+- Simulation Hockey League (https://simulationhockey.com)
+-- Forum: Player Development (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Forum: SHL Player Progression (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=45)
+---- Forum: PT Archive (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=564)
+---- Thread: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage (/showthread.php?tid=108693)
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - soulja - 07-28-2020
Winnipeg definitely has the biggest home advantage. This is mainly because in the boring province of Manitoba, Winnipeg is the only city with a fan base. So many from that province will travel to Winnipeg to cheer for them. The crowd there are hectic and the opposition might be scared of them as well.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - CB2212 - 07-28-2020
Colorado has the best advantage due to the altitude. Raptors players are trained to be able to play at such a high altitude with less oxygen while all other teams have to struggle to do it.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - Citizen of Adraa - 07-28-2020
Maine had one of the biggest home ice advantages I saw last season - a team that ended 20-30-0 actually only won 4! of those games away, ending their 25 away games with the record of 4-21-0, and their home ice games were therefore 16-9-0. The difference between those two performances is utterly staggering and it's almost ridiculous that it happened, and whatever Maine had going for them at home last season, it was probably stronger alone than the team itself.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - sulovilen - 07-28-2020
Maine Timber has the biggest home ice advantage, and it's not even close. The new goal horn and goal song are so nice and catchy, that if Timber gets even one goal, the visitor team will be suffering from the earworm playing constantly in their head, which messes up their focus.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - CptSquall - 07-28-2020
One could make the argument that every team has home ice advantage in one shape or another. Top teams like Buffalo, Hamilton, Edmonton, and Chicago have a mystique about them. This feeling of near invincibility that makes it tough. Calgary has their chicken parms and chicken farm to nauseate some. Other buildings are loud.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - Steve - 07-28-2020
Newfoundland Berserkers most definitely have home ice advantage. Due to the strategic placement of the biggest nightclub in the city on the bottom floor of the hotel the other teams stay in. They get involved with a bit too much night scene shenanigans that it will effect them come game time. Whoever thought this out should get an award. Sixty percent of the time it works one hundred percent.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - OrbitingDeath - 07-28-2020
The Chicago Hitmen have the biggest home ice advantage, due to all the hitmen in the crowd, no opponent will leave the arena alive. The opposing team will always default a loss when they end up with having not enough players.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - DrunkenTeddy - 07-28-2020
I think the Waters goal horn in Hamilton gives them a distinct advantage. It's kinda like the Blackhawks playing Chelsea Dagger and annoying the opposing team.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - CementHands - 07-28-2020
I'd love to say Maine, just because if you look at our home ice record over the last 2 seasons even with overall bad seasons the Home Ice advantage was clear as they had a much better record.
I will have to say Nevada for this though. Their low lighting and black ice make it near impossible to follow action, and visiting teams are in for a shock when they have to play under those conditions.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - hotdog - 07-28-2020
When the Blizzard turn on the in-arena blizzard simulator with snow falling rapidly from the ceiling and visibility down to barely a few inches, there's no stronger home ice advantage in the league. hate playing in edmonton!
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - StamkosFan - 07-28-2020
Toronto has the strongest home ice advantage, as the North Stars are based in a city with a massive hockey following. It does not matter about their performance; as long as they can ice a roster that can skate, they'll have an enthused fan base. Hockey has such a rich history in Canada, and it is a long-standing tradition to loyally follow the Toronto clubs. The Maple Leafs were one of the original six, so these people are one of the oldest fan bases in the hockey world. Not to mention how the media hypes up and practically stalks everything hockey in the city, it helps to give it public appeal and spread the word to more people. Opposing teams might be stunned and overwhelmed by how enthused and into it the Toronto fans are. To walk in and see North Stars merchandise everywhere, to have every game sold out, to have the arena always packed with a raucous crowd chanting decades-old chants and cheering with one voice? You can hear them long before the puck drops all the way in the locker room, and that gets in players' heads. No other fan base in the SHL is like that, not even the ones for the best of the best like the Hamilton Steelhawks, the New Orleans Specters or the Edmonton Blizzard. It's easy to be happy and get into your team when they're going deep into the playoffs every year and winning Challenge Cups, but bandwagon fans just aren't made of the same material as the true hockey fans. There isn't the same feeling in the air, not the same type of heart beating in their chests.
