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Seriously...why the big difference away from home?

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JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK

JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK

Twenty f*ckin years
Oct 8, 2010
80,058
17,678
I honestly don't get it. Why is this team so different on the road than at home? We just beat the defending champs and #2 overall team in the league on home ice, only their third regulation loss of the season there. And while Hank played well, he didn't have to "steal" us the game.

Anyone have any theories?
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My main theory is what might be the longest standing, most under reported travesty in NY sports.

The ice at "The World's Greatest Arena" is an absolute slush pit.

I think it is at least part of the reason why Torts adopted the style he did, and why the possession game AV is trying to play has had its struggles.

Edit - and dammit please don't let this spark a debate on Torts/AV.
 
It could be the ice.

Maybe it's the fact that the Garden has been absolutely dead everytime i've gone this year, and it seems like thats the norm.

Maybe this teams just really inconsistent. Maybe it's all three. Who knows, but it's strange.
 
I don't have any theories myself but once the playoffs come we will have to win at MSG to do any damage. This season has been weird so far regarding the Rangers home/road record.
 
maybe they should of transformed the garden more till it was unrecognizable to the players

the ice could be a factor but remember the visiting team seems to find a way around it.
 
BrianBoyle said:
The other team plays on the terrible ice, too, so I don't think it's a legit reason.
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Had a lot typed out but at the end of the day, don't have much of a comeback for this. I think the best argument I can make is that the ice magnifies the importance of puck luck & bounces. Thus the record of 1 point shy of .500 at 8-10-3.
 
Megustaelhockey said:
Visiting teams step up to shine on a big stage.
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While a visit to NYC is probably a cool thing for a lot of players, the big stage for hockey is HNIC ainec. Toronto and Montreal require a ton of attention from visiting teams. Radio shows, sports t.v. etc hang all over visiting teams. They come to NY and it's very low-key. The vast majority of sports media in the NYC area couldn't even tell you what team is visiting on any given night.

Most players also see their closest-to-home arena as being their biggest stage. As their families and friends are in attendance, and require attention.

TL;DR - I don't see NYC as the big stage in the NHL.
 
I think the Rangers fans have something to do with it too. We get down on them REAL QUICK if they screw up. And sorta give up on the team if they have any kind of a let down.

I hate listening to our "Fans" when watchign the games...the booes piss me off.
 
Anyone willing to compile some statistics? Home records of teams such as Toronto, Montreal and NYC vs league average? Might give credit to the 'time to shine' argument.
 
We have more lasers on the road.

Beyond that, I think it's just snowballed at home. We had a few really tough games there early on when we were a mess. Now we've found our game bit, at least on the road, but the sticks are just getting gripped a little too tight at home.
 
I think there's some credence to the garden being a morgue, it definitely was when I was there this year, outside of a few comedic DZ shots. I wouldn't be surprised if it's harder to get up for a quiet house than a loud opponent's house. That said opponents get up for a quiet house.
 
Machinehead said:
We have more lasers on the road.

Beyond that, I think it's just snowballed at home. We had a few really tough games there early on when we were a mess. Now we've found our game bit, at least on the road, but the sticks are just getting gripped a little too tight at home.
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I think that's a strange theory. The Rangers had a few tough games on the road when they were a mess but bounced back. They sucked at home a bit later, more so on their huge home stretch.
 
Less pressure. They play at home like they're gonna be lynched by the fans if they lose. And lasers.

Machinehead said:
We have more lasers on the road.

Beyond that, I think it's just snowballed at home. We had a few really tough games there early on when we were a mess. Now we've found our game bit, at least on the road, but the sticks are just getting gripped a little too tight at home.
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Didn't see this, I agree.
 
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SnowblindNYR said:
This whole "Garden" thing is a product of Dolan advertising that apparently gullible Rangers fans are buying.
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I'm inclined to agree, the statistics would be interesting though. Not that they would necessarily prove the argument, though.

Edit: I think it's just mental, they play differently at home and I don't think it's all ice surface.
 
I remember us being really good at home the last couple years, so I'm inclined to think it's more a mental thing. (43-18-4 last two seasons combined record at home)
 
The noise and atmosphere in the Garden when we were coming back against CBJ sounded really special. You could kind of close your eyes and pretend it was the playoffs. We don't get a ton of that, though for what it's worth I'm pretty sure the difference in our play is down more to a smallish sample size than anything else.

One thing that interests me that's tangentially related to the conversation is how home/away splits in all American sports are relatively even, but being the home team in soccer is such a huge deal. Wonder what the story is in college sports, which I don't really watch at all, but where the crowd imposes itself on the action more.
 
It's not that much of an anomaly. Let's say you'd expect them to win 55% at home. The chances of them winning only 8 or less out of 21 would still be 9%.
 
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