Boston Bruins The lack of a Bruins home game feel in the Toronto bubble was appalling

[Fenway]

The NHL asked all 24 teams to submit local organ music, PA drop-ins and anthem singers for their designated home games and some teams embraced that and several did not.

The Bruins did provide Todd Angily singing the anthem from his home on Sunday and yesterday they used a NESN tape of a game from TD Garden.

However, compare that to other teams - On Tuesday night we heard the Rangers organist and earlier in the day the Toronto organist. Last night we heard the Montreal organist and in Edmonton, we heard the Chicago PA announcer and their anthem singer.



A couple of Hawks players in their post-game interview last night said they appreciated the sounds.

It would have taken little effort to have Jim Martin introduce Todd singing the anthem but in Edmonton, the Chicago PA announced their anthem singer.

There is a soundtrack to games at TD Garden and even in Foxborough it was captured.



Renee Riva is the NHL Game Presentation boss and worked for the Bruins for 10 years before taking the NHL job

https://www.linkedin.com/in/reneeriva

The Bruins 'excuse' is the control room at TD Garden is sealed off because the people who can open the building are all on furlough.

BUT the Bruins made sure all their local ad stencils on the boards made their way to Toronto.

My point is that perhaps hearing familiar sounds helped the Habs and Blackhawks last night during the games. The cost of making the sounds available is petty cash but the Bruins management didn't care.

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[Blowfish]

 

[DarrenBanks56]

for what its worth, the Bruins probably play the worst in game arena music in the league. been like that for 10 years.

entrance song of cochise would be good tho.

thry should get a tape of rene singing the anthem.

 

[TD Charlie]

They played Crazy Train to open a period in one of these games recently. Maybe it was just cooincidence.

But YES, the "home game feel" has largely been lost or ignored in these broadcasts and it's still my biggest gripe

 

[Aussie Bruin]

The Bruins management are weird sometimes. They can put great effort into charity work, recognizing worthy people in the community, honoring past and present players, or even producing incredibly detailed stats books, but every now and then they drop the ball and don't do cheap and relatively easy things like this that may seem small but can make a genuine difference for little cost. I doubt the Bs would actually be playing much better if they had all the bells and whistles, but it couldn't hurt to at least have them when they were given the option.

 

[304]

for what its worth, the Bruins probably play the worst in game arena music in the league. been like that for 10 years.

entrance song of cochise would be good tho.

thry should get a tape of rene singing the anthem.

Don't mean to derail this thread, but want to add that their entire in-game production has not budged in 10+ years. Same stale music, showing fans waving/dancing between every whistle, helmet shuffle, etc. Luckily the fans give the atmosphere a boost.

 

[Kate08]

I don't expect a home feel.

They aren't home, they're in Toronto.

There are no home fans.

Home = last change, for every "home" team. Everyone has the same level of "advantage".

We're living in bizarre-o world, and it's bizarre-o world hockey.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I understand that being critical of Bruins management is a popular subject and they make themselves easy targets often.

However, I cannot buy into "hearing familiar sounds" helping the team's performance in any way.

 

[Number8]

I understand that being critical of Bruins management is a popular subject and they make themselves easy targets often.

However, I cannot buy into "hearing familiar sounds" helping the team's performance in any way.

I agree. It wouldn't hurt, but I also don't think it makes a difference to the positive IMO. Nothing is going to change the fact that these games are played in a bubble and in the absence of fans. I'm sure that impacts the players -- all players from all teams.

We looked better in the later stages of yesterday's game, but for the most part looked flat and been playing boring hockey. I've turned off two games before they were even over, yet I've watched every minute of TOR and MTL series (granted it's to root for them to lose, but it's also been exciting hockey).

I'm optimistic we will right the ship but time is becoming a factor. Players and coaches need to find it within themselves, not from some canned presentation courtesy of the Marketing Department.

 

[Therick67]

I understand that being critical of Bruins management is a popular subject and they make themselves easy targets often.

However, I cannot buy into "hearing familiar sounds" helping the team's performance in any way.

You might not, but I've heard several players asked about it and they said it was good to hear. Toews talked about it.

It certainly wouldn't hurt anything, so why wouldn't you do it?

They managed to get the ad's to Toronto, why not do anything you can to help give your team
any potential edge/boost?

 

[Ladyfan]

I don't want to hear any fake crowd noise. We all know It isn't real.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Don't mean to derail this thread, but want to add that their entire in-game production has not budged in 10+ years. Same stale music, showing fans waving/dancing between every whistle, helmet shuffle, etc. Luckily the fans give the atmosphere a boost.

The Bruins and NESN are both very lazy with presentation.

 

[Over the volcano]

Todd Angily in front of his bedroom closet was cringeworthy- they didn’t even spring for a decent microphone

 

[talkinaway]

The Bruins management are weird sometimes. They can put great effort into charity work, recognizing worthy people in the community, honoring past and present players, or even producing incredibly detailed stats books, but every now and then they drop the ball and don't do cheap and relatively easy things like this that may seem small but can make a genuine difference for little cost. I doubt the Bs would actually be playing much better if they had all the bells and whistles, but it couldn't hurt to at least have them when they were given the option.

This hits the nail on the head. I assume the organists from other arenas are recorded and pumped into Toronto/Edmonton, but even so, the amount of effort it would take to get Ron Poster, the Bruins organist, to record 30-50 ditties in a two hours would be minimal. Hell, even if it's not on the Bruins organ but a local church's organ so that the sound would be a little different, the songs and the style would at least be familiar. And no PA announcer is inexcusable.

I also agree that the presentation is a bit stale. There's about 4-5 slots for "new songs" in the organ repertoire, and then it's the same old stuff. Elton John has at 60+ bonafide hits, at least half of which would make sense in an arena, and I think the split is about 90% "Bennie and the Jets" and 10% "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (which, okay, can only be played on 1/4 of the games.) And Bennie pops up a LOT. There's the weird appregiated song that leads into some stacatto chords that I hear about half the time that must be some classic rock song I don't know. There's "Subdivisions" by Rush, which I had never heard of until someone told me that that's what Ron was playing. It's repetitive in a way that doesn't exist at, say, Fenway Park - although they do have more downtime.

The other issue that might have cropped up is that there are two DJs who work a lot of the Bruins games. One (Brek One Supreme) does the Celtics. The other (Senator John) does the Red Sox and the Patriots. I imagine they've been asked to work the Sox and Celtics games, but who knows.

But with all that said, I think that while the music would give a home game feel to the fans at home who hear the songs through the TV, it has very little to do with the Bruins poor performance in the three games they've played so far. But like you said, it's such a little thing to do that would mean a lot to the fans.

But yeah, let's make sure Uppababy and 他妈的杰里米·雅各布斯和加拿大人 are on the boards - that makes it feel like a home game.

 

[JCRO]

Its an even playing field for ALL teams in the tourney.

Not to sound like a jerk. I get it. But no excuses. Just results please.

 

[Fenway]

You might not, but I've heard several players asked about it and they said it was good to hear. Toews talked about it.

It certainly wouldn't hurt anything, so why wouldn't you do it?

They managed to get the ad's to Toronto, why not do anything you can to help give your team
any potential edge/boost?

The point I was trying to make is players on other teams says it helps

@Kate08 It is weird being in these bubble arenas yet last night hearing the Montreal organist I could pretend I was at Centre Bell.

The cost involved in doing it would be next to nothing and other teams have embraced it.

 

[Kate08]

The point I was trying to make is players on other teams says it helps

@Kate08 It is weird being in these bubble arenas yet last night hearing the Montreal organist I could pretend I was at Centre Bell.

The cost involved in doing it would be next to nothing and other teams have embraced it.

I get it, any creature comforts create a more familiar atmosphere.

What I'm having a hard time believing, though, is that professional athletes get an advantage from hearing a familiar pitch of an organ while they are in game. I think home ice advantage is real, but all of the things that really create that aren't in play right now.

I don't want to call Toews or anyone that says it helps a liar, but...I'm not totally buying what he/they are selling.

Completely recognize this is an apples and ice cream comparison, but when running a race on an out and back course, seeing someone I know on the other side of the divider is fun. It makes me happy to see a familiar face. It gives me zero competitive advantage whatsoever, but it's a nice treat.

That's kind of how I think about the organ and music choice stuff in the bubble. It's a nice treat, but likely has a minuscule effect on the on-ice product.

If we want to complain that the Bruins could take the time to send board graphics to make up some of their lost revenue and couldn't be bothered to put in the effort to give their players creature comforts, or to better "hook" their local viewing audience, that's a totally fair discussion.

 

[Therick67]

The point I was trying to make is players on other teams says it helps

@Kate08 It is weird being in these bubble arenas yet last night hearing the Montreal organist I could pretend I was at Centre Bell.

The cost involved in doing it would be next to nothing and other teams have embraced it.

It makes no sense they couldn't do this. It wouldn't hurt and could only help..

It makes things a little more normal.

 

[incidental otter]

You might not, but I've heard several players asked about it and they said it was good to hear. Toews talked about it.

It certainly wouldn't hurt anything, so why wouldn't you do it?

They managed to get the ad's to Toronto, why not do anything you can to help give your team
any potential edge/boost?

It's nice that the Chicagos and Montreals said the soundtrack was nice, but I'd hardly expect them to badmouth (or even minimize the contributions of) the members of their corporate team who made the arrangements.

And getting ads on the boards sounds like a no-brainer to me. Everyone in the front office ought to have been fired if they didn't go up.

Ultimately, there are enough ex-players in the B's management and coaching staff to understand the impact of the arena soundtrack on players. I'd be very disappointed if that sort of thing affected their play at all.

 

[Therick67]

It's nice that the Chicagos and Montreals said the soundtrack was nice, but I'd hardly expect them to badmouth (or even minimize the contributions of) the members of their corporate team who made the arrangements.

And getting ads on the boards sounds like a no-brainer to me. Everyone in the front office ought to have been fired if they didn't go up.

Ultimately, there are enough ex-players in the B's management and coaching staff to understand the impact of the arena soundtrack on players. I'd be very disappointed if that sort of thing affected their play at all.

I'm not suggesting it affects the play, but it just makes things seem a little more normal to them - what is the harm?

 

[The National]

Idk if I agree with it being “appalling”. At the end of the day they’re still playing in an empty stadium in Toronto. No matter the songs you play and how you play them.

 

[Fenway]

For a moment I felt like I was in South Philly

 

[missingchicklet]

Score some damn goals. If you need "home music" in an empty arena to perform well then might as well f*** right off out of the playoffs.

 

[incidental otter]

I'm not suggesting it affects the play, but it just makes things seem a little more normal to them - what is the harm?

Fair enough. It would be a good question for Cam or Don.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

It's nice that the Chicagos and Montreals said the soundtrack was nice, but I'd hardly expect them to badmouth (or even minimize the contributions of) the members of their corporate team who made the arrangements.

And getting ads on the boards sounds like a no-brainer to me. Everyone in the front office ought to have been fired if they didn't go up.

Ultimately, there are enough ex-players in the B's management and coaching staff to understand the impact of the arena soundtrack on players. I'd be very disappointed if that sort of thing affected their play at all.

Can't you see Jonathan Toews saying, "not really, didn't even notice. Doesn't mean dick to me."