Eklund: How the NHL Could Give Teams a "Home Ice Feel." John Shannon on the Buzz@1

Hang pictures on the walls

It seems like your view of home ice advantage is entirely related to the fans energy. That's nice and all, but the actual advantage comes from really understanding the sport. Who gets the last change? Who has to position first on faceoffs? Who has the longer line change for 2 of the 3 periods? You know, the details that Scotty Bowman would think about. But carry on about crowd noise...

y tho

From a Flyers standpoint, I'm not sure how they'll succeed on the powerplay when there are no fans in the building yelling SHOOOOTTTT!!! immediately after they get control of the faceoff.

That's my biggest concern about crowd noise....

ttt

From a Flyers standpoint, I'm not sure how they'll succeed on the powerplay when there are no fans in the building yelling SHOOOOTTTT!!! immediately after they get control of the faceoff.

That's my biggest concern about crowd noise....
- hockeylover

lol - hItsOmeBodY!!!!1 is just as important

So for Rangers home games, does that mean they'll be playing "Potvin Sucks" chants?

It seems like your view of home ice advantage is entirely related to the fans energy. That's nice and all, but the actual advantage comes from really understanding the sport. Who gets the last change? Who has to position first on faceoffs? Who has the longer line change for 2 of the 3 periods? You know, the details that Scotty Bowman would think about. But carry on about crowd noise...
- Kooleus

Line changes are the same for both teams. Long change for both in the 2nd period only.

Dock talk has been great. Tampa is a great place to be a player.

Forget all this nonsense... Twitter?

Get outta here.

I'm just wondering how much delay they're going to have to put on the broadcasts so they can edit out all the language!

There has been a lot of talk in regards to ways the NHL can make games without fans exciting to watch.

The game itself is exciting. Hell, half the time I'm listening to music rather than the game sound so crowd noise isn't really a determining factor for me. But the visual of an empty arena will be very strange.

I think they should do cut scenes from the NHL 20 crowds.

What should they do for a hat-trick?

How are we going to get the REF YOU SUCK chants? Or AAAAASSSSSSHHHHH*****LLLLLEEE?

Or how are we going to get annoying people banging on the glass when there's a board battle?

That seems like too much work Ek while watching a game. I just want to sit back and drink beer and stuff my face with junk food and I definitely don't want no VR contraption on my head!

The EA thing has legs. Use the same algorithms they use to calculate crowd audio in their games based on events on the ice. It wouldn't be perfect, but might be a additional promotional revenue stream, and it'll make the games a little less weird.

Piping in home audio wouldn't work, unless you want to hear thousands yelling at their spouses and kids, flushing toilets, and loudly eating snacks.

I want to hear the players calling for the puck and this, that and other during play. And hear the chirps and jokes--which networks will edit out of course as it'll be on delay. I don't need crowd noise to get me into the game. It's the play, the action, the competition.

So for Rangers home games, does that mean they'll be playing "Potvin Sucks" chants?
- js10

As Potvin once said, if you listen closely, what they're actually chanting is "Potvin's Cups"

Like I said on another site, green screen the stands, and then edit in scenes of outer space, oceans, storms, mountains, and other epic stuff. Imagine the space battle from the beginning of Revenge of the Sith instead of a crowd. The players wouldn't see it, they'd only see the green screens. We don't need sound other than rink noises and maybe Duel of the Fates.

Canned crowd noise is a horrible idea. An unequivocally bad idea.

JUst accept the reality of the situation and play it straight. What is difficult about that?

It will be far more interesting and engrossing to actually hear what the players and coaches are saying on the ice with NO crowd noise.

Like NFL mic'd up, except you don't need mikes.

Line changes are the same for both teams. Long change for both in the 2nd period only.
- Nighthawk

Whoever is designated the "home" team gets last change. So coaches can get the right matchups. Same with faceoffs. That's a bigger influence on the game than Ek's entire blog on fake crowd noise.

I for one am glad that no turds in the front rows will be standing up to try and get on tv

So for Rangers home games, does that mean they'll be playing "Potvin Sucks" chants?
- js10

They chant 1940 for the road games... I mean 19-94! or 94 and NEVERMORE

It seems like your view of home ice advantage is entirely related to the fans energy. That's nice and all, but the actual advantage comes from really understanding the sport. Who gets the last change? Who has to position first on faceoffs? Who has the longer line change for 2 of the 3 periods? You know, the details that Scotty Bowman would think about. But carry on about crowd noise...
- Kooleus

You sound female dogy

It all sounds pretty great! Good ideas.