This is going to sound tone deaf given my team just beat the Avs, but the middle of the bell curve of their fans are brutal. I lived in Denver from 97-01, and the average Avs fan didn't know anything about hockey. That predated the Wild's existence, so I cheered for Denver as much as any team until the Wild came along. I remember explaining why it was okay that they just cleared it down on a PK, instead of trying to skate it down to "go score".
Denver is a Broncos town, first and foremost. And that's fine. But they take a NFL mindset into hockey, which, coupled with pretty strong hockey ignorance, is an off-putting combination. I have good friends still in Denver, and some of them real hockey fans. And they continue to tell me how embarrassed most Avs fans make them.
To be fair, the middle of the bell curve of Wild fans are also obnoxious. They tend towards provincial and arrogance. That, too, is an off-putting combination. And Wild fans act that way without any real success to back it up, which is sort of hilarious.
|