Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues
Based on the interactions I've had with members of the Athletic Department, I think they're open to any ideas that would enliven the building. I imagine that their decision to start selling beer again (not enough people know about this, by the way) was informed by a desire to re-incorporate the rowdier fans. From what I've witnessed at games the staff is fairly liberal with regards to enforcing strict policies (i.e. it's easy to get into the student section without being a student) and I definitely have not gotten the sense that the lack of creative chants are a problem. If anything, I tend to think the less creative, the better. That isn't to say that there is no room for creativity, just that the main objective should be noise.
Something that I have run by them that I think is particularly doable concerns the penalty kill. It's one of the few times in a hockey game where there is a clear task that can be accomplished in a short amount of time that fits people's attention spans. To me, it's an ideal time to call on the crowd to invigorate the players and help change the momentum. I proposed to the higher-ups that they flash something on the scoreboard encouraging the fans to chant defense in chorus like they used to do at the Islanders games and they actually followed through. Traditionally that is not something that is done at hockey games but I definitely don't think it would hurt to inject a football type atmosphere into the Whit. The thought would be, 15-20 seconds of chanting followed by 10-15 seconds of yelling. Over time, the melody of chanting (after the puck has been cleared) and yelling (when the puck is in the defensive zone) could develop into a really cool tradition.
I don't know how many people on this board regularly attend games, but there's a really great core of posters here and these are things that are absolutely, 100% within your control. You can join twitter (if you aren't already), you can parrot all of my ramblings, and you can yell at games like nobody's watching. This is college hockey. All it takes is a handful of drunken maniacs dispersed throughout the arena to change the entire tenor of the atmosphere. Fun is contagious. The team will have to comply for it to grow into something truly special, but let's at least give ourselves a chance. We're sitting on something great right now (lowering ticket prices would help).
Originally posted by Chuck Murray
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Something that I have run by them that I think is particularly doable concerns the penalty kill. It's one of the few times in a hockey game where there is a clear task that can be accomplished in a short amount of time that fits people's attention spans. To me, it's an ideal time to call on the crowd to invigorate the players and help change the momentum. I proposed to the higher-ups that they flash something on the scoreboard encouraging the fans to chant defense in chorus like they used to do at the Islanders games and they actually followed through. Traditionally that is not something that is done at hockey games but I definitely don't think it would hurt to inject a football type atmosphere into the Whit. The thought would be, 15-20 seconds of chanting followed by 10-15 seconds of yelling. Over time, the melody of chanting (after the puck has been cleared) and yelling (when the puck is in the defensive zone) could develop into a really cool tradition.
I don't know how many people on this board regularly attend games, but there's a really great core of posters here and these are things that are absolutely, 100% within your control. You can join twitter (if you aren't already), you can parrot all of my ramblings, and you can yell at games like nobody's watching. This is college hockey. All it takes is a handful of drunken maniacs dispersed throughout the arena to change the entire tenor of the atmosphere. Fun is contagious. The team will have to comply for it to grow into something truly special, but let's at least give ourselves a chance. We're sitting on something great right now (lowering ticket prices would help).
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