How much do the fans effect the the Hockey game?
Now, Within the Duration of Round 2, i was watching a few of the games, and wondering how it would be like with absolutely no fans in the stands. Just the players, and the ice. Then i stopped to think to my self, Do the fans make that much of a difference. When two guys are on a break away, is it the yelling and screaming of the fans that get them to skate faster to the net with the energy to score? Is it the fans that make the players want to fight especially when their cheering them on? What if there were no fans, would the hockey game be the same?
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You could make the same argument for any sport, but the bottom line is, home-field is an advantage in every sport for a variety of reasons. I would think the biggest reason is travel. The home team spent the night before in their own bed, got in their car and went to the rink link any other day while the visitors likely flew in and spent the night in a hotel. Second would be psychological. You can say fans don’t make a difference and honestly, they shouldn’t. These are professionals, it is not unreasonable to expect them to perform the same weather the fans are cheering them or jeering them, but the truth is, the are human. If the crowd is behind them, they are naturally going to perform at a slightly higher level, it’s just human nature. Third, even in hockey arenas, there are slight variations in layout that a home team may be a little more familiar with. Maybe puck tend to take certain types of bounces in the corners, things like that a home team may know and the visitors do not.
Again, all of these things hold true for any sport, not just hockey. And if home-field didn’t mean anything, teams would have fairly even records home vs. away, but any team in any sport almost always has a better home record.
Most likely, it would be the same. I know a couple of pro baseball players – they’ve learned how to tune out the crowd noise when they need to.
IMHO not much. Just look at the Flyers/Habs series
as loud as Bell Centre was it did not seem to help Montreal pull out the win
I,just wanted to say im a huge hockey fan but we hardly get it in the uk…..really wish it was a more common sport over here! when i did used to go and watch it at the weekends with my family the atmosphere was amazing…and that was down to the fans!! but when a player is on the ice they are so focused that the bearly hear the fans cheering! if they are going to fight…they are going to fight!! if they are going to skate faster..they will!! im no expert but the fans make it a good game by supporting the players!
fans have an impact, check out Patrik Stefan.
of course, once you get past 3rd OT, they dont usually do much.
I think it can make a big difference in specific situations… take the other night between the Stars and the Sharks: 4 overtimes, tired and wobbly skating and a crowd that didn’t sit down and kept up the screaming and chanting… the Stars seemed to feed off that (and at least 5 players said so postgame… and I think by that time they were so tired that they weren’t really thinking about being the dutiful promo guys that they can be). I was in that arena that night and you could feel the energy in that building.
I think to a lesser extent you can see this energy on breakaways, big hits or big saves. And if you think about it science and medicine tells us that the moon and tides affect us so why wouldn’t a crowd’s energy affect the players and get their juices flowing.
On one hand, I’m sure the pros tune out the fans to a large extent, but I’ve often heard analysts who should know, talk about a team wanting to score early on the road to silence the home crowd. So I’m thinking it does make a difference.
Here’s the real difference for me: I grew up a couple of miles from a soccer ground in England. On game day you could hear the words of the chants, win or lose. At soccer games I attended to keep the boyfriend happy, we shouted ourselves hoarse at a team that was never going to get past the goalie. With that past experience, I often find that the fans are way too quiet. Some of it is because the tv sound mix has them tuned down low, and some of it is because they ARE way too quiet.
When the players get interviewed after games, they are always very appreciative of the fans, and surely respect their role as entertainers.
I say cheer and sing, regardless of the score. A bit of encouragement for your team can’t do any harm!
Well they have very little if no fans at local rinks and those guys play just as hard.If there wasn’t people yelling “Shooooooooooot” everytime there on a PP they would probably be alot better off.They are not throwing punches because of the fans they are throwing punches because the other guy is trying to knock you on your ass.
I would say it seems to make more difference to the home team in certain situations. As a visitor the players learn to tune out the fans. But as the home team, I think they can use the crowd energy to pump themselves up.
The palyers need fans, without Fans its deifferent, It does make a difference in a way beacuse Im from Montreal and I love the Habs and if you go see one of their games in Montreal its wild people go crazy and the atmosphere is just Amazing and when I see teams that are not getting cheared it feels wierd to me every team should be cheared on by their fans, its a way to show your appreciation to the team you love the most
I’ve always thought it made a big difference yes. I think home ice can be a dissadvantage too when fans get ancy and start booing their team. i’m a Sharks fan and I’ve said all year our crappy home record is because sharks fans suck. When we cant enter the zone on a power play at home within the first 30 seconds it is common for the crowd to start booing. I’ve always joked that Sharks get bood more at home than on the road. Somehow 99% of sharks fans think we should win the cup every year, so every year the team is a dissapointment to them. Sad really. I love the Sharks win or lose.