of fans every night. I used to love it as a HS football player when we'd get crowds out to our games and it probably amped me up some but I don't think that shines much of a light on what a Go Leafs Go chant means to these guys on a given night.

Okay, but when "The Wave" became popular at MLB games in the 80's weren't the players saying that it was a "distraction" and that it "made them want to do more coke"?

 

[Bender]

Gotta figure out how to win at home. 3-1 on road...0-2 at hme. Maybe they should stay at a hotel in TO this week

And the Leafs fans in away rinks are always louder than the ACC.

And that is why we stink at home... because we have the quietest rink in the NHL. our fans we had in buf were 1000 times louder than the 18,000 at home.

I really don't think there is a corration between loudness and performance. I've been to a bunch of Leafs games at the ACC and I noticed cheering even during the pre-season, but I do find it understandable that its hard to cheer when they blow a lead time and time again.

They seem nervous when they play at home to me, scared to make a mistake.  Then when they do it falls apart.

Maybe that could be true, but I would hardly attribute it to how loud the crowd is.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Gotta figure out how to win at home. 3-1 on road...0-2 at hme. Maybe they should stay at a hotel in TO this week

And the Leafs fans in away rinks are always louder than the ACC.

And that is why we stink at home... because we have the quietest rink in the NHL. our fans we had in buf were 1000 times louder than the 18,000 at home.

I really don't think there is a corration between loudness and performance. I've been to a bunch of Leafs games at the ACC and I noticed cheering even during the pre-season, but I do find it understandable that its hard to cheer when they blow a lead time and time again.

They seem nervous when they play at home to me, scared to make a mistake.  Then when they do it falls apart.

Maybe that could be true, but I would hardly attribute it to how loud the crowd is.

A good point, which is why I didn't. 

 

[dappleganger]

Outliers Nik, outliers.

I'd say there's enough of them to indicate a trend, actually. Certainly enough to call Winnipeg's supposed fan-based home ice advantage into question.

5 out of 180. Not sure it's enough to indicate anything other than there are other similar seasons. The only way there's any truth to this is if the Jets have season after season of disproportionate home and away win records. And the Jets will need to have a similar fan support and there is no guarantee of that either.

 

[Kin]

5 out of 180. Not sure it's enough to indicate anything other than there are other similar seasons.

You did see me say that those were just 5 of the many that fit though, right? The Leafs, Thrashers, Wild and Kings all had similar splits in 05-06. In 06-07 there were the Habs and Flames. In 07-08 the Lightning, Canes and Blue Jackets.

And on and on and on. Like I said, on average a few teams have that sort of split every year.

The only way there's any truth to this is if the Jets have season after season of disproportionate home and away win records. And the Jets will need to have a similar fan support and there is no guarantee of that either.

But truth to what? Remember the idea being presented here is that a louder arena helps a team win. Unless you're making the argument that no arena was loud before Winnipeg then there would be evidence of the effect that predates the Jets.Otherwise, the Jets having an amazing home-road split would only be proof that the Jets have some sort of unusual advantage at home that nobody else has had. There'd be nothing to tie it to the noise level unless we knew that the Jets played in the loudest arena ever. Otherwise whoever predated the Jets as having the loudest arena in the league would see their own consistent advantage.

But the reality is that if you look through the records there just isn't anything that would indicate that. Leaving aside that many of the teams with the better home-road splits over the years have played in arenas that nobody would confuse with being the loudest in the league, there's no consistency to it. Teams have great records one year at home, middling the next. Teams like the Oilers, who do have reputations for playing in a loud arena, don't have particularly good home records.

 

[nutman]

My point is that a Loud arena makes for a better fan experience, and it give the home team a "bit" of a boost. using season stats of teams and all the other stats is just going way to deep. Its a game...  :

 

[dappleganger]

But truth to what? Remember the idea being presented here is that a louder arena helps a team win. Unless you're making the argument that no arena was loud before Winnipeg then there would be evidence of the effect that predates the Jets.Otherwise, the Jets having an amazing home-road split would only be proof that the Jets have some sort of unusual advantage at home that nobody else has had. There'd be nothing to tie it to the noise level unless we knew that the Jets played in the loudest arena ever. Otherwise whoever predated the Jets as having the loudest arena in the league would see their own consistent advantage.

I'd suggest mentioning the habs and flames is evidence to support loud buildings giving home teams an advantage than not.

There are many articles stating the MTS Centre is the loudest arena in the NHL although I have no idea if anyone has taken any decibel ratings. At 15 000 capacity it's conceivable to think that a smaller arena with enthusiastic fans would be louder.

You could easily make a case that the farther travel visiting teams encounter gives the Jets a home ice advantage and vice versa when they travel themselves.

At this point we don't know whether the Jets really have a home ice advantage beyond one season.

I would suggest travel around with your decibel reader and get to the bottom of this so we don't have to rely on anecdotal evidence.

Maybe a loud home crowd effects the refs more than players: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/jets-test-the-economics-of-home-ice-advantage/article4102150/

 

[Kin]

I'd suggest mentioning the habs and flames is evidence to support loud buildings giving home teams an advantage than not.

Except, of course, that like the Islanders, Panthers and Blue Jackets, those results are not indicative of their performance over a sustained period which is just further evidence that there is no rhyme or reason as to why one team or another puts up a great one year record at home.

 

[dappleganger]

I'd suggest mentioning the habs and flames is evidence to support loud buildings giving home teams an advantage than not.

Except, of course, that like the Islanders, Panthers and Blue Jackets, those results are not indicative of their performance over a sustained period which is just further evidence that there is no rhyme or reason as to why one team or another puts up a great one year record at home.

So teams do have a home ice advantage. But why?

 

[Kin]

So teams do have a home ice advantage. But why?

Why do we see these one year aberrations? I don't know. Clearly it has nothing to do with the crowd. I suspect that a lot of it is just random.

 

[dappleganger]

So teams do have a home ice advantage. But why?

Why do we see these one year aberrations? I don't know. Clearly it has nothing to do with the crowd. I suspect that a lot of it is just random.

We never see the opposite of amazing road record-terrible at home. It can't be completely random. Something is propping up poor teams at home.

 

[Kin]

We never see the opposite of amazing road record-terrible at home. It can't be completely random. Something is propping up poor teams at home.

No, I agree that there's a basic level of home-field/ice/whatever advantage that runs throughout all sports. I'm just saying that the peculiar one year spikes of amazing home records/bad road records that we've been discussing are random, in so much as the difference between them and your regular expected home-ice advantage can't really be attributed to anything.