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*Ferda* · 07-27-2020, 12:56 AM

The distance between SMJHL teams creates an extreme disparity in home ice advantage due to the extreme distances that teams need to travel in order to play. Moreover, with the SMJHL being a lower tier league with less financial capabilities, many teams require the need to travel by chartered bus when moving out on the road. The long bus rides obviously take a mental and physical toll on the players and we can expect that the team farthest away from everyone will have the biggest advantage because opposing teams will be less rested than them.

The team that takes the award for most home ice advantage is... the Anchorage Armada!

As you can see from the table above, the Anchorage Armada have the longest travelling distance for opposing teams. You can make a case for Newfoundland, but the conditions are typically much worse in Alaska than they are in Newfoundland. This is quite obvious simply due to the fact that the SMJHL season occurs during the winter and spring seasons, which are exponentially colder with worse weather conditions in Alaska. Even though the players and coaching staff may not admit it, Anchorage, Alaska is one of the harshest places to play in simply due to geography because of various factors that can directly influence a player's ability to play at an elite level.

***hockeyiscool*** · 07-27-2020, 01:07 AM

I would like to say Carolina currently has the largest Home Ice arena Advantage. If you look at last season we had the largest average attendance with 8,345 in the entire league, and it showed with us bringing a four star cup back for the fans. However a deeper look into the last season (S54) of the league, the arbitrary data shows a different story.

I am omitting Q.C.C. and Nevada from the conversation because they haven't played enough games to know.

Table 1: SMJHL teams at home

Here is the ranking from worst to best for SMJHL teams with the home ice advantage based upon S54 regular season data (Table 1) and comparing them to their away record:

Vancouver Whalers Whalers

The Whalers have the second largest stadium in the league but also the second most empty seats. Maybe it's the polite manner of the folks in Vancouver, but they are not intimidating and the Whalers record reflects the worst record at home having 8 wins, 18 losses and 1 overtime loss giving them the worst on the list or 10th out of 10 for home ice advantage.

Detroit Falcons Falcons

Next on the list goes to the Detroit Falcons. The team aside from the Whalers in the entire SMJHL to have a losing record at home. Detroit had high expectations going into last season after crushing in season 53, and a slow start to the season must have translated into their fan base lack of hype. They finished the season 12-13-0 at home and averaged just over half of their stadium capacity.

Boat team bad Armada

The team that's 8th our of tenth for how much they get from home ice advantage is the Anchorage Armada. Even though they fill over half of their stadium it doesn't seem to matter too much as the Armada got the same number of wins when playing away but had three more overtime losses at home. So the difference is 3 points.

Too close to call Kraken

There were three teams that were both monsters away and at home, two with near identical records. The Kelowna Knights and Carolina Kraken both have very similar results when comparing home and away records. Kelowna went 18-4-3 at home and 14-7-4 for away games. Carolina having the record 18-7-0 at Home and 14-6-5 for Away games. So you can't really consider a major difference.

Anaheim Outlaws Outlaws

We're entering an group of teams that just flat out were better at home. Perhaps it was because they got to match the lines how they desired, maybe it was because the players got to snuggle up with their Waifu pillows. I don't know the exact reason but their home crowd was something to be feared. Anaheim went .500 in away games this season. They went 0.640 which is quite an improvement and strong enough to give them the fifth spot.

Newfoundland Berserkers

Newfoundland found themselves with the highest percentage of the stadium filled on an Average night with a whopping 78.9 % of the stadium filled which is the most for the league but getting fans in their seats doesn't mean you'll have the largest home ice advantage. It just means ticket sales are solid.

Newfoundland saw themselves winning six more games at home than when playing away games. So that puts them a top the three best teams in the league but that only gives them the fourth position on this list.

Colorado Raptors Raptors

It was difficult deciding who got the third position as the difference between second and third was a single point. Colorado went 16-7-2 at home and 8-14-3 when playing away games. This is a difference of 15 points.