Many players from other teams also come in, expecting an easy game because the North Stars have a more shallow roster than many teams at the present time. But when the crowd is backing Toronto, they get revved up and start outplaying their abilities on paper. It can feel like it's not just them against the North Stars, it's them against ten thousand people who are united behind a single cause. How daunting it must be for the enemy teams to be surrounded by such a formidable crowd. The volume of their chanting is amplified by their numbers to such a degree that you could swear their voices were being broadcast over the loudspeakers. The decibels climb higher and higher as the game progressed, building to a crescendo that could rival the greatest musical symphonies. Their calls are not a discordant hum but a harmonious melody that floats over the glass and reverberates through every corner of the rink. To think that human voices could carry so far and with such thunder, such power! With every goal, the atmosphere just grows more alive and the arena buzzes with more energy. It rolls over the ice in waves, and you can hear the sound rattling in your helmet. You can feel the power of the fans in the air as though it is a tangible object, and if you aren't on Toronto, that power rattles you to your very core. Talk about a home ice advantage; you don't want to fight a war on the North Stars turf! That advantage really cannot be quantified by any objective measure; it is almost spiritual in nature and its effect is an emotional and mental force. One can only imagine and dread how powerful this fan base would be in the playoffs, which will carry a whole different weight than just your average regular season matchup. The gravity of a momentous postseason game would only stir the crowd's passions more. Every team in the league is dreading the day when Toronto is finished with their rebuild and makes it into the postseason. They could make a run to the Challenge Cup finals, against the odds, all on the backs of their passionate fans. Such a dedicated and vibrant group of people, they can will their team to victory.
Knowing that they have such great supporters among the city, the faithful that turn up every game, the believers that purchase season tickets regardless of how the North Stars do in the standings, the kids who revere them as heroes no matter how many wins they have, it is a real inspiration and a real blessing. Players who have been in Toronto for years do not appreciate that they have the best fan club in the league enough. It is easy to forget what it is like to play in other cities. They have the biggest home ice advantage, and players that sign from elsewhere are just blown away by the nightly display they see in their arena. It really is something special, and it really is enough for them to stand out. Toronto's fans are different than even the most die-hard supporters of other teams, in both their numbers and their methods. They know how to give their team the extra support they need and how to help them succeed in tough matchups. They are a big part in all victories the North Stars have at home, and undoubtedly will stand behind their club into the far future. They'll do whatever it takes to encourage their players and will be there every home game, no matter what happens. You really can't give them enough credit or fully convey just how important they are for the North Stars franchise. They are as much members of the team as the skaters on the ice. They are a force to be reckoned with at home games, and that's why it is easy for me to pick Toronto as the answer for this task.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - FinnRhys - 07-28-2020
One of the teams with the best home ice advantage has to be Edmonton. The hometown fans are amazing and build such an atmosphere that even a sister league to the SHL, the burgeoning NHL, took notice and selected to city to host COVID-restricted hockey games for the remainder of their season.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - thedangazone - 07-28-2020
I have to believe that a team like Buffalo would have home ice advantage for sure. The team is extremely good which helps the fans get into it plus they're already crazy enough up there to put themselves through tables so the rowdiness will 100% help them get the team into it.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - LordBirdman - 07-28-2020
The New England Wolfpack have the best home ice advantage because New England is such a large geography that teams often get confused on where exactly they should be going, usually showing up a little late and missing out on some pregame warmups.
RE: S55 mPT #1 - Home Ice Advantage - Jenny - 07-28-2020
The New Orleans Specters undoubtedly have the most significant home ice advantage due to the sheer number of spooks in the arena. Opposing teams don't stand a chance with ghosts in their faces.