Which city has the best hockey fans?

Answer 1

There is no answer to this question. I've seen thousands of games in hundreds of arenas over the years, and every group of fans are unique. I've had the good fortune/misfortune to see every NHL team lose a big game in it's own arena and see stunned fans, and I've seen every NHL team win a big game in it's own arena and see the fans go crazy.

Personally, the liveliest arenas I've been to were
1. The Spectrum whenever the Flyers played a Patrick division opponent
2. Le Colisee in Quebec City whenever Montreal was in town (The forum never had the same atmosphere for the rivalry as Quebec City)
3. Tampa Bay during the 2004 Cup run.............Florida was behind that team (even if every single hockey fan was in the arena)

Honourable Mention
One must give credit to the fans of Calgary and the Red Mile
One must give credit to the fans in Raleigh, for making tailgating fashionable at an NHL game

Answer 2

Let's put it this way, you will not be disappointed if you go to a game in:

Montreal, New York, Toronto, Calgary, Philadelphia, or Buffalo.

Now, these cities were only picked because they have been mentioned in here already. I think hockey fans, wherever they are, tend to create an environment of excitement and energy because the game is so dynamic. It's not like basketball where you have 50 time-outs per game or football with a break in between every down.

Hockey fans are as of today also quite knowledgable about their sport because:

A) In Canada, hockey is as much a part of life as going to the bathroom. It's inevitable and you just know what will happen and what you are going to do when you are there. However, if you are locked out of the bathroom or have to wait when you really need to go, you will have a religious experience when you finally get in can go.

B) In the States, hockey is in some respects an off-sport (with respect for regionality), so those who are into hockey, or get into hockey better want it badly becasue it's not served up to you on a silver platter by any means. Now, as the tix are getting higher and higher, you get less of the people who show up "just for the fights" (they are watching neckcar these days), and more of the peeps who really care about the game (maybe not so much the team if they live in one of the recently added NHL citities since many of those cities didn't have much hockey for people to grow up around until recently).

Given those two little theories and a handful more, it's safe to say that hockey will be great in any city (I really enjoyed a game in Nashville this past year - the place was electric - Preds vs. Ducks), and a hockey fan is always a great fan! :-)

Answer 3

Yes, this is an EXTREMELY vague question. If you're asking which fans are the loudest that could be any city in the league. As long as their team is winning every arena gets loud. I remember how loud the Carolina fans were back in '02 for Game 3 of the Finals.....every bit as loud as Detroit for Game 5.

But as far as history and tradition, I have to give that to Toronto. With all due respect to Montreal, Toronto fans can get downright fierce when it comes to defending their Leafs.

Also I'd put Detroit up there as well. They get a bum rep sometimes because get on the Wings when they underachieve but this is a blue-collar town and they expect their athletes to work as hard as they do. And it didn't help that before the cap Mike Illitch was basically the George Steinbrenner of hockey.

But if you want a true fan "experience" wear a Habs or Wings jersey and walk around in Toronto and see what happens.

Answer 4

I'm going to say NY because any fanbase that can wait 54 yrs for a Cup and then have to deal with the idiotic Rangers management from '97 until last year and still fill the Garden have to be loyal fans! Buffalo fans are VERY passionate about the Sabres and live and breathe hockey during the season. In Canada, I think ALL the cities with teams have great, knowledgeable fans. Unlike the States, Canadians live and breathe hockey 24-7, 365.....

Answer 5

I would love to say Toronto, but I'm from there and I'm afraid I'd be too much of a homer (I loves my Leafs).

I live outside of Detroit now, and people here liked to call it "Hockeytown" when the Wings were winning, but the bandwagoners proved to be about 2/3 of Red Wings fans in recent years, as they all disappeared.

The best fans are the ones that don't give up on their teams even when things are down, and under that criteria, I'd say Boston, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto (OK, so I'm a homer), and Philadelphia seem to have the best "true" fans.

Answer 6

From what Ive seen from the NHL message boards Ive gone to, the teams I see with the most knowledgeable fans are Philly, Montreal and Toronto when they are not bickering at each other, Detroit, and Pittsburgh (even though their markets kind of flooded with bandwagon fans right now). I'm always impressed when I see games in Edmonton and Calgary (especially in the playoffs, every single person in the stands is wearing a jersey), but I don't see a lot of them posting on the internet so I don't have any idea how knowledgeable their average fans are.

Answer 7

I think montreal is the best hockey city. When they were in the Stanley Cup and souray scored a goal the cheering was louder than an airplane apparently (I read it in the newspaper the next morning) even though they were losing. I find montreal are the most loyal fans and most fanatic about hockey.

Answer 8

i am here in detroit hockeytown and we all are loyal. we could go 0-82 one year the next will be beating 100$ on them wining the stanly cup i became a rell fan in 1999 when i was 8 not because we won to straight cups but because the where home town if you want profe i am a detroit lions fane now someone try to call that bandwagon the only reason the joe is not packed come playoffs is the horriable economy in detroit no one has 125$ for a seat here

Answer 9

Not just NHL, right? I'd say the Twin Cities as they sell out the NHL games as well as college. Vancouver is also pretty good as the junior team draws 8,000 per average and we've hosted record attendance crowds for the Memorial Cup and the World Juniors...even if Nux fans are pretty lame yuppie bandwagon jumpers now.

As far as NHL atmosphere--I'd go Montreal and NY (Manhattan anyway as Rangers games rock). Chicago used to great until Wirtz screwed the fans.

Answer 10

Our history does not go back as far as your other answers , but we have consistently had a loyal and very loud fan base for our Tampa Bay Lightning and we are d#mn proud of them!
And we have many other fans for the northern teams in the winter months cheering their teams on too, so the excitement is always there!