Maine Timber Timber

The Maine Timber were awful when playing away games. Their Away record was a pitiful 6-19-0. When playing at home they saw a massive shift in quality of game play. Maybe it was the New Timber Fans jonesin' for some hockey. Whatever it may be the Timber were formidable opponents at home. When playing home games in S54 Maine went 14-11-0. This is a difference of 16 points from home ice advantage.

St. Louis Scarecrows

This might have been a surprise for a lot of people. It surprised me, but St. Louis Scarecrows were a different team when they played at home compared to when on the road. The percentage of stadium filled was the lowest at 34.98% but St. Louis delivered when they were playing at home. They had a home record of 18-6-1 which is up there with Laurifer Trophy winners Kelowna. St. Louis had an abysmal record of 8-17-0 when playing on the road. This is a point difference of +21 when playing at home vs on the road. That is unheard of and is plenty enough to have St. Louis as the team with the most significant Home Ice Advantage in the SMJHL--if only they had a brain.

Most Significant SMJHL Home Ice Advantage Ranking

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***Ace*** · 07-27-2020, 01:46 AM

I'd say the Nevada Battleborn have quite the significant built in home ice advantage, as the opposing players surely won't get enough sleep after the debauchery and adultery that will surely occur the night before a contest.

Southie · 07-27-2020, 02:15 AM

Voulez-vous parler de qui a le meilleur avantage à domicile dans la ligue? Je parie que vous deviez chercher sur Google pour comprendre ce que je dis. C'est la vie au Québec. C'est ce que vous allez devoir affronter avec chaque jeu auquel vous jouez ici. J'espère que ça vous plait.

Do you want to talk about who has the best home advantage in the league? I bet you had to google this to figure out what I'm saying. That's life in Quebec. This is what you are going to have to face with every game you play here. I hope you like it.

**_Blitz_** · 07-27-2020, 02:20 AM

Gotta go with St. Louis. It's really easy to put on a show at home, with the crowd getting behind each of the players and cheering. It's not the most organized, and sometimes it gets a little too rowdy. When you're sticking it to the other team, they're loud and they're proud. When it's a comeback goal, they're excited and on their feet. When it's a play that shuts down the other team, they're right there taking a deep breath with you. They can get a little chippy when you're making mistakes (especially against Detroit), but it's never long-lived. You score the next goal or block the next shot and they're right back with you.

The first time, as a player, that you hear the crowd yelling your name is special. Every time after that just gets better. They remember everybody. A bunch of alumni came down for the first game last season when we were putting Ryan King's GM banner in the rafters, and Odelein to Hernadivic to Bruchevski to Joe K were all heralded as they came out to the ice to watch it go up. We had probably thirty people in addition to the current roster out there, and the fans went nuts for all of them.

Who doesn't want a crowd like that?

dankoa · 07-27-2020, 04:39 AM

I'm going to have to go with the team I play for, the Texas Renegades, as having the biggest home ice advantage. The fact that we play so far away from every other team (it being a real long trip for the Canadian teams), the general hostility of the state and the fact that our record at home was miles better than on the road last season all adds up to me being unable to have a different opinion.

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wumaduce · 07-27-2020, 05:08 AM

I'd have to say the Anaheim Outlaws have the best home ice advantage. There's something about all the security guards and vendors in the arena being armed biker looking guys that is kind of intimidating. Plus the having 2 guys on Harleys pulling the zamboni is kind of cool.

Nictox · 07-27-2020, 06:40 AM

Let the biased opinions begin. I can honestly say the New Orleans has the greatest home ice advantage and it has to do with voodoo. That's right, black magic. I kid of course, we just love our crowd and they love us.

RIP Dangel #AD26 | RIP TDZ

C9Van · 07-27-2020, 07:05 AM

I would say the team's with the best home field advantage would be the teams that are most successful so thankfully Edmonton have a great home so gain a huge advantage .

