The Hockey News ranks NHL Fan bases

[Bingo]

with math!

THN Fan Bases

1. Toronto Maple Leafs (5 points)
2. Chicago Blackhawks (16 points)
3. Montreal Canadiens (17 points)
4. Vancouver Canucks (26 points)
5. Edmonton Oilers (30 points)
6. Philadelphia Flyers (31 points)
7. Winnipeg Jets (31 points)
8. Calgary Flames (35 points)
9. Pittsburgh Penguins (35 points)
10. Minnesota Wild (37 points)
11. New York Rangers (42 points)
12. Boston Bruins (43 points)
13. Los Angeles Kings (48 points)
14. Detroit Red Wings (52 points)
15. San Jose Sharks (56 points)
16. Ottawa Senators (62 points)
17. Washington Capitals (64 points)
18. Buffalo Sabres (68 points)
19. St. Louis Blues (83 points)
20. Nashville Predators (88 points)
21. New Jersey Devils (88 points)
22. New York Islanders (92 points)
23. Carolina Hurricanes (93 points)
24. Tampa Bay Lightning (93 points)
25. Florida Panthers (97 points)
26. Anaheim Ducks (98 points
27. Colorado Avalanche (101 points)
28. Columbus Blue Jackets (101 points)
29. Dallas Stars (106 points)
30. Arizona Coyotes (119 points)

[Puppet Guy]

seems like damning certain teams (*cough* Edmonton/Toronto *cough*) with faint praise.

[Gaudfather]

Six Canadian teams in the Top 8 - the Sens are the outliers.

[troutman]

Social media is a factor? Not fair for Calgary - we don't need twitter, we have CP!

[devo22]

how is the Flames social media presence lackluster? Honest question. I don't follow other NHL teams, so I have no comparisons.

[SofaProfessor]

Originally Posted by devo22

how is the Flames social media presence lackluster? Honest question. I don't follow other NHL teams, so I have no comparisons.

Looks like they're considering total number of followers, not the actual presence of the team account. So it makes total sense that a larger market team like Toronto would have more followers.

[waner]

So attendence is based on % of the arena filled not fans?

That seems a little stupid. I guess maybe it is there to not punish smaller centers but Winnipeg gets a high ranking because they have a small arena? But then why base twitter based solely on twitter followers?

They get 4,000 less fans out on average than the Flames but are right there in the attendence ranking because they have a tiny arena.

I know it is a silly list designed to get views and nothing else but seems like a pretty weak ranking system they used.

[Erick Estrada]

Winnipeg really? Small building that's easy to sell out and a fan base that lost the team once and is still in the honeymoon phase since coming back. Also while the Canucks may have more twitter followers how many were bandwagoners from a few years back that have checked out as well the building has its share of empty seats these days. I don't buy they are better fans than Calgary and that will be proven in the coming years when they take a deep turn into mediocrity.

Can't argue with Edmonton's placing though as there is no good reason for anyone to show up to Oilers games and while empty seats are becoming more common it's taken the worst stretch in NHL history to get there. They are either really good fans or really stupid. I expect the truth is somewhere in between.

[JD]

I don't follow pro sports teams on Twitter because they all tweet too much. I don't want to hear about every shot, first down or base hit. It's too much on my feed.

Maybe all franchises have the same rough percentage of people that feel like me, but that's an example of why number Twitter follows may not hold much water.

[Geeoff]

I feel like this ranking punishes good teams and rewards bad teams too much.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by devo22

how is the Flames social media presence lackluster? Honest question. I don't follow other NHL teams, so I have no comparisons.

Check out the Kings Twitter feed. They've been gold the last 3 years.

[Locke]

Edmonton should win this. The fact that anyone shows up for games is a miracle on its own, the fact that some people continue to actually pay for tickets leaves even Jesus astounded at their generosity.

[GoJetsGo]

I assume this is based on market size / reach and not integrity / destruction of civic property, sucker punching, little girl threatening etc etc?

[Ozy_Flame]

Edmonton fans just don't learn.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Edmonton fans just don't learn.

No matter how hard you hit them or how often they always get back up....

[GioforPM]

Do they count #boringseanmonahan as a Flames social media element? I hear it's popular.

If riots and obnoxious green men count, I see why Vancouver took down 4th.

[Resolute 14]

The PK Subban race-baiting article and the "Rivalries" special issue that was a complete rip off of one of their own books were the final straws that resulted in my cancelling my subscription to THN.

Judging by this article/issue, that was a good decision.

[FlamingHomer]

Almost 6000 fans risk their life last night to see the worst team in the league and they rank at 18th? That should be an automatic #1.

[#-3]

seems fair to me, Toronto should be #1 on any index where blind faith is a factor. And Edmonton should punch above its weight if that's a factor too. Most interesting to me is that Edmonton has 50% more followers. I guess its Calgarians like me who could just care less about Twitter, but love the Flames.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by #-3

seems fair to me, Toronto should be #1 on any index where blind faith is a factor. And Edmonton should punch above its weight if that's a factor too. Most interesting to me is that Edmonton has 50% more followers. I guess its Calgarians like me who could just care less about Twitter, but love the Flames.

What else you gonna do in Edmonton?