Are the Canucks the most popular NHL team on Vancouver Island?

[LightningStorm]

I'll be visiting Vancouver Island this summer, and I was wondering what the NHL fan demographics are like there. I've always assumed the Canucks are the most popular team there due to obviously being the closest. I'd be curious to hear your guys observations/experience for how popular the Canucks are there and the fan demographics in general on Vancouver Island as a whole as well as Victoria specifically.

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[BWJM]

I live in Victoria. In general, I'd say all the Canadian teams besides Ottawa/Jets are fairly even spread in terms of fans. With maybe a slight edge towards the Canucks due to location.

In my close friend group, myself and a good buddy are the only Canucks fans, the others are Oilers/Flames.

I don't have any Leaf/Hab fan friends thankfully. It also varies by age group. I'm in my late 20's, I know multiple people that hopped on the flame/oilers bandwagons during their early 2000's runs when I was growing up. They just never got off.

 

[timw33]

Back in the 09' through 13' era it was visibly a Canuck town and people went out of their way to watch the games at bars. Summer 2011 there was so much excitement in Victoria for the team. I would say that interest fell off a cliff in the Benning era for very obvious reasons. Feel like there's a pretty good amount of other Canadian team fans, maybe leaning a bit heavier into the Alberta teams than Ontario as lots of Albertan's move here or are here for school.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Anyone who lives in BC but cheers for another team can suck it.

 

[Hansen]

Vancouver Island is an awful place infested with ticks and rabid raccoons avoid it at all cost

 

[Hit the post]

Vancouver Island is an awful place infested with ticks and rabid raccoons avoid it at all cost

I think you've got Vancouver Island confused with my home.

 

[Jyrki]

From my experience living in Vic, there are more Canucks fans than any other team but that's not saying much. Maybe 1/4 at best? Then the rest is a plethora of every other Canadian team except the Senators plus Original 6.

 

[Cheeks Clapinski]

Grew up in Victoria and went to UVic. I found that most Islanders were Canucks fans. Quite a bit of friends would also latch on to teams their parents rooted for (Red Wings, Leafs, Bruins, Blackhawks, etc). Overall the Island is hardly a hotbed for hockey.

I found there were a ton of students at UVic from Calgary and thus a surprising amount of Flames fans

 

[cc]

Using my workplace as a sample, I would say no. Actually, most aren't even hockey fans but the few there are mostly go for other teams.

 

[Deeds26]

Definitely a mixed bag here in the Central Island. Got some people who go work in Alberta, so they are more Oiler/Flames fans, you got Canucks fans, and you get the older people who cheer for teams like Detroit/Boston/Leafs/Habs.

 

[EpochLink]

Grew up in Victoria and went to UVic. I found that most Islanders were Canucks fans. Quite a bit of friends would also latch on to teams their parents rooted for (Red Wings, Leafs, Bruins, Blackhawks, etc). Overall the Island is hardly a hotbed for hockey.

I found there were a ton of students at UVic from Calgary and thus a surprising amount of Flames fans

When I lived in Calgary, the two most visited places when travelling to BC are Kelowna and Victoria/Vancouver Island. They got annoyed by me cause they said what does Vancouver have that Calgary doesn’t … I said people from Calgary just like yourself. He got mad lmao

 

[Hansen]

When I lived in Calgary, the two most visited places when travelling to BC are Kelowna and Victoria/Vancouver Island. They got annoyed by me cause they said what does Vancouver have that Calgary doesn’t … I said people from Calgary just like yourself. He got mad lmao

Yeah you even hear a lot of Albertans describing Vancouver Island as the Island like the rest of us hahah

 

[BWJM]

Back in the 09' through 13' era it was visibly a Canuck town and people went out of their way to watch the games at bars. Summer 2011 there was so much excitement in Victoria for the team.

It really is amazing how many casuals we have in BC.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

It really is amazing how many casuals we have in BC.

It’s always been that way..This isn’t Edmonton ,Winnipeg or Montreal where the building is usually full..When the team is underachieving, people stop attending games..They do other things.

Canucks have had at least 3 downturns that I have seen.

 

[Kevinsane]

Anyone who lives in BC but cheers for another team can suck it.

I live in Dawson Creek, 20 minutes from the Alberta border and 6.5 hours from Edmonton.
I get that the Oilers and Flames are closer, but damn it bugs me to feel as a Canucks fan I’m in the minority.

 

[Zippgunn]

I have doubts; I live in Sooke and back when the road games were all pay-per-view there was only one bar in town that would pay to show them and often I was the only person there watching the game. After a couple of years of that they simply stopped carrying them. Didn't help that the owner was either a Habs fan or a Leafs fan I can't remember which...

 

[timw33]

It really is amazing how many casuals we have in BC.

Once spring rolls around in BC there are honestly just a lot of better things to do than watch every single game unless they are a truly special team. I get it.

 

[WhiteCurse]

The Island is definitely mostly Canucks area. Just jump on the Boat for a weekend gameday and you will spot them

 

[MS]

I've lived in both and I don't think the fan demographics for Vancouver Island are really any different than the lower mainland.

A majority of fans are Canuck fans (although heavily casual) and there are many times more Canuck fans than that of any other single team, but if you add up the 10% Montreal/Toronto/Alberta fans they make up probably 40% of the overall fanbase, and those transplanted fans are more invested and vocal. And it's the same in Vancouver.

 

[shottasasa]

Once spring rolls around in BC there are honestly just a lot of better things to do than watch every single game unless they are a truly special team. I get it.

I think this is kind of an important point. There are a lot of options for people to spend their time on in BC compared to the majority of the country during the winter. If the team isn't great, people have other stuff to do, even if they are Canucks fans and follow what's happening with the team. This is even more true for markets in the south.

If you were a Panthers fan when they are bad, why would you spend your time and money watching them lose when you can do so many other things outdoors that are free. If you are in Edmonton or even Toronto, in the dead of winter there isn't a ton to do in the evening that doesn't cost money (as almost everything has to be indoors). And if you go out and socialise, it's likely at a bar or at a friend's house where it's easy to put the game on. In most of the south, you can go hang out in a park or wherever. In the temperate parts of BC you don't have quite as many options as the south but definitely more than somewhere like Toronto, which I found out when I moved there in January. Everyone stays inside here during the