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

[Daveyyaunce]

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.

Eh I don't know about being number 3. While the Flyers fanbase is probably more dedicated per person, there is most definitely a larger amount of Sixers fans due to the wider appeal of basketball.

 

[Wayne Primeau]

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.

Calgary too. Can't ignore this fanbase.

 

[Cubs2024wildcard]

Anybody putting the Hawks near the top is kidding themselves.

Chicago right now is a Cubs town. Before that even with the Hawks winning Cups it was a bears town.

Cubs
Bears
Bulls
Blackhawks



Sox

 

[Senacus Maximus]

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Edmonton
4. Pittsburgh
5. New York
6. Detroit
7. Boston
8. Philadelphia
9. Vancouver
10. Winnipeg

Just because Vancouver is a Canadian city doesn't mean fans are crazy.

Vancouver fans are super negative about the team when they aren't winning the president's trophy. Considering they were bottom 5 last year, and not looking to great next year, I would not have them on this list.

 

[Smeagoal]

Fine, we don't want to be on your stupid list anyway!

We'll make our own, with blackhawks, and hookah.

 

[MikeGrier99]

1. Edmonton - The area produces an immense amount of NHLers, the fans are the most loyal in the NHL. Edmonton is in my eyes the most hockey mad per capita place in the NHL.

2. Winnipeg - Similar to Edmonton, the team is still new for them, great fans.

3. Montreal - Amazing loyal and passionate fanbase. I live in Montreal and love the great hockey fans, but they are in general more casual and fairweather than the cities above.

4. Toronto - Always a huge fanbase. Not as hardcore as the above 3 fanbases, partly because there's so much going on in Toronto and lots of competition. Not per capita the best hockey city on earth, but always a legendary hockey town even with their half century drought.

5. Pittsburgh - Recent cup runs have produced a lot of hype.

6. Chicago - Similar to above, seems the Blackhawks have become very popular the last decade.

7. Philly - Always a passionate fanbase even when their team is average.

8. New York - Solid hockey fans, although they are heavily overshadowed by everything else in New York. Very big loyal fanbase none the less.

9. Boston - Similar to the ones above, with some recent success. Despite so many big boston sports teams, the Bruins retain a large and passionate fanbase.

10. Calgary - Less hardcore than Winnipeg or Edmonton. More fair weather fans, less history, but a sizable fanbase none the less.

 

[cleveland408]

1. Montreal (It was a close decision between Montreal and Toronto but ultimately Montreal is more hockey crazy)
2. Toronto
3. Calgary
4. San José
5. St.Paul/Minneapolis
6. Detroit
7. Edmonton
8. Winnipeg
9. Buffalo
10. Philadelphia

HM's: Quebec City, Boston, Nashville.

 

[Bank Shot]

Canadian teams are 1-7 clearly.

I don't think Americans realize how crazy it gets up in the North. Hockey is wrapped up in the culture to greater extent than foot ball down there.

For instance during the Oilers first round, I called around on Tuesday to book a table at a bar for an Oilers away game taking place Friday.

I had to call over 10 bars before I could find one that didn't have all of their tables booked.

On a Tuesday... for a Friday game..

The percentage of hardcore and causal fans in a Canadian city compared to the population of the city as a whole just blows anything the Americans can muster out of the water. That's why Canadian cities get called fishbowls.

 

[Oilers Propagandist]

My top 5

Edmonton
Winnipeg
Minnesota (mind blowing because they watch the trap every game)
Montreal
Philly

 

[blankall]

Here's a list of NHL franchises by ticket sales and capacity percentage:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Hockey_League_attendance_figures

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

There is no chance San Jose is in the top-10. Even after making the SCF, we didn't sell out anywhere near every game. I don't know the exact numbers but I don't think we sold out even half of our home games. The Warriors have completely taken over the sports market in the Bay, especially considering the basketball season overlaps the hockey season.

I don't honestly know enough about each fan base to give a definite top-10 list, but I find it pretty hard to compile a top-10 that wouldn't be at least half Canadian teams. Outside of Toronto, who is obviously #1 on the list, none of these cities have competition from an NBA, MLB, or NFL team. Teams like Pittsburgh and Chicago may have passionate fan bases now, but both of them were near the bottom of the league in terms of fan support until they started winning Stanley Cups.

Consider the attendance of Canadian teams, and then consider the ticket pricing of Canadian teams. People may mention Ottawa not selling out round 3 playoff games, but consider the price of tickets in comparison. The opportunity cost of a hockey game in Canada may be ones' car payment, while the opportunity cost of watching a game in a city like Florida may be closer to washing ones' car.

 

[Cotton]

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

 

[Cawz]

1. Edmonton - The area produces an immense amount of NHLers, the fans are the most loyal in the NHL. Edmonton is in my eyes the most hockey mad per capita place in the NHL.

2. Winnipeg - Similar to Edmonton, the team is still new for them, great fans.

Per capita, yeah, I'd say this is #1 and #2.

 

[Machinehead]

re: New York

1)Who gives a **** about the media coverage? Walk around and talk to actual people and you'll find that the healthy majority of New York sports fans are hockey fans.

2)This city supports three teams; something that can't be said of any other city in other sport in North America.

 

[Machinehead]

My top 5

Edmonton
Winnipeg
Minnesota (mind blowing because they watch the trap every game)
Montreal
Philly

2003 called and wants its memes back

 

[Beauner]

Pitt doesn't belong in the top 10. If they didn't tank for Mario and Crosby the team would probably have moved by now.

eh, they would've moved because no one would've built an arena for them. Not necessarily because their fans didn't care.

 

[Baemon Severson*]

re: New York

1)Who gives a **** about the media coverage? Walk around and talk to actual people and you'll find that the healthy majority of New York sports fans are hockey fans.

2)This city supports three teams; something that can't be said of any other city in other sport in North America.

I would be shocked if 10 percent of hockey fans supported the Devils or Islanders. Long Island and Central/North Jersey support those teams

 

[RiceCooker]

Boston should be up there imo , it's one of the few American cities where hockey is very popular , both NHL and college .

 

[tom_servo]

eh, they would've moved because no one would've built an arena for them. Not necessarily because their fans didn't care.

Hell, Minnesota already lost a team but is still a lock for a top-5 US fanbase.

 

[Machinehead]

I would be shocked if 10 percent of hockey fans supported the Devils or Islanders. Long Island and Central/North Jersey support those teams

I don't know what the percentage looks like in Jersey, but in my experience, Long Island isn't even majority Islanders fans - but it's way more than 10% for the Isles in New York City. It's more like 1 out of 3.

I don't think we're near the top, and US cities like Boston and Minnesota for sure are ahead, but I don't see where Chicago, Philly, and especially Pittsburgh are ahead of us.

Hell, if Anaheim wins that 2005 draft lottery instead of Pittsburgh, we're talking about Kansas City as a hockey market right now.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

1. Montreal (It was a close decision between Montreal and Toronto but ultimately Montreal is more hockey crazy)
2. Toronto
3. Calgary
4. San José
5. St.Paul/Minneapolis
6. Detroit
7. Edmonton
8. Winnipeg
9. Buffalo
10. Philadelphia

HM's: Quebec City, Boston, Nashville.

Oh my god WHAT?!

I've lived in the bay area. San Jose is about 25th in the league.

 

[Oilers Propagandist]

2003 called and wants its memes back

Wheres your charts to discredit the post?

 

[Machinehead]

Wheres your charts to discredit the post?

If by "muh charts" you mean things that actually happened in actual NHL games last year instead of blowing misconceptions from 12 years ago out of my butt, yeah I've got a couple

-Minnesota had the 2nd most goals

-Minnesota gave up the 13th most shots

Doesn't sound like a trapping team to me.

But by all means, keep making up your own reality and then make chart jokes when somebody fills you in.

 

[MikeGrier99]

4. Calgary
8. Edmonton

3. Calgary
7. Edmonton

I'm curious to hear some of the arguments that Calgary is a more hockey mad city than Edmonton. The Edmonton area produces more NHL players and coaches (Jarome Iginla, Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, Daymond Langkow, and other great flames were from Edmonton), the city invested way more into the team, the history is much richer even going back to the Oil Kings or WHA days, Edmonton had arguably the greatest hockey dynasty of all time, the fanbase is hungrier and more rabid in Edmonton, we started the outdoor game trend with the original heritage classic, the playoff atmospheres in 1997, 1998, 2006 and 2017 were incredible and will continue to be for the next decade, we do that whole sing the anthem thing (or even the US anthem), the Oilers currently employ probably the greatest player of all time, and have the absolute best young player in the world, we sold more tickets despite our team being the worst in the NHL for a decade, our ticket prices are more expensive than Calgary, the Oilers franchise is valued higher than the Flames franchise, etc. etc. . I just can't think of a single point where Calgary is ahead of the Oilers when it comes to love for their respective NHL teams.

I am absolutely biased no doubt, I am from Edmonton but I've lived in Vancouver and currently live in Montreal. I've never seen people care so much for a hockey team as much as Edmonton does. Most fans aren't fair weather but quite hardcore.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Even battling for the #3 spot with the Celtics in New England, the Bruins must be in the top 10 in the NHL world.

Factor in the Beanpot and college/AHL hockey and the region is well invested in hockey.