Does less oxygen in Colorado give the Avalanche an unfair advantage?

[BonMorrison]

I’ve heard that injured players are just left at the arena when a season ends because helicopters can’t get that high and it would be too dangerous to get them down. Forever serving as grim reminders for future players.

 

[strictlyrandy]

That's why they ice a team with Gabriel Bourque and Brassard on the roster. Helps even the playing field.

 

[AvsFan29]

Oh boy. Everybody coming out to tell me it’s not meaningless.

The burden of proof is on the person who suggests that it actually has some kind of impact. If you’re all convinced it’s not meaningless, why don’t you all take a look at the Avalanche home/away record since their first season in Colorado and compare that to the home/away record of every NHL team over that time frame?

Because that has so much more to do with the team than the oxygen levels in the air. Are you being serious?

 

[LeHab]

Here is a more technical explanation for attitude effects on baseball at Coors Field:

Baseball At High Altitude

As for hockey and other sports:

WHAT WE FOUND
The Verify team started its search by talking to Dr. Inigo San Millan. He runs the sports performance program at the University of Colorado’s Sports Medicine and Performance Center in Boulder.
The facility brings in athletes from around the world to test how they perform at different altitudes.
The data from all those athletes led Millan to the conclusion that every for 1,000 feet of elevation gain, a person loses 2 percent of their ability to consume oxygen and gets exhausted 4 percent faster than they normally would.
At one mile above sea level, that’s a 10 percent drop in your body’s ability to transport oxygen and 20 percent drop in time to exhaustion.
“That could be substantial, especially when we talk about high exercise intensities,” Millan said.
For example, let’s look at hockey.
One of the best players in the NHL is Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, who plays his home games at sea level. Ovechkin averages about 20 minutes of ice time per game. That means – if Millan’s numbers are true -- Ovechkin should drop to about 16 minutes of ice time when he plays in Denver.
9NEWS checked Ovechkin’s ice time for his last appearance at the Pepsi Center in November and found he played 16:49 against the Avalanche.
Fatigue is not the only problem, Millan said.
People who live at sea level don’t sleep as well when the visit they Mile High City. They also dehydrate more easily.
“Another thing we see, the lactate production from the muscles, at altitude at high intensities, it is much higher,” Millian said.
That causes more than cramps. Lactate gets in the way of proper muscle function and slows people down.
Lastly, people burn fats and carbohydrates differently at higher elevations.
“If you don’t have a good nutrition plan coming here, both for hydration as well as carbohydrates mainly, your glycogen storage might be lowered as that’s going to affect you out in the field,” Millan said.
All of those statistics makes it sound like Colorado teams enjoy a significant home field advantage, so we asked Millan straight out if that’s the case.
“It doesn’t matter the sport. When you come to altitude and you want to compete, you’re going to suffer, you’re going to pay for it,” Millian said. “And if someone is waiting for you here, right, with the knife well sharpened, they should take advantage of you.”
So, how can altitude be a part of a team’s winning strategy?
“You just crank it up, the tempo, especially in the third and fourth quarter, because that’s when the other team should go down,” Millan said.
He also suspects mile high coaches would benefit from changing their practice routines.
“One of the things we are trying figure out is those, especially the lineman, they are not very fit to start with. The training for them even at this altitude that they are adapted might not as tolerable as for other lineman at sea level,” Millan said. “And they might travel through the week more fatigued or accumulate more fatigue towards the weekend compared to other lineman coming from sea level.”
Visiting teams can also take steps to mitigate the effects of altitude.
Acclimating to the mile-high air takes at least nine days – an amount of time that’s not practical for professional sports teams to spend in Denver ahead of a game, Millan said.
What they should do instead is arrive as close to game time as possible. That way they avoid some of the negative effects like poor sleep and dehydration.
Finally, it’s important for away teams to know about any medical conditions that might prevent players from competing at high altitude.

BOTTOM LINE:
Altitude affects an athlete’s performance. Teams who practice at sea level tire 20 percent faster and transport 10 percent less oxygen in their bodies when they compete in Denver.
But a team’s overall ability matters too. Altitude gives mile-high teams an edge, but it can’t win games.

Verify: Does Denver's mile high altitude really affect the outcome of sports games?

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Because that has so much more to do with the team than the oxygen levels in the air. Are you being serious?

If the elevation actually gives the Avalanche some kind of benefit when playing at home, that will show up over a massive sample size where we can directly compare their performance at home and on the road.

 

[Hasbro]

In order to overcome this terrible disadvantage, from now on all the opposing teams playing in Denver, starting with SJ next game, gonna dress like this:

Watch a Bronco game and there are players using oxygen tanks.

 

[LeHab]

If the elevation actually gives the Avalanche some kind of benefit when playing at home, that will show up over a massive sample size where we can directly compare their performance at home and on the road.

Actually it may give them an edge on the road as well since they will have been trained and lived at attitude.

 

[easton117]

Hasn’t Colorado been around since like 1995?

Old Pierre hung on to this nugget for quite some time!

