Leafs to study ways of enhancing home ice advantage with fan support
More than 25 years into its existence, 'the house of pain' vibe that the original builders of Toronto's home arena envisioned from a noise standpoint has yet to evolve.
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Blame it on a few things, led by the Leafs' corporate season ticket base that opens their wallets, but closes their mouth during play, especially in the lower bowl.
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Ownership has also noticed.
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Keith Pelley, CEO of MLSE, was thrilled at fan engagement during the playoffs but recognizes it could be more loud, or close to it, every game. Fixing that is on his to-do list now that he'll be taking some of Brendan Shanahan's presidential duties.
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'A really good question,' Pelley said Friday when asked why the Leafs don't make better use of Scotiabank Arena, where they lost three times in the playoffs. 'What happened in the playoffs, especially (at the start of) Game 7 showed us what this can be, in terms of a magical hockey atmosphere.
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'It's one we'll look to get better at on game day. A lot of it is getting people into their seats a bit earlier. We did a really good job of that in playoffs, turning lights off, blowing whistles. It makes a difference, it's great to have it for all three periods.'
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But the catastrophic end to Game 7 with debris and Leafs sweaters littering the ice also showed Pelley there is damage control to be done this summer. That includes off the ice.
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'It's how players relate to the fans and quite honestly how we relate to the media. I understand the importance of the media, having worked in it for so long. We need to embrace the media and fans and be out there more.
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