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Jobin · 07-27-2020, 07:31 AM

Detroit has the obvious home ice advantage. Why? What team's fans are going to travel to Detroit to watch a game? The answer is no team's.

mastersheep · 07-27-2020, 07:55 AM

In the SMJHL, St. Louis is easily the toughest arena to win in. While the Scarecrows were truly awful on the road last season with an 8-17-0 record, they were quite the opposite at home, dominating their opponents with an 18-6-1 record. While there were other better teams at home, such as Kelowna and Newfoundland, both of these clubs also had great road records as well.

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You can really look at each of the players and see just about every single one was better in St. Louis than not. Eleven of the sixteen skaters who played all 50 games for St. Louis had higher point totals at home, the most extreme example being Brandt Underton. Underton scored just a lone goal on the road, but in St. Louis he made his mark, scoring 4 goals and 10 assists. Erben Kasius was defensively inept with a -19 rating outside of St. Louis, but back at home he was a solid +11. The effect trickled down to the goaltenders as well. With the team performing poorly in front of him, Nicolae Antonescu had a 3.46 GAA and a 0.891 Save % en route to a 6-9-0 record away from home. But, in St. Louis, Antonescu shined brightly with a 10-2-1 record, a 2.31 GAA, and a .920 Save %. All in all, while St. Louis was a fairly ordinary team, their play at home propelled them to a playoff spot and they were able to take the eventual Four Star Cup champions to the brink of elimination.

In the SHL, it was pretty difficult to decide which team was better at home. The Hamilton Steelhawks were actually not all that great on the road, sporting a 15-9-1 record. At home, the team was an absolute monster, going 23-1-1 with their only losses coming in a close 4-3 regulation loss to Buffalo and a shootout loss to New Orleans.

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Similarly to St. Louis, Hamilton had 12 of their 15 skaters with better point totals at home than on the road. The top line of Lagerfield-Wilson-Phelps was insane at home, scoring 129 points versus a much more pedestrian 86 points away from Hamilton. Aaron Wilson in particular was merely human scoring 7 goals and 16 assists in other arenas, but at home was godlike with 16 goals and 27 assists. Again the goalie situation was much different in Hamilton. Geezus Kryyst had a stingy 1.80 GAA and 0.922 Save % at home, but had a 2.66 GAA and 0.905 Save % on the road. The team took advantage of every matchup they could at home and it worked for them all season long and led them to a second straight finals appearance.

Honorable mention to the Texas Renegades, who came so close to making their first playoff appearance in a while by being terrific at home with their 18-5-2 record. Unfortunately for them, they were the exact opposite on the road, going only 8-14-3, a record that doomed their Cinderella story before it got its chance to start.

*Mutedfaith* · 07-27-2020, 08:27 AM

Well, that's a pretty easy one. The team with the most significant home ice advantage are the St Louis Scarecrows. Because let's face it, nobody WANTS to go to St Louis. So the whole time opposition players are out on the ice, they're only thinking about wanting to leave that rotten city as soon as possible.

***Snussu*** · 07-27-2020, 08:38 AM

I would like to think big market teams like LA, Chicago, Calgary have bigger home is advantage compered to like Hamilton, Baltimore, Toronto, Tampa Bay. The reason Toronto and Hamilton are on this list are because they need to share the market

Thelastheraclid · 07-27-2020, 08:41 AM

I have it on good authority that Baltimore has significant home ice advantage. First, management send an absolutely absurd amount of crabs to the visiting team, fattening them up and maybe causing some shell fish allergies. Then to slow them down even more some of Baltimore's finest are tasked with setting up random spot checks for drugs and drunk driving on the road that leads to the arena.

Bruins10 · 07-27-2020, 08:47 AM

Believe it or not, the one team that has the best home ice advantage will definitely be the Tampa Bay Barracuda. That is right, them water dogs are going to have the place shaking when they try to get their first win in over a season and I personally think they could do it. If I had the opportunity of betting for a 4th team in casino, I was betting the Tampa over just because of the joy I am going to have watching them play and seeing them fight their ass off in order to just beat other teams.

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