Top 10 NHL Teams with the Best Fans

The birthplace of hockey, Montreal may be a Catholic city but its biggest cathedrals are the Forum and the Bell Centre. Its biggest holy symbol is the letter C with an H in it and the Catholic Church has even placed ads in major newspapers urging the populace to pray for Les Canadiens. No place in the world worships Hockey with the passion of Montreal and no place in the world has had that passion for as long as Montreal. There is no contest here.

Are you kidding? It's not even close. We have the most die hard fans in any sport. Have you seen the prices for cup final tickets this year? It's RIDICULOUS! Yes, we may be annoying, but in a way it's a bit of a good thing, making sure everyone knows that no fan base can compare. Go Habs Go!

Even though I strongly dislike the Habs, their fans are extremely rowdy and passionate. Their home-ice advantage is like no other and that contributes to lots of their wins. No other team besides the Maple Leafs can match the Habs' intensity.

The only fan base that cheers for penalties and prefers when refs decide the outcomes of games. That's exactly what all other hockey fans should strive for.

You have to be immune to pain to even think about being a Toronto fan. We stick with our team through thick and thin. Our attendance is always in the top 10, even if it's during a losing season.

This team is so horrible the fans would have to be truly superhuman to not completely abandon it at this point. Always trying to shadow the Habs. So sad, that they only make this list because they're a lousy team. Losing Even After Fifty Seasons. I am a Habs fan and I have to respect these guys, like, at least Habs fans have had something to cheer for over the last half century.

The team has not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, the team has not appeared in a Stanley Cup final since 1967 and the team has had long stretches of futility since 1967 and yet this team continues to sell-out the Gardens or ACC night in and night out. You can always expect a contingent of Leaf fans too at any away arena including several where they outnumber the home teams fans on some occasions.

If the leafs had a game at 3am, blinding hail and 4 hurricanes outside and the leafs were currently sitting in last. Sellout game.

I'm a Flames fan living in Western New York (Sabres country) and have followed this team since the early 1980s (although not as extensively in recent years). Terrific franchise, amazing fans, great rivalries with Edmonton and Vancouver (Colorado, Dallas and Anaheim are also good ones as well). All-time fave player? Hakan Loob. He wore #12 well before Iggy immortalized it. Iggy is a legend, for sure, but Loober will always be #1 in this fan's heart and mind. It's always been a challenge to follow the Flames here in the East, but thanks to livestreaming and social media, the Flames can readily be followed here in the Buffalo area (albeit very late at night). 1989 was a season to remember. (May 25, to be precise.) GO FLAMES GO!

Only nhl team that has a longer sellout streak is Vancouver and TO. Are in a dry spell keepin them out of the playoffs but have still stayed loyal. The atmosphere at games is insane, and the fans are wild.
PS : As soon as Chicago misses the playoffs one year I guarantee all their "dedicated" fans will be out the door.

If only they did not lose the stanley cup final against tampa in 2004.

Every Canadian team should be in the top. Hockey is our sport.

Still selling out the place in 2015? Those are fans.

There is no fanbase with the exception of Toronto and Montreal that would suck for 8 straight years (2 last place finishes) and STILL SELL OUT EVERY NIGHT. Easily one of the best fanbases, and far better than the "business men flames" and the Canucks who jump ship at the first sign of failure.

I'm happy they are above the top ten spot.

At least they have real fans unlike florida whitch struggles to get fans to a game.

This is the NUMBER ONE fan base out of all of the NHL! You walk into the Bell MTS Centre and you just feel the energy and the passion for the team and the game. You cannot experience it anywhere else unlike the fans of the Winnipeg Jets. No matter winning or loosing. Tell me how CALGARY FLAMES are up there? I have went to many flames games and my god it is the most dry and quiet game ever. You could hear a pin drop. No one does it like the Winnipeg Jetters. We may be a smaller city but we are the most passionate and the most proud. So loud and energetic... not just babies gotta wear ear protection!

#1 fans by far! Stay to the end of the game win or lose, best playoff street parties, most loyal fans in the NHL. Friendly Manitoba...it's a true north thing.

Insanely loud. Especially during playoffs, the whiteout, the party outside? They really shell it out and you can feel the team pride as soon as you enter the BellMTS Place.

They say the Jets are the hardest road game in hockey because when you play the Jets, you play their fans.

The Red Wings have one of the oldest, most educated, and loyal fan bases in the NHL.

Has NOBODY ever gone to a Wings game other fans are like jokes to Detroit!

Are you kidding me? They literally call the city "Hockey Town"!

I voted for this because I'm a wings fan, but it is legit true.

1 cup in 75 years and countless playoff heartbreaks and we still continue to come close or sell the place out every year since the 1970s. Lets Go Rangers... New York's #1 hockey team!

Lets go rangers

Ottawa is between Montreal and Toronto so give them credit. They have a lot of fans who will continue to support their team through the tough rebuild.

Unlike Toronto fans, Ottawa fans don't act like abused spouses who refuse to leave their abuser. Ottawa is a great Hockey town and this is coming from a Habs fan.

A good fan base tortured by one of the worst owners of all time.

Best team best fans

Yes, the Canucks are some of the most crazy fans. For having two riots vs The Bruins in 2011. Then having one again in 1994 against the Rangers. There some crazy fans.

We're the reason that everyone waves white towels for their team, that's a fact!

Long suffering and yet fiercely loyal. Also overwhelmingly neurotic.

I went to a canucks game and just to hear the fans screaming GO CANUCKS GO! It's crazy. I love it

As a long time Maple Leafs fan, this team should be DEAD LAST for "Best Fans"! They LOSE points for being an original 6 fan base that abandoned their team when they were bad in the mid-2000's but then discovered their team when they drafted upcoming stars. PHONY/FAIR WEATHER/FRAUDS and to make it worse, they tout their so-called TWO MILLION fans at their victory parade, like that somehow makes up for them being 2nd to last in attendance before they got good! Easily number one bandwagon bunch, totally no-nothings about hockey too. Great at screaming during national anthem, but ask them who Stan Mikita or Bobby Hull is and watch the blank stares...

How can this team's fans be ranked 3rd? How about NUMBER 1 BANDWAGON fan base? How do you not show up when the team is lousy, and blame it on fans wanting to punish ownership, but then the team is GREAT and you show up? Oh, because your really knowledgeable? Sorry, that's fair weather Chicago! You should be ranked 28th, or 29th, just like your attendance was around 2006-07. Montreal has real fans. Toronto has real fans. I'll take even Sharks and Kings fans over this group as they showed up in the years their teams were not making the playoffs. Of the original 6, easily the worst fan base. Total Fake Fans!

How can this fan base be listed anywhere in the top 20? They were 2nd to last in attendance when the team was crummy, and oh, guess what, they get really good and they're all of a sudden selling out? Bandwagon! This is the phoniest fan base in the league. The yell the entire national anthem, and after a goal is scored, but when they're losing, it's as quiet as a tomb at the United Center. They deserve a much lower rating. Like 20th, and that's being kind, for the total bandwagon approach.

A big reason there was so little attendance before the mid 2000 was because of the horrible owner Bill Wirtz Blackhawks fans had to sufferthrough. he would not televise games because of greedy money deals with t.v stations which contributed to his nickname dollar bill, he made several more horrible decisions that isolated this team from it's fans for many years. I guarantee that any fanbase would see a major regression under his ownership. Plus if the Blackhawks were truly a bandwagon team they would not still be selling out every game sense they have been bad for 3 years now. You guys obviously don't know what your talking about.

Glad to see a sunbelt team this high on the list. USA today just had a great article stating one of the 3 major occurrences in NHL history impacting the league with regard to hockey success in the US was Gretzky going to the Kings in 1988. That fan base has been hugely supportive ever since. There never was a drop off and that is why this fan base HAS to be higher than 15th. It's overall impact on the league is huge! It created all the American born players pouring into hockey instead of other sports, especially in non-traditional cities. The result is players like Austin Matthews going to Toronto and hopefully leading my Maple Leafs back to greatness, or at least relevance. Best fan base, it's the Leafs. But biggest impact was Gretzky to LA.

I think of all the fan bases in the NHL, this one is under the radar screen. For a team that plays in a city with tons of entertainment options, how do they sell out every night? Meanwhile you have some fairly good teams, that don't do that in cities that have nowhere near the entertainment options (Colorado, New Jersey, Carolina, St. Louis...etc. Gretzky was a catalyst but I have always been impressed that Kings fans show up night after night. LA is easily the best, probably the only reason, hockey even exists in places like San Jose and Anaheim, Arizona and Tampa, Florida and Carolina, and the NHL could lose at least 4 of the other sun belt teams and no one would notice. The Kings Fan base are probably the only deserving sun belt team on this list. The Canadian teams are always going to be the most fanatic, and a few mid-west and Northeast teams, but this fan base definitely is the clear best of the non-traditional markets.

This is a very under appreciated fan base. This fan base sells out nightly, has never stopped going to games even when the team was not competitive, and for a west coast team really has a hockey savvy fan base. If you engage Kings fans they'll come back with intelligent conversation, something you won't likely get with most sun belt fan bases. I'd probably put them a little higher -more like 12th, for consistent support and overall fan knowledge. LA is a very good hockey market. I never thought I would say that, being an east coast fan, but they really have a good base. Montreal and Toronto are the best, and then I would say Detroit, Boston and New York, plus the other Canada teams. This is the best sunbelt fan base by far.

Love seeing a west coast team this high. With all the kids coming from California now playing in the NHL, you can thank Gretzky and the Kings fans for the explosion of hockey outside the traditional Canadian and Northeast/Midwestern markets. Without LA succeeding, none of this would have happened, and the game would be the same regional game it was for the first 10 or 70 years. The fact that this team continued to get support even after Gretzky left and prior to the recent run of success gives them the right to be at least in the top 12 or 13 of the NHL fan bases, and that, for a Western team, is pretty impressive. I give them high marks for consistent support.

we are talking fanbase right, there are no fans more rabid than the Bruins fans, they rock the garden, and most fans are very knowledgeable about hockey and the rules.
That makes it hard on the refs.

The fact that the Bruins are not in the top 5 is an ABSOLUTE JOKE! I am from Boston and as a Bruins fan I am insulted that the Bruins are tanked #26!

Well too bad bruins fan. Focuse more on football and less on hockey. Bruins go to hell.

They don't desreve to be in the top ten or top five the canadian teams deserve to be.

I am a diehard Blues fan, and the other comments are true. We love our team, we would give anything for a Stanley Cup, and we are seriously ticked off that they moved our beloved Rams. We are a talented team, and we have our eyes glued to the T.V. when we are playing in the playoffs.

The Cardinals robbed us of a pre salary cap era Stanley Cup.

Big sports city who is hungry for their first Stanley Cup.

Yes St. Louis deserves a Stanley cup since the Rams left the city must be shaken

The Wild are huge in Minnesota and not to mention they are in the state of hockey. They hold the record for most sold out games in a row and if you go to a game the fans love the wild

We are the state of hockey and all the other teams who can't even have outdoor ice in the winter should not even have a NHL hockey team!

You maybe the state of hockey but canada is the country of hockey.

The Wild in the State of Hockey has never had a non-sold out game...

Been there through it all. We finally have a team we are proud of. But we were there. I lived through those terrible years. I'm still sitting through the Pirates lean years. I'm still waiting. Fair weather fan? Don't think so buddy. Nobody here gave up on anything. Just the opposite. I (we) patiently waited. How about you pal?
Do you have the patience to ride out this terrible Flyers team of which your comments lead me to believe you're a fan? Will you be at the game next season when they have no shot at the playoffs? I doubt it. You haven't the class.

This Team was ready to move-bags packed due to complete lack of support. Then, they get Crosby and presto, great fans that show up every game. Hmmm, why was their a total lack of support and then they're this loyal devoted fan base-could it be because they're front runners? Yes, that's it!

Haha... Fraud fans. Could not even sellout when they had Mario and Jagr... The city is small also

Win a cup, and they're labeled Bandwagoners. No respect for these true fans.

Great fan bases don't have victory parades in their parking lot-with 30,000 people showing up, in a tri-state area of over 12 million. Crummy fan base, also a quiet arena that rarely sells out. Rangers=Great fans. Devils=apathy

What! How did the Devils get here!? They are so bad it is not even funny. They are on the NHL top list for relocation. Averaged 13,000 this year and 75% of arena filled bad fanbase

Devil is have good dress, solid player and red and white colour.

They are a fine team.

This truly is a great fan base, and I say this as a Kings fan since 1969. The first expansion franchise to truly make it big-sellout every night-basically since the Kate Smith days-and unlike the so call "Pens Fans", have a real home ice advantage. I've never heard it NOT loud for a Flyers home game-meanwhile you listen to on radio, or watch a Penguins home game, and it's as quiet as a tomb.

By far the craziest and most loyal fan base. These guys bleed orange and black, and has been voted by players as the worst place to play on a visiting team before.

How are they number 9? We have not seen a title in 40 years and yet we are still here, supporting the black and orange. We are passionate about our hockey team.

Better fans then Pittsburgh. The Flyers never had to think of relocating, like Pittsburgh. Loyal hardcore fan base.

We are the best! We love our team and if you ever come to a game you will see the energy level! And this year 2018 we are gonna win the cup! Go Bolts!

Florida is the last place you'd expect a lot of hockey fans. But the Lightning sell out almost every season.

In my oppinion places that don't get snow in winter don't deserve and nhl team.

I hate this team.

According to Nielson, Buffalo had the second highest percentage (48%) of people watch/attend at least one one the home team's games for the 12-13 season. We came in 22nd, fired our coach, and had Leino on our team. Pittsburgh, the highest percentage (54%) came in second, went to the Eastern Conference Finals, and had Crosby on their team.

I believe I've made my point.

While the Hurricanes may be a non-traditional market team, their fan base is near the top. When PNC arena is really bouncing, it's noise level puts places like Montreal to shame. Their attendance has surpassed places like New York and Toronto in recent years. Combine this with the culture the team has cultivated, the canes end up as one of the best fanbases in the NHL.
Extra Note: While I don't think the Canes should move back to Hartford. I do think they should go back to the green and white color scheme.

I am a die hard canes fan and I'm sad to say that there are less fans than we want, but what we lack in quantity we make up for it in pure enthusiasm, the canes have had their ups and downs but the fans are here for the long haul and will cheer for the canes no matter what. and because this list is for BEST fan bases, the canes fans tailgate, party, are welcoming to other teams and fans, and best of all the storm surge.

Those who think Carolina has a bad fan base realize this WE won a Stanley Cup something the whalers shouldn't have done and the fact the arena they had could only hold 10-13,000 while the PNC Arena holds about 19,000 and one final note, the whalers had Boston, New York Rangers, Islanders and Sabres, Pens and Flyers so it was hard get loyal fans. GO CANES

Why is Carolina even in the NHL? Does anyone care? Does anyone in North Carolina care about hockey? The answer is, no, they don't. They should move back to Hartford, which does care.

Small, but extremely passionate. UBS is one of the loudest buildings in the league.

Every fan is a die hard. From the cup era to now.

They are the most dedicated fans. 22 is completely disrespectful. They should be at least top ten.

Please, Islander fans are the most dedicated fans in sports. We are a tight-knit community. Every single Islander fan is passionate and faithful.

Diehard fans. After 20 years of futility, anybody that still follows the Isles are top rate fans.

I think the anthem before Game 6 against Bruins really showed people what Isles fans are about

They sell out practically every game and have a in person experience that is second to none.

Vegas fans are not loyal they are uneducated gambling, pawn shop owning idiots.