Hm... the Avalanche is pretty much known for pulling out nearly impossible games when they're backs are to the wall, especially late in a series. In fact, last year, they took a bunch of their playoff series all the way to the last game and gutted them out.

Even with as much noise as the commentators make about it, that crowd involvement cannot have *that* huge an effect on professional player action. Otherwise, how could a professional athlete even play in an 'enemy' venue? It's certainly more fun when the crowd is behind you, but Blake does great against L.A. and they're boo'ing him every second he has the puck in their arena because he used to play for them. Plus the Aves come under a whole lot of critical fire from their own home fans and reporters, mostly because everyone has such huge expectations of them every year. They're the ones I find pretty amusing when they criticize everyone for trying the things that really have helped them win. I wouldn't think that the Sharks would let their crowd's involvement or not affect them a lot, but I don't know them that well.

It's just interesting, for me, to see the contrasts