UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

[GoUNH]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I'm pretty sure Maine hardly lost a game at Alfond until recent years. Their team went on a downward slide and so did their fans. This was the first year in a few years that I heard the Alfond being loud like it used to be.

The noise at Alfond this year was deafening. It was a HUGE advantage for the home team against UNH (I was at the Saturday game). They certainly took the 20 or so of us in the visiting section out of the game lol

[Onion Man]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

So a team with an enthusiastic crowd has to win every home game in order for the "home ice advantage" theory to be proven

What I'm saying is the only people intimidated in a loud arena are visiting fans. Visiting players at this level couldn't care less either way. Fans banging a cowball or calling a goalie a 'sieve' aren't going to sway a game either way. Some of you give yourselves more credit than you deserve.

The only time a road team can be affected by the crowd is at a football game if they can't hear the signals. In hockey it's LOL that people think the crowd matters.

[GoUNH]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

What I'm saying is the only people intimidated in a loud arena are visiting fans. Visiting players at this level couldn't care less either way. Fans banging a cowball or calling a goalie a 'sieve' aren't going to sway a game either way. Some of you give yourselves more credit than you deserve.

The only time a road team can be affected by the crowd is at a football game if they can't hear the signals. In hockey it's LOL that people think the crowd matters.

So a home crowd can never, ever, help pump up the home team. And a home crowd can never, ever, be intimidating to a visiting team. Ever.

[Onion Man]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

And a home crowd can never, ever, be intimidating to a visiting team. Ever.

At a D1 or pro level in hockey? No.

[jcarter7669]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

So a home crowd can never, ever, help pump up the home team. And a home crowd can never, ever, be intimidating to a visiting team. Ever.

Just give up with Onion man, you may as well go pound your head on a wall. It will accomplish more.

[jcarter7669]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

At a D1 or pro level in hockey? No.

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[Onion Man]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Just give up with Onion man, you may as well go pound your head on a wall. It will accomplish more.

If I hit my head really hard, maybe I'll qualify for a UVM degree.

[jcarter7669]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

If I hit my head really hard, maybe I'll qualify for a UVM degree.

only if it knocked some sense into you.

[WildKitty]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

We established at the beginning of this thread that WE wanted more noise at the Whitt. The rest of this conversation is moot. Moot, I tell you!

So go moot yourself. I've never met an onion with fewer layers, you troll.

TIME TO STOP FEEDING THE TROLL

[Chuck Murray]

Mostly agree

What I'm saying is the only people intimidated in a loud arena are visiting fans. Visiting players at this level couldn't care less either way. Fans banging a cowball or calling a goalie a 'sieve' aren't going to sway a game either way. Some of you give yourselves more credit than you deserve.

The only time a road team can be affected by the crowd is at a football game if they can't hear the signals. In hockey it's LOL that people think the crowd matters.

I have to admit that I agree with 99% of this. I think a raucous supporting crowd can give the home team a little extra jump ... but the idea the visiting players themselves would be intimidated by a loud home crowd is a wee bit naive on the whole - at least at this level, and certainly so at higher levels.

And if there ARE players (or even whole teams) who are actually impacted by this stuff ... that program is clearly in deep doo-doo. You can't have any hope of success at this level if chants etc. are throwing you/your team off your game. I mean, look at it this way ... a goalie stands in front of 80-90 MPH slapshots buzzing past his ear every game, with opponents crashing the net looking for loose pucks. Not for the faint of heart - but he's going to fall apart due to a particularly clever (even vicious) chant?

Not saying that fans shouldn't knock themselves out, and from time to time you *might* get under someone's skin. All good, and it's fun. But if anyone thinks a visiting team is bunkered down in their locker room, afraid to come out to a really hostile reception ... at this level?? Doubtful. JMHO.

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

At a D1 or pro level in hockey? No.

Shawn Walsh: "No team could have come in here and won in this atmosphere"
following UNH's regular season clinching 6-1 and 4-1 sweep over Maine to conclude the 1999 regular season after Maine came in with a lead in the standings, in front of 6000+ fans wearing white and making more noise than we've heard consistently throughout any 2 games set since the building opened.

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

It doesn't 'shake the opposing team's goalie' as much as you think. The whole thing is silly if you ask me. .

That's just it.. no one asked you, donkey.
And the fact is, you're flat out wrong. It may not be the deciding factor, but to say it has no effect on performance/outcome at all/ever is wrong. Alfond and Lynah are two of the most intimidating places in D1 to play, and I'm pretty sure both teams have historically done much better at home than on the road, no?

[GoUNH]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

At a D1 or pro level in hockey? No.

So "home ice advantage" is a myth. There is absolutely 0 advantage to playing in front of a rabid home crowd. 6000, rabid fans, or an empty arena, same energy. I learned something today

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Congratulations to Mike Sislo and Matt Campanale on being named being named Captain and Alternate Captain for 2010-2011. I'm a little surprised that Desimone didn't receive a letter as well, but I know Sislo and Camp will do a great job leading the team.

[Chris_NH]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

So "home ice advantage" is a myth. There is absolutely 0 advantage to playing in front of a rabid home crowd. 6000, rabid fans, or an empty arena, same energy. I learned something today

It's a double-edged sword, though. People could say that UNH was really a second- or third-place team, and it was that 'crowd of 6,000 rabid fans' that won the Wildcats the HE regular-season title. It cuts both ways.