Which top ten NHL cities are the most hockey crazy right now?

[Future GOAT]

Montreal and Toronto are always top 2.

Then there are the rest.

 

[wildandwoolly]

Buffalo is without a doubt the most hockey crazy at the moment. Consistently, Buffalo is at the top of the ratings on any nationally televised game or event - often 1st or 2nd.

Buffalo was the highest-rated market in the regular season for NBC and NBCSN’s national games and, with Sabres games, generated the second-highest local cable rating in the N.H.L. (Pittsburgh had the highest.)

“Hockey’s in the area’s blood, like chicken wings,” said Alan Pergament, a television critic for The Buffalo News.

This was from a NYT article in 2014. Since, Buffalo has taken the crown from Pittsburgh*.

(* Source: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/06/Research-and-Ratings/NHL-ratings.aspx )

 

[Kirikanoir]

Why are people putting Vancouver in this list? Everytime I go there it seems like the Canucks are an afterthought.

Obviously you don`t know much about Vancouver`s sports scene. The Canucks are number 1 in the media and in fan interest. While there`s less buzz about the team right now simply because they are in re-build mode, as soon as the team starts winning you will see the interest increase again.

 

[MessierII]

Here are a couple of Devils related calls to Francesa and how little the biggest NY sports media person cares about hockey.

Pretty sad

 

[Inkling]

I would argue Edmonton to be #3 in the league after Montreal and Toronto, the atmosphere here during the playoffs was unlike everything I'd ever seen before. I remember waiting at a bus stop near a elementary school on the day of game 7 against the ducks. And I think there was recess or something going on but I remember just seeing every single kid in the entire school wearing some sort of orange, whether or not it was Oilers gear or not...

I've lived in Toronto and I think there's a good argument to put Edmonton ahead of Toronto actually. I've never lived in Edmonton but I've spent some time there and after my time there, it's pretty much what I think of as a hockey mad city. The Oilers are ubiquitous and the Oil Kings are well supported too (so it's not just NHL). You only have the Eskimos for competition, so it's pretty much hockey all the time.

 

[Wolf357]

Winnipeg has to be in the Top 5
If the OP is about being "Hockey" mad...doesn't matter if it's August 1st..it's all about hockey..
If it's about The NHL rather than Hockey in general you have to give props to Nashville.
Pure "Hockey" mad cities
1. Edmonton - supports both a NHL and WHL team. Good attendance in some really bad years
2. Calgary - supports both a NHL and WHL team
3. Winnipeg - NHLs smallest city and it is all about hockey supports both NHL and AHL
4. Montreal - "NHL" mad but junior and minor hockey is not on the radar
5. Toronto - junior hockey and The Marlies are not on the radar
6. "Twin Cities"- NHL, Gophers, and high school hockey are all huge
7. Vancouver- supports both NHL and WHL but with the Canucks not a elite team anymore support has dropped
8. Detroit- time will tell how much support the Wings will get with a team that is no longer a power house
9. Philly- fans are nuts pure and simple
10. Pittsburgh- back to back champions will make any fan a bandwagon jumper

 

[Insomniac99]

1. Montreal
2. Toronto
3. Buffalo
4. Nashville
5. Pittsburgh
6. Edmonton
7. Boston
8. Detroit
9. Winnipeg
10. Philadelphia

 

[Lunatik]

Try harder flames fan

it's pretty well known that Vancouver is pretty fickle when it comes to the Canucks and their attendance has always dropped significantly when they don't have a good team.

 

[Insomniac99]

Winnipeg has to be in the Top 5
If the OP is about being "Hockey" mad...doesn't matter if it's August 1st..it's all about hockey..
If it's about The NHL rather than Hockey in general you have to give props to Nashville.
Pure "Hockey" mad cities
1. Edmonton - supports both a NHL and WHL team. Good attendance in some really bad years
2. Calgary - supports both a NHL and WHL team
3. Winnipeg - NHLs smallest city and it is all about hockey supports both NHL and AHL
4. Montreal - "NHL" mad but junior and minor hockey is not on the radar
5. Toronto - junior hockey and The Marlies are not on the radar
6. "Twin Cities"- NHL, Gophers, and high school hockey are all huge
7. Vancouver- supports both NHL and WHL but with the Canucks not a elite team anymore support has dropped
8. Detroit- time will tell how much support the Wings will get with a team that is no longer a power house
9. Philly- fans are nuts pure and simple
10. Pittsburgh- back to back champions will make any fan a bandwagon jumper

I'm surprised you didn't just put all 7 Canadian teams in your top 7 and then called it a day.