Should’ve built that arena in a crater. Names them the Moles

 

[Groo]

Watch a Bronco game and there are players using oxygen tanks.

I don't think I've ever seen a hockey player reaching for the oxygen
Is it even allowed ?

 

[Tom Polakis]

The OP might be an Avs fan...

But in all seriousness, they're playing inside an arena, not outside, and when was the last time Colorado had success due to the altitude?

However, if they ever played an outdoor game, then this thread would make more scene IMO, and the Sharks still won game 3 so...

On an extra note, what about an Eastern or Western team playing each other between the changing time zones?

They pressurize the Pepsi Center to bring the atmospheric conditions to the equivalent of sea level. It's an amazing technological achievement.

 

[Hasbro]

I don't think I've ever seen a hockey player reaching for the oxygen
Is it even allowed ?

Not sure.

Could be unwieldy with the quick shift changes, unlike the more regimented switch in football.

I'm sure there's oxygen available for emergencies.

 

[Groo]

Not sure.

Could be unwieldy with the quick shift changes, unlike the more regimented switch in football.

I'm sure there's oxygen available for emergencies.

For as often as you see the guys sucking wind after a long shift you'd think it be common place.

 

[AvsFan29]

If the elevation actually gives the Avalanche some kind of benefit when playing at home, that will show up over a massive sample size where we can directly compare their performance at home and on the road.

It doesn't give them a benefit.

You lose acclimatization quickly, so they literally are the only team who has to acclimatize to altitude every time they return from a road trip.

On long home stands, they might see a small advantage over a team flying in the night before.

It's really just about time spent at altitude.

 

[LeHab]

For as often as you see the guys sucking wind after a long shift you'd think it be common place.

Apparently it does not provide any benefit, technical explanation:

Is Supplemental Oxygen a Performance-Enhancing Drug? | Physician's Weekly

 

[Hasbro]

They pressurize the Pepsi Center to bring the atmospheric conditions to the equivalent of sea level. It's an amazing technological achievement.

Here's the entrance to section 66:

 

[Groo]

Apparently it does not provide any benefit, technical explanation:

Is Supplemental Oxygen a Performance-Enhancing Drug? | Physician's Weekly

Thanks. I was discussing this prior to last nights game. I brought up the possibility of it being somesort of a placebo

 

[hellvetet]

Ban Denver from having any big4 teams.

On a related note, Bolivia has a pretty killer record in soccer when it comes to home games even though they are a mediocre team at best. Their home den sits at an altitude of roughly 3700 meters / 12000 ft. A few years ago Argentina was paying them a visit in a qualifying match for the World Cup. Messi took a few sprints and was puking on the sidelines after 10 minutes.

 

[CountKong]

Even if it does give a slight advantage it makes things interesting. Every arena has its nuances which may give slight advantages (lighting, ice quality, board geometry, etc.). This is why they call it home ice advantage and why teams battle out for it. Makes it interesting like the green monster at Fenway.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Big, if true.

 

[ThatDudeSakic]

It's not my opinion. You lose acclimatization very quickly.

It takes time to get acclimated for both teams. Wikipedia it.

I did a bit it.

Who trains at high altitude? I know that the Avs players don't train at altitude in the off season.

Getting acclimatized to a higher elevation isn't permanent. It dissapears quickly.

You wouldn't retain any advantage from training at altitude.

Where are you getting your information from?

wiki: "
Athletes can also take advantage of altitude acclimatization to increase their performance.[8] The same changes that help the body cope with high altitude increase performance back at sea level. However, this may not always be the case. Any positive acclimatization effects may be negated by a de-training effect as the athletes are usually not able to exercise with as much intensity at high altitudes compared to sea level.
This conundrum led to the development of the altitude training modality known as "Live-High, Train-Low", whereby the athlete spends many hours a day resting and sleeping at one (high) altitude, but performs a significant portion of their training, possibly all of it, at another (lower) altitude. A series of studies conducted in Utah in the late 1990s by researchers Ben Levine, Jim Stray-Gundersen, and others, showed significant performance gains in athletes who followed such a protocol for several weeks.[30][31] Other studies have shown performance gains from merely performing some exercising sessions at high altitude, yet living at sea level.[32]
The performance-enhancing effect of altitude training could be due to increased red blood cell count,[33] more efficient training,[34] or changes in muscle physiology.[35][36]"

Literally says the opposite of what you're saying...

 

[SotasicA]

explanation for attitude effects

I'd like to see a poor attitude team used to playing on high altitude vs a highly motivated team not used to playing that high up.

 

[Hasbro]

So what about that Keith Carradine thing?

 

[Tralfamadore]

Definitely is. That's how Colorado has been able to be so competitive for so long.

 

[OmazingGrace]

All it probably does it make the weed a little better.

 

[PattyLafontaine]

Not enough of an effect to warrant consideration. Might infinitesimally affect the Sharks a bit more because many of their core players are older and are playing big minutes, but as Burnsie said the air is tin.