The Detroit Red Wings hadn't played well outside their home ice before their six-game road trip in December. But that didn't mean they were enjoying home-ice advantage. Instead, it meant they were playing poorly on the road and had no excuse for it.
Following their shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 4, the Wings were just 5-5-2 on the road. Before that road trip kicked off, head coach Todd McLellan weighed on on his thoughts of home-ice advantage after a reporter asked him if "home-ice advantage is kind of a lesser thing now in the NHL."
McLellan said, "Overall, big picture, I think so. I think some of that went away with a lot of the fighting, too, and the intimidation. The size of the rinks are all similar now. The atmospheres are generally the same. Some teams start out a little quicker on home ice than others, but teams are so closely bunched that the runaway teams on home ice, but Colorado might be doing it. Other than that, But other than that, I don't think there's a big swing one way or the other."
One of the Red Wings' Original Six rivals can attest to how little home-ice advantage means
Look at the New York Rangers, who are a sparkling 13-5-1 on the road this season, but a paltry 5-10-3 on their home ice. Their three home wins this season came against Central Division teams: the Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, and Dallas Stars, before upending the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.
Speaking of the Canadiens, they are an average 10-9-1 at the Bell Centre, while they're 9-3-3 on the road. The same holds true for the Los Angeles Kings, who are 4-6-4 at home, and an impeccable 11-4-5 away from their home ice.
Do most teams play better at home still? Yes, but it's not because they have an actual home-ice advantage. Walk into any NHL team's arena, and the ice surface will be similar. The same goes for the rink's dimensions, which McLellan implied above.
In some cases, a road team could have just as much, if not more, fan support at select opposing arenas, like when Toronto Maple Leafs fans invade the KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres.
Detroit Red Wings shouldn't notice a massive difference on the road
One major disadvantage the road team faces is that they're still traveling, mostly by air, into opposing teams' cities. There could be jet lag involved, especially when a team in the Eastern Time Zone is heading west, or vice versa.
Resetting the body clock is never easy, but that's the only real excuse the Red Wings should have these days when playing on the road. They also know they're skating into hostile environments, so the atmosphere shouldn't affect them.
The Wings don't need to adjust to the opposing team's ice because of the similarities in rink size and playing surfaces. If there's a mishap on the surface, both teams usually notice it, so there is no real advantage to the home squad. Unless the Wings are experiencing severe jet lag, they should be skating into opposing arenas and playing a similar brand of hockey as they would at home.
That's something they have gotten a firm grasp on lately, given their impeccable 5-1-1 road record so far in December with one more roadie reminaing this month on Dec. 27 in Carolina. Overall, the Wings are now 10-6-2 when playing away form Little Caesars Arena, fully taking to heart what Todd McLellan said earlier in December.