Why does the away team always seem to win outdoor games?

[lighthouses]

Is there the pressure on home team?? I dont believe it .. This is millionaire players

Click to read more...

 

[Church of Toews*]

Is there the pressure on home team?? I dont believe it .. This is millionaire players

Pretty sure the wild won against Chicago and the wild were the home team...

 

[ottawa]

Pretty sure the wild won against Chicago and the wild were the home team...

Caps beat the hawks in 2015 too.

Here is a list of games OP, bolded teams are the winning teams. It is mostly away teams that win, but a few home teams have won since 2014

 

[Tofveve]

Disappointing

 

[Pavels Dog]

May be easier for the road team to just focus on winning the game. Home team likely has more commitments to media/fans and family stuff going on. Just a theory.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Caps beat the hawks in 2015 too.

Here is a list of games OP, bolded teams are the winning teams. It is mostly away teams that win, but a few home teams have won since 2014

Out of all the road teams to win any of the previous outdoor games, the only one where you can say they really were not was the Rangers when they played the Devils and Islanders at Yankee Stadium in 2014. The Rangers were the road team because of some tax rule which says all their home games must be played at Madison Square Garden. However the reality is it was almost two straight unofficial home games because why would the NHL put them in back to back outdoor games in the same season when they have not done that for any other team?

 

[Quarter]

Randomness.

 

[PunchImlach is Alive]

Gary Bettman

 

[tarheelhockey]

May be easier for the road team to just focus on winning the game. Home team likely has more commitments to media/fans and family stuff going on. Just a theory.

That would be my guess. Hosting an outdoor game is a major commitment for an organization, and that spills over to the players and the coaches. I would imagine that they're distracted by it for a solid week or two beforehand. The road team probably experiences it as well, but to a much lesser degree since they're not involved in all the local publicity.

Randomness.

This is also a strong possibility.

 

[BlackDogg]

Because the home team is always tired from builiding the new rink the night before

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

The games are rigged.

 

[Sojourn]

Caps beat the hawks in 2015 too.

Here is a list of games OP, bolded teams are the winning teams. It is mostly away teams that win, but a few home teams have won since 2014

Damn. I knew it favored the Away teams, but I didn't realize it was by quite that margin. That's interesting. Probably meaningless, but interesting.

Maybe there is less pomp and circumstance for the away team, and it's just easier for them to focus on it as just any other game. That's just me talking out of my ass though. Edit: and I see that thought isn't original. The first part, not the talking out of my ass part. Although...

 

[Stive Morgan]

Doesn't the away team win the majority of games anyway? Like 55%?

 

[Snippit]

Coincidence

 

[Mathew Barzal]

The sun is on their side.

 

[1865]

The Philadelphia Flyers - Proud to be one of the only away losers in outdoor games.

 

[10coach*]

Doesn't the away team win the majority of games anyway? Like 55%?

Lol no

 

[trick9]

They propably pay more attention to the game itself, rather than all the stuff around it. That, and obviously randomness.

 

[Shrimper]

Lol no

So far this season it is 58-23 to the home teams. 71%

 

[llamateizer]

Home teams (excluding exhibition games)
5W- 14L

 

[irunthepeg]

I heard the alumni games are what count for the 2 points anyways?

 

[Bending and Tending]

Caps beat the hawks in 2015 too.

Here is a list of games OP, bolded teams are the winning teams. It is mostly away teams that win, but a few home teams have won since 2014

Away teams have still won 9 out of 12 since '14 and if you go back to 2003, away teams have 14 wins in 19 games.

 

[Bending and Tending]

Doesn't the away team win the majority of games anyway? Like 55%?

During the 2015-16, 6 teams had a better winning percentage on the road than at home.

Lol no

Rather than laugh, you should provide context to inform others.

 

[W75]

Can't really say if it's a phenomenom or not. Not enough data a.k.a. infamous small sample size. And we should estimate the strength of the teams too, how they were compared to each other. If there's a phenomenon, maybe away teams just have been better at hockey?

E: How about counting all the other outdoor games too, not only NHL? KHL, Finland, Universities, Are there games in other leagues too? Problem is, there will be even more possible variables.. but still much more data regarding big outdoor events.. to find out if there's a trend or not.

 

[Mr Positive]

Can't really say if it's a phenomenom or not. Not enough data a.k.a. infamous small sample size. And we should estimate the strength of the teams too, how they were compared to each other. If there's a phenomenon, maybe away teams just have been better at hockey?

I like this theory