 

[Sansbacon]

It's actually getting better, to be honest. I still wouldn't list NYC as hockey crazed by any means, but I've noticed a sizeable uptick in the amount of radio coverage I've heard on ESPN Radio during the season.

That's mainly due to having Don Lagreca and DiPietro both co-hosting shows. Even then, it's so insignificant compared to the amount of Yankees/Mets, Giants/Jets, Knicks discussion they might as well not even bother.

Boomer is a Rangers fan, but any time he brings up hockey, yo-bro Carton immediately craps all over it and prevents any kind of actual discussion.

Calling NYC a hockey crazed town is a terrible assessment.

 

[Stealth JD]

wouldn't this amount to attendance & TV ratings? which teams get the best ratings?

 

[nucks88]

Why are people putting Vancouver in this list? Everytime I go there it seems like the Canucks are an afterthought.

Yeah okay...

 

[Daximus]

I don't know how you define Hockey Crazy. Is it just support for the local NHL team? Is it actively supporting AHL/CHL/USHL franchises near by? Is it having a vibrant youth Hockey program that is producing NHLers?

For example, Nashville absolutely meets criteria 1, but not really 2 and 3. Toronto meet criteria 1, not really 2 (we have been knocked for not supporting minor/junior league teams), but produces the most young NHLers of any city in the world. Places like Boston probably meet all 3 but the Patriots are probably still the biggest ticket in town, but they produce players and have a vibrant college hockey scene. Montreal was a disaster for the WJC, but the Habs are still rabidly supported, although they haven't produced many NHL stars recently.

So depending on how you want to define it, you can get a bunch of different answers. I mean, The Red Wings are bad, but there are a bunch of young Detroit area players breaking through like Werenski, Larkin, Trouba and Kyle Connor at the moment, and MSU and Michigan are still sizable programs with good support.

If you are going by that Manitoba as whole has to be up there. Hockey crazy over the Jets, AHL Moose doing alright even with a bad team, Wheat Kings typically do alright, vibrant youth hockey scene that regularly punches waaaaayy above their weight in population producing guys like Toews, Sharp, Zajac, Steen, Keith, Hamonic, Severson. Lots of promising young guys on the rise in Nolan Patrick, Cody Glass, Jett Woo, Stelio Mattheos, Adam Brooks, Brett Howden, Josh Brook, Morgan Geekie, Nick Henry, Ty Lewis, Calen Addison.. so on..

 

[Section32]

This is a truly silly thread.

You cannot compare international cities like NYC, LA and CHI to towns like Colombus, TB, WIN, EDM...

The cities in themselves are what they are because they don't close the shops to watch a Packers game.

NYC has a rabid hockey following. But there are 22 million people in the metro area, most not from the country.

And no, that doesn't make you a better "hockey" town.

Just look at all the stars at MSG that are true Ranger fans....does that hold any weight?

Not for me. But probably should be entered into this thread...

 

[OkimLom]

I think a true gauge of a hockey market and a good judgement on how much people in that particular city love hockey is looking at not just TV ratings, jersey sales, and sell outs, but their local commitment to youth hockey and other avenues of hockey. As a fan, I also think you need to have loyalty from your fanbase as well. IMO, I think looking at how much your fanbase supports the team in their lowest times.

Right now, I would have the list as my personal opinion:

1. Montreal
2. Toronto
3. Minnesota
4. Winnipeg
5. Calgary
6. Edmonton
7. Boston
8. Buffalo
9. Detroit
10. Vancouver

 

[wildandwoolly]

wouldn't this amount to attendance & TV ratings? which teams get the best ratings?

Buffalo is without a doubt the most hockey crazy at the moment. Consistently, Buffalo is at the top of the ratings on any nationally televised game or event - often 1st or 2nd.



This was from a NYT article in 2014. Since, Buffalo has taken the crown from Pittsburgh*.

(* Source: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/06/Research-and-Ratings/NHL-ratings.aspx )

Link ^^

 

[Breakers]

Why are people putting montreal as 2?

Edmonton should be in front of them hands down.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

There was a time, not so long ago that I would have had the 7 Canadian teams in the top 7, but Ottawa doesn't deserve it anymore after the playoffs.


1. Montreal(Huge arena, always full, craziest fans)
2. Toronto(Fiercely loyal despite the last 50 years)
3. Edmonton(Arena remained full for some TOUGH times between 2006-2016)
4. Winnipeg(Deafening fans that literally never stop chanting)
5. Calgary(Also loyal, although didn't endure what Edmonton had to)
6. Vancouver(Weakest of the Canadian markets that you would trust to be full in the playoffs)
7. Detroit(Yeah it's Hockeytown. The Red Wings are HUGE in Michigan)
8. Philadelphia(Loud and loyal, through thick and thin)
9. Minnesota(Hockey is ingrained in the state's culture, Wild need to build a tradition)
10. Buffalo(Also currently standing by their team through some lean years)


HM: NY Rangers, Nashville, San Jose


No respect for bandwagon cities like Chicago, DC, Boston and Pittsburgh. Also the Flyers are definitely #3 in Philly. The Sixers have been playing to empty houses for years. Even in the Iverson days the Flyers were more popular.

 

[PM]

Vancouver should have no business in the top 10. They are the most fair-weather fans in all of sports. Team sucks right now, the fans aren't going to care about them until they are good again.

That's a load of crap. The city is still crazy about the Canucks, just less so right now compared to when we were at our height a half decade ago. Was Calgary just as crazy about the Flames during the Feaster era compared to their cup run in 2004? If you say yes you are lying.

 

[NeverForget06]

Toronto is tops when they are 30th overall or make the playoffs. No hockey city is like that.

I'll say Oilers fans were definitely impressive in supporting their team through the decade of darkness. But of course Toronto has other big sports teams that were very successful while the Leafs were not

 

[McDavyCrockett]

In hockey crazed places like Edmonton , Calgary , Ottawa , Montreal , Vancouver and Winnipeg .. NHL hockey is the only Major League sport in town so of course it always was and will be #1.... in most American markets , they have 3-4 Major League teams and the NHL usually takes a back seat to Football , Baseball and Basketball ( never mind how huge College sports are )

Agreed, this comparison is extremely disingenuous if not downright unfair.

We should rank it solely in terms of Canadian markets if we're gonna include Canadian teams:

Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Winnipeg are a cut above every other Canadian market.

 

[Dogewow]

Don't know how you define the term "hockey crazy", but these are some of my thoughts after reading through the thread:

-Being a big market doesn't necessarily mean that the town is hockey crazy.

-Being a Canadian city doesn't necessarily equate to being "hockey crazy" either. If you have a crap team in your city, then there isn't going to be as much fan interest or excitement generated from the team. Also have seen some Canadian teams in the past (as recently as this year) go through issues similar to markets in the lower 48.

-Not sure why Detroit is on there. Seems like the team is trending downward at this point and don't have any real home run prospects. If I'm a fan of Detroit, I don't know that I'm feeling "hockey crazy" at the moment. People have really bought into that "hockey town" marketing gimmick, eh?

-Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Buffalo, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg should be on everyone's list at least at this current time. Possibly Nashville as well given their recent run at the cup. Stuff like that always generates a buzz.

 

[Inkling]

This is a truly silly thread.

You cannot compare international cities like NYC, LA and CHI to towns like Colombus, TB, WIN, EDM...

Why not? Would Barcelona or Rome not be considered a football/soccer crazed city?

If New York is not a hockey crazed city (and I've been there and would agree, it's certainly not) then there's no shame in that, it's just how things are. Being a major international city does not preclude it being crazed for any one sport. London has 12 pro football teams (5 in the EPL, 7 in the Football League). I would suggest that back in the 1940/50's, New York would have been considered a baseball-crazed city.

 

[mattef]

I don't know if it's just me, but while still completely crazy (analyzing the Mark Streit signature for 3 days straight in the middle of july), the buzz in Montreal doesn't seem to be what it was just a few years ago.

Seemed to me even the old lady at the office who knows nothing about hockey had something to say about the Habs... Now it's like "meh"

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

it's pretty well known that Vancouver is pretty fickle when it comes to the Canucks and their attendance has always dropped significantly when they don't have a good team.

I agree!

with a Flames fan...