Do fans ever switch teams when relocating?

[HockeyMomx2]

As I watched the Wings suck from the comfort of Georgia, I wondered if, and how often a hockey fan might change allegiance when they relocate to another NHL city? Have you ever seen it?

Moved from Boston to Portland. I root for the Kraken only when they play the Habs, outside of that, they can suck donkey balls as far as I'm concerned. Besides, 'Seattle sucks worse than Portland' (if a WHL fan you'll understand the reference).

 

[David Bruce Banner]

I moved from one side of the country to the other 15+ years ago, but by that time I had already invested 35+ years in being a Canucks fan... and Nova Scotia doesn't have a team of their own. Regardless, though, I would probably have still hung onto my allegiance out of sheer bloodymindedness.
The Benning era was tough though, staying up to 11:30 just to watch a game where they would, most likely, pathetically lose meant that I didn't watch too many of their home games.

 

[Flamingo]

What about when a team moves away from your hometown?

I was a huge Nordiques fan. I can’t bring myself to cheer for the Avalanche, despite appreciating a lot of their players.

 

[Jee]

nah, never happened in the history of life

 

[benfranklin]

Sortof here.

From Buffalo.
Lifelong Jagr fan
Moved to CO
Avs won my allegiance after Jagr finally hung em up and I cant stand but laugh now at Sabres management for the last decade.

Eichel
Reinhart
Oreilly
Okposo
Kane
Dahlin
Olofsson
Mittlestadt
Montour
Ullmark
Hall

Proper management and this couldve easily been a contending team.

 

[Bouboumaster]

I don't know man, my team is the Habs, and they'll never go away

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Iunno about relocating. But there’s someone I remember in here that changed teams and I have the least amount of respect for this individual

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Switched to a Rangers fan when I moved to KW but it was an easy decision with the Battalion leaving Brampton. I definitely feel conflicted about the Steelheads now that they’ve moved and all my buddies are excited about it though.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with adopting the team belonging to the city you transplant to. Abandoning your allegiance to your old team is much different though.

 

[LeafGrief]

The people who switch allegiances generally aren’t the “thousands of posts and a decade on HF” crowd.

I love being a Leafs fan in Ottawa, where everyone who likes hockey automatically hates my team. I’m much more cheerful about the rivalries and enjoy the banter more than I used to, but I think that’s more about being a fan in my thirties than living in enemy territory.

 

[Terry Yake]

yes, i was a whalers fan until they moved to carolina. became a ducks fan after. the fact that i had moved from CT to CA a year earlier made the switch a lot easier

 

[Dr Beinfest]

I moved to Orlando for undergrad from South Florida in 2010. I moved to Hampton, VA in 2015, England in 2016, Houston in 2018, so I suppose you can say I wasn’t tempted until in 2018 when I moved to DC. Lived here for 6 years. I can see Capital One from my building. No interest! If not the panthers… then my fantasy team.

 

[Voight]

Well of course I've seen it, he's me.

Started off a Whalers fan as a kid (Francis was my favorite player).

Mid 90s when I lived in the Finger Lakes area I followed the Penguins since I could get their radio broadcast, had family in the Pittsburgh area, and they had Francis.

96 moved to Raleigh. 97 the Whale becomes the Canes and moves to NC. The next year they sign Francis and I make the move to being a Canes fan full time.

So what you're telling me is the Whalers moved to Carolina to accommodate you?

 

[Avs2022]

I asked this question regarding the Nordiques and Avs especially with that throwback Nords sweater the Avs donned and the answers I got from many were that Colorado were vultures and thieves so that's one example I've encountered. Not all Quebec fans, mind.

I lived in Quebec until 1990. Was a huge fan. Moved to California that year, remained a die hard Nords fan, and now still a die hard Avalanche fan. I'm still in California...

 

[DaveG]

So what you're telling me is the Whalers moved to Carolina to accommodate you?

clearly

 

[Avs2022]

My uncle used to say: you can have as many women as you want, but you can only have one team.

I agree with your uncle. My wife doesn't.

 

[Voight]

My Dad grew up in New Jersey and was a big Rangers fan before the Devils existed. Then in 1982, he did the unthinkable and switched from being a Rangers fan to a Devils fan, and has been a Devils fan ever since. He's taken a lot of crap from his friends over the years about it lol.

As for me, I was born/raised in Jersey, but have always been a Rangers fan (the first two games I ever attended were at MSG for the Rangers, and it stuck with me). Moved down to the Charlotte, NC metro area 16 years ago, but I couldn't imagine changing from being a Rangers, Jets, and Yankees fan. I'll pull for the Canes when it doesn't involve the Rangers, which was a lot easier prior to the 2013 realignment. And I'll pull for the Carolina Panthers as long as they're not playing the Jets or Giants because they're the local team. The locals here are all Braves fans, and I could never root for them.

There's an easy response to that, the Rags have 1 cup since WW II, the Devils have three.

 

[AKL]

As I watched the Wings suck from the comfort of Georgia, I wondered if, and how often a hockey fan might change allegiance when they relocate to another NHL city? Have you ever seen it?

I was (and still am) a Wild fan, when I moved to Arizona I started going to Coyotes games and even got season tickets. Now that they moved to Utah, as much as I still like the players on the team, it's not the Arizona Coyotes anymore, and I'm not a fan of the Utah team.