Penguins' Kris Letang says home-ice advantage isn't what it used to be

The Pittsburgh Penguins just wrapped up an undefeated post-Christmas three-game road trip through St. Louis, Minnesota and New York.

In a week, they will embark on a five-game western swing through Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona and Las Vegas leading up to their bye week.

On the surface, then, it looks like the team has reached an important point in the schedule.

The Penguins will need to pick up as many points as possible on a three-game homestand that begins with a matchup with Winnipeg on Friday night to sustain them through the difficult stretch ahead.

Just don’t try telling that to defenseman Kris Letang.

He doesn’t believe home-ice advantage is a thing in the NHL anymore.

“It’s not like the old days when there was a lot of hitting, and the crowd would go crazy and fights would make it different,” Letang said. “There are a lot of teams that are better home than away, but I don’t think it’s an advantage. It just comes down to the crowd, and I don’t think the crowd should affect anything in your game.”

Letang isn’t talking about the old days of the Broad Street Bullies or Big Bad Bruins of the 1970s. He isn’t talking about players dealing with the different rink dimensions of the Aud in Buffalo or fearing for their lives thanks to the interesting caliber of clientele at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

He’s talking about his rookie year, when Georges Laraque was an intimidating heavyweight, Jarkko Ruutu was a super pest and Gary Roberts was a glaring force of nature.

Or the year after that, when Eric Godard was a feared fighter, Matt Cooke was one of the most dangerous players in the league and Paul Bissonnette got some call-ups from the minors.

“When we were playing at the Mellon, I think it was something that was different,” Letang said. “The crowd was kind of over you. The building was old. The boards were shaking. We always had two, three tough guys on our team. It was different.”

In the big picture, there hasn’t been a substantive change in home-team winning percentages in the NHL since Letang debuted in 2006.

Home teams have won about 55 percent of the time in the regular season and playoffs for decades now.

Every serious analysis of the topic has determined the biggest reason for that 5-percent edge is not home crowds or home cooking but officiating. Unless NHL refs start ignoring human nature and stop giving home teams slightly preferential treatment, the winning percentage is unlikely to change much league wide.

Still, there is some pretty heavy anecdotal evidence supporting Letang’s claim that home ice is no longer particularly important.

First, just look at the Penguins.

Over the past two seasons, they were massive homers, racking up a 61-15-6 record at PPG Paints Arena compared to a 36-35-11 mark on the road.

This season, their home record (11-7-2) and road record (11-5-4) are practically identical.

Second, look at last year’s playoffs. Home teams went 39-44. The Penguins went 2-4.

As long as newer buildings with the best amenities continue to replace older ones with more character and tickets near the glass continue to cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars, Letang expects home ice to continue to decrease in value.

“Now the buildings are all state-of-the-art,” Letang said. “It’s all a question of having a good ticket. You want to see the game really well. Everybody’s a distance away from the ice instead of crowding over. It’s a different feel. You look at the playoffs. You don’t just win at home. It used to happen like that, but not anymore.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or
via Twitter @BombulieTrib.