at the risk of derailing a derailed season...
When you're at a Bruins game it's basically an assault on the senses. From the time the players step on the ice for warmups (and normally before even) the music is turned up to about 12 (to the point of cracking the speakers) and there are all kinds of flashing/strobing lights on the ribbon screens. During a game as soon as the puck goes out of play there's music/lighting effects and then Kelly what's her name comes on the mic screaming about this or that promotion. A song will play for 10 seconds (if) and then there's a different MAKE SOME NOISE something or other. There's a constant mugging for the camera to get on the jumbotron. When the puck's about to drop there's pump in crowd noise/screaming with more "GARDEN LEVEL NOISE!" crap. You can tell it's pumped in because as soon as the puck drops it magically cuts off to nothing. Perfect example of the lack of game awareness was the game against the Sens. It had ramped up a bit and the crowd was loud and chanting "Let's go Bruins" and people were excited. Then play stopped and it went on for a few more seconds until Poster got his cue that he had to play and he immediately started playing over the chant in slightly off time. Crowd died down and didn't pick back up when the game restarted. Also, how often have we seen the wave recently? It's all because of this kind of stuff. Focus on anything but the game. You too could be the Sal's pizza fan of the game! When I get home from a game I'm exhausted and I have a headache. Even when they win it's a drag and not a fun experience anymore.
When we got to the Pens game it was slightly before warmup. There was nice gentle background music. It was nice, but I figured when they started warmups it would start. There was a little music riff thing when they came out but it wasn't out of volume and the background music continued. We could actually have conversations with the people around us. It was nice but I figured when the game started the promos and MAKE SOME NOISE would start. Game started and .. there was none of it. There was just gentle music and/or organ. We could talk and hear each other. Yet the crowd still managed to be loud and into the game. Intermission came and the same thing. Other than a blimp flying around dropping coupons for free something or other there was nothing. Nice simple background music. There were a couple announcements but because the background volume was low they didn't have to be screamed. No speakers were crackling. We could talk! Honestly, it was amazing. So much so that I made a point of talking to some of the facility people on the way out to let them know what a pleasant experience it was. They said when they built the arena they spent a lot of time going to other buildings to get some ideas and see what worked and what didn't. Obviously it's a newer building and cleaner and better tech and all that but none of this stuff is related to any of that. I'd love for some of the Garden people to go to a game there to see how they do it.
This is funny to me because I attend a lot of Bolts games in Tampa. They are all about the onslaught of the senses, but people here love it. People even remark about how great of an experience they've crafted. So, while some fans (like you), particularly towards the more loyal die-hard contingent find it nauseating-grating, the average fan is all "OMG I had a GREAT time at the game, got on the JUMBOtron, danced to my fave ODESZA song, and killed it on the Bud Light party deck".
Keep in mind that I agree with you that it's frustrating when I can't have a minute talking to the people next to me without some stupid shtick, but people who don't attend games regularly seem to generally enjoy the theme-park like atmosphere. But, it's Florida, so maybe people outside of here actually enjoy less theatrics too.