Home field (dis) advantage?It’s assumed in sports that playing at home ALWAYS gives an advantage to a team. The roar of the crowd helps push the team to greater heights, building leads and coming from behind, right?
Maybe not. A new story in the Toronto Star tells us the Maple Leafs win at home only 49.4% of the time since 2005 and a remarkable 39% last season.
The reason may be simple – increased pressure to playing at home. The home crowd comes expecting a win, and good luck to the home team if they lose. One ex-Leaf said “Especially if you’re not playing well, there’s the pressure of, `Oh God, if I mess up they’re going to be talking about it in the paper all week and I’ll get booed off the ice’.”
