The NHL's Best Fans

[ejs23]

For the 3rd straight time, Penguins fans are ranked as the NHL's best. The NHL's Best Fans - Forbes

The article says Pittsburgh was #1 in hometown crowd reach, local television ratings, attendance, social media reach and Crosby had the best selling sweater last season.

1 - Pittsburgh Penguins
2 - Chicago Blackhawks
3 - Boston Bruins
4 - Montreal Canadiens
5 - Toronto Maple Leafs
6 - Vancouver Canucks
7 - Detroit Red Wings
8 - Buffalo Sabres
9 - Edmonton Oilers
10 - Calgary Flames

 

[coxy15]

Well,I'm a Leafs fan and Toronto shouldn't be
#5 on that list.Real Leafs fans can't afford to
get in the ACC.That's why all the corporate suits
in the crowd.I've been to the Bell Center to see the
Leafs 2 of my last 3 live games and having been to
the ACC 5 times myself,the people in the seats in
Toronto have nothing on the fans in Montreal.Just
my opinion of course but when did you ever see a
Habs jersey on the ice?

 

[Orca Pod]

Ah man, I guess I'm not a real fan of the Canucks, because I don't follow them on Facebook and Twitter.



That is a pretty lame 'factor' they use in their calculation.

 

[newfiecomicguy1]

Easy to be a good fan and sell seats, jerseys and get fans watching while the team is great and they have the most exciting player and NHL poster boy. After Mario left and before Sid and Malkin the Pens were not as great. Im surprised the Rangers are not on the list.

 

[Reddrgn88]

BS article. Jets fans have to be in the top 5, considering we are sold out every game and our merchandise sales are near the top.

 

[Moose#11]

. Im surprised the Rangers are not on the list.

i am not.they have priced out the blue collar(blue seat)fans completely over the past few years.actually,making it to the finals last year was pretty much the nail in the coffin for affordability to go to a game.all us old time blue seat season ticket holders have been jettisoned in favor of the Wall Street bozo's who get corporate comp seats and show up in the second period and leave by the middle of the third if they're down by a goal.it has made being a fan a lot less enthusiastic when i have to bring my boys to see them play in Newark.

 

[timber09]

I don't think that is the point Randy. They aren't labeling you as a fan individually however they are using social media stats to compare fan bases which I think is a logical and fair comparison.

If one team has a million more twitter followers and gets mentioned twice as much as another team I think that is a fair measuring stick as to the popularity of that fan base.

Clearly there are arguments that can be made - I think everyone who has ever watch HNIC realizes that a sold out game in Toronto looks significantly different than one in Winnipeg but sold out is sold out in reality of the league.

Maybe "Best Fans" isn't the greatest title here - maybe it could be "Most Active Fans" - either way, without looking into the exact logarithm used it seems like a logical way to compare markets on a pretty basic scale.

Ah man, I guess I'm not a real fan of the Canucks, because I don't follow them on Facebook and Twitter.



That is a pretty lame 'factor' they use in their calculation.

 

[ejs23]

Easy to be a good fan and sell seats, jerseys and get fans watching while the team is great and they have the most exciting player and NHL poster boy. After Mario left and before Sid and Malkin the Pens were not as great. Im surprised the Rangers are not on the list.

most people in Pittsburgh knew nothing of hockey before the Penguins coming into existence in the late 60's. and there wasn't much of a buzz until the Lemieux era... and that included plenty of bandwagon fans. but now you have kids who are growing up watching and playing hockey and who have Pens fans for parents.

I'm not even defending the idea that they really have the "best fans." But it's an acknowledgment that they've finally established a real fan base. Having success and stars helps... so does competent ownership.

BS article. Jets fans have to be in the top 5, considering we are sold out every game and our merchandise sales are near the top.

yes, but half of the teams in the NHL sell out their home games.

 

[TheGriceBoys]

These lists are a dime a dozen. Everyone has a top 20 this, best 10 that list.

If I had to pick, honestly, I would have the Buffalo Sabres fans in the top 3, hands down. Passionate, passionate people about their team and city, moreso than most I have seen and equal to most original 6 cultures.

And not having LA Kings fans in the top 10 is a sham. The Kings fan base wasn't very big until we started winning Cups, but it was VERY similar to Buffalo's in that the core group lived and died with the team through all of it's bleakest moments and darkest hours. It's still not accepted practice to have hardcore hockey fans on a beach I guess.