ORLANDO, Fla. – Elite athletes will tell you that when they are in their “zone”, the game slows down and everything goes quiet. It is the ultimate sign that a player is focused on the task in front of them.
How they do it is a mystery, especially when the game is played in front of loud, raucous crowds in closed-in stadiums and arenas. Put thousands of amped up, rowdy people into a building and get them yelling and it can be painful. Very painful.
The NHL, ever wanting more and diverse statistics for its fans to chew on, has an item 
on its website called the “Decibel Meter”. Its function is to record the noise levels at games and present them for fans who want to know just how loud it is inside the buildings.
According to medical doctors, hearing loss due to prolonged, sustained exposure can start when the noise levels are between 90 and 95 decibels (dB). At 125 dB, the sound creates physical pain. Even with some kind of protection, doctors don’t suggest people be subjected to noise at or above 140 dB.
Using the above numbers as the guideline, there must be ringing ears and headaches on both coasts as fans in Vancouver and Boston have been loud and proud. Since the start of game two, decibel levels at both the Rogers Arena and the TD Garden have consistently been in triple digits as the teams battle for the Stanley Cup.
The quietest point of game two was logged during the pre-game when the home crowd’s chants of Manny Malhotra’s name registered at 98 decibels. That was soon eclipsed by the 105-decibel cheering as the Canadian national anthem (which itself is a marvel when the crowd sings the second verse) came to an end. As a practical comparison of the two, the noise level went from that of standing next to a snowmobile (Malhotra) to that of operating a power saw (anthem).
When Alex Burrows scored the game’s first goal midway through the first period, the roar from the crowd rose to 111 decibels – or a level similar to standing next to a sandblaster. Throughout the game, the live music breaks created enough noise to constantly hit the 105-109 decibel range (yep, the power saw level).
The fans ramped up the noise midway through the third period, knocking the needle to 114 decibels – equivalent to a loud rock concert – when Daniel Sedin scored to tie the game at 2-2. It dropped to 101 decibels (motorcycle engine) at the end of regulation but when Burrows won the contest eleven seconds into to overtime, the meter jumped to 117 decibels (crank up the rock show again) as the fans celebrated Vancouver’s 2-0 series lead.
As the scene moved to Boston and the TD Garden, most observers expected the Bruins’ fans to match the Canucks’ supporters and boy did they ever. Consider this: a video clip of Bobby Orr’s famous “flight” after scoring the 1970 Cup winning goal registered the same level as the fans booing the Canucks when they hit the ice – 101 decibels. When the vastly outnumbered Vancouver fans sang the Canadian anthem along with longtime Garden vocalist Rene Rancourt, they pushed the needle to 100 decibels.
That 100 decibel point would have been the low point had it not been for the deathly silence that came when Bruins forward Nathan Horton was felled by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome early in the first. After watching Horton being taken off on a stretcher, the fans returned to making noise, keeping the level over the 100 mark for much of the rest of the period.
Early in the second period, the Boston faithful nearly blew the roof off the building when Andrew Ference opened the scoring eleven seconds in. The meter hit 117 decibels when the red light went on. With each successive goal, the noise level spiked into the 115-118 decibel range.
Four more Boston goals in the final period kept the fans at a fever pitch. The tallies by Daniel Paille, Mark Recchi and Chris Kelly all hit 115 while the final score by Michael Ryder dipped (if you can call it a dip) to 114 decibels. The final 15 seconds of the game stayed constant at 112 decibels, most likely causing more than a few audibly foggy drives home.
The pre-game for game four was just as raucous as the end of game three. When Orr appeared in person waiving a flag with Horton’s number on it, the crowd went wild, knocking the decibel meter to 112. Seconds later when goalie Tim Thomas led the B’s out, the noise level rose to 114.
The TD Garden got even louder when Rich Peverley beat Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo for the game’s first goal. Peverley’s tally at 11:59 of the opening period brought the sound to 119 decibels. That number was matched at 11:11 of the second when Ryder found the back of the net and nearly equaled two minutes later when Brad Marchand’s goal got the crowd roaring at the 116 decibel level.
Peverley’s second goal of the game early in the third pegged the meter back up at 118 decibels. While the goal was being reviewed, the Boston fans gave Luongo a 110-decibel wave as he was replaced in net. Thomas’ late-game scrap with Burrows brought the crowd back alive and as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the fans gave the Bruins a 112-decibel send off back to Vancouver.
Game five at the Rogers Arena gave the Canucks fans yet another chance to give their team a boost of energy and they certainly did. It started in the pre-game with a 107-decibel chant of “We want the Cup” and continued through the first period with levels between 102 and 108 registering on a consistent basis.
Another scoreless period awaited in the second but that didn’t stop Canucks fans from being loud. The decibel levels stayed above 100 decibels, peaking at 109 late in the stanza when a shot of Vancouver native son and future NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash appeared on the big screen.
When Max Lapierre scored 4:35 into the final period, the Rogers Arena shook with the decibel level hitting 119 (there were also reports of a small seismic event at the time as well but that is another meter). The cheering went on for close to a minute at 114 decibels, falling ever so slightly to 111 as the fans reloaded when Lapierre was shown sitting on the bench.
The fans stayed loud, reaching 119 decibels as time ran out on the Bruins as the Canucks posted their second 1-0 home shutout in the series. Luongo, who had become a question mark after allowing 12 goals in the two games in Boston, got a 115-decibel salute when he was announced as the game’s first star that grew to 117 as he slammed his stick on the ice in triumph.
Needless to say, there may still be people in the Vancouver area trying to regain their hearing even two days later. Now the series heads back to Boston for game six and the challenge is once again in the hands of the Bruins faithful.
Aspirin anyone?
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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