Arena Sweet Arena

There’s no place like home. Well, home field/ice/court advantage.

In my travels over the last five months, I was fortunate enough to attend 3 games- one NFL, one NHL and one NBA. The downside was that I was unfortunate enough to be the away fan at each of these games. Don’t get me wrong—I completely understand the importance of the away fans. In fact, there could be a whole analysis done on whether seeing a patch of your jerseys in the crowd when you’re away from home is as inspiring as a venue full of them that can sometimes be taken for granted. As great as it may be to see your devoted fans travel (or encounter a band of displaced ones on the road), and as much as I love to take on the responsibility for cheering extra loudly in enemy territory so my boys know I’m there, I still think there’s something untouchable about a home game.

This October, the Canes went to Helsinki for the first 2 games of the season against the Minnesota Wild. Each team had 3 native Finns on their roster, all of whom were on the ice for the opening face-off, which I thought was a pretty cool idea. From what I’ve read on Canes sites, there were over 300 Caniacs that made the trek (and those who regularly read my blog, know how seriously bummed I was to not be part of that group). Caniacs who made the trip wrote back that there were only about 120 Wild fans that went. Now, I get that the flight time, and therefore cost, from Minnesota would be more than from Raleigh, but I could only imagine how awesome that was for our guys to see so many of our fans in the stands so far from home. In every interview about it after they returned, and some still to this day, 2 months later, the guys have mentioned how great the fan support is and their appreciation for being so well-represented in Finland. It’s in extreme cases like this where I could see travelling fans might beat out the home crowd vibe.

In contrast, the last two games at the Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers had significant amounts of empty seats. It’s kind of sad to see teams lacking that home support. When I went to the Canes @ Rangers game in October, I got the same vibe. What Rangers fans were there didn’t seem to even notice hockey was happening until their team scored. I get that it was early in the season, but I’ve rarely seen the RBC Center not be packed, and the fans that are there without question make their presence known throughout the entire game, regardless of what part of the season we’re in or where we sit in the standings. Definitely made me appreciate being a Caniac that much more!

Yesterday, I went to pick up tickets for my most hockey-enthusiastic friends and I for as many home games as I could get the first 2 weeks in January (note that some were already sold out). Pulling up to the RBC Center, I got the same jittery, excited energy that I do going to games. It’s the same feeling I got when walking into Doak Campbell Stadium at FSU for my first-ever football game… seeing the team colors/logo surrounding you, hearing the fans screaming and chanting in unison… there’s just something- not to be cliché, but- intangible and indescribable about that feeling as a fan. To be honest, it’s what got me hooked on football… and pretty much every sport after that. Ask any friend who’s watched a game with me and they’ll tell you how ridiculous I get leading up to and all the way through (and often after) going to a game. It’s intense. I’m sure the teams can sense it, too. That connection between the fans and the team, defending their home base, is why I think, for both sides, there’s no place like home. It’s good to be back.