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Home Is Where The Heart Is

Derek Leung

Home ice advantage is a thing. That's not a secret, and it's not just home ice. Home advantage applies across the board: turf, pitch, diamond, field, ice, rink, arena, track, stadium, town, etc. Professional teams almost always sport a better record at home than when away. And I say almost just to please those sticklers for detail that will point out the few instances where that isn't the case. But for our sake, it is. The point is, when considered over long periods of time, the home wins significantly outweigh road wins.

But why? Professional playing surfaces are designed and built within very specific dimensions. So how does one 200-foot sheet of ice provide an advantage to one team over another? Simply put; it doesn't.

That's not to say one surface isn't better than another. There is going to games, series, and seasons where one team has an awful (or spectacular) playing field. But again, big picture. The Oilers were long known to have one of the better ice surfaces in the NHL. But is that really the home ice advantage? Professional athletes are the elite of their sport. They've played in every condition, and learned to adapt their game to perform on whatever surface they may be on.

Most people will point out the "home advantage" isn't so literal. It's about atmosphere, and the crowd. Well what about those teams that travel so well? The Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees, to name a few. Wherever they play, they flood stadiums and arenas nations apart to show their team pride. In cases like that, if the crowd were the case, it could be argued home advantage is moot. Still, nothing compares to the sweet confines of home, where usually the majority of the fans in attendance are cheering for the home team. ...But then again, that same crowd can be toxic. As the Oilers know all too well, poor performance can bring out any Dr. Jekyll's Mr. Hyde. So in that case, is the crowd still an advantage? What if you're the Buffalo Bills, Florida Panthers or *sigh* the Edmonton Oilers? Perennial losers don't give fans much to cheer about, yet the home record is generally still significantly better than the away.

The home advantage has to be the travel then. Obviously sleeping in your own bed, eating your own meals, and being in your own city has it's perks. Better than sleeping on planes, in hotels, and hopping around time zones. Tell that to the NFL. They have a week between games, usually spent at home, only staying a night or two in hotels when away. And what about inter-state or even inter-city games? When the Ducks play at Staples Center, it's not exactly a voyage across country. So why do the Kings still have the advantage? What about the entire Metropolitan division? It's a hop, skip, and a jump from arena to arena over on the East coast. The Red Wings played in the West for years despite being in Detroit, and they seemed to do okay, despite the travel. Many athletes don't even live in the city they play in, so it's not an attachment to home that's giving them an advantage.

So what is it? Last change? Knowing the bounce of the boards? Being familiar with where the clock is at the end of the period? Hardly. Don't get me wrong. Everything mentioned above is a factor. Vegas certainly considers all of it when figuring odds. The travel, the amenities, the crowd, knowing the rink. It's all important. But, it's not the advantage. What is then?

The simple answer is: Home is where the heart is.

It's history. It's legacy. It's glancing up to the rafters and seeing championship banners and the retired numbers of the city's heroes. It's walking up to the front doors, past a statue of the great one. It's the pride of wearing the crest on the jersey. Being at home is a constant reminder of everything that came before, and what it means to every individual face in the crowd.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the new arena, but I'm not going to try and convince myself that it's going to make the Oilers better.

Arena-wide WI-fi, high definition scoreboards, shorter concession lines and wider seats will be great. Fans will be happy.The city will benefit. Downtown will be "revitalized". But until these young Oilers hang their own banners and make their own memories, home will always be where the great one played. Where championships were won and lost. Where players turned icons and dynasties rose and faded.

The Copper & Blue is a fan community that allows members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Edmonton Oilers and hockey in general. These posts do not necessarily represent the views of the staff of The Copper & Blue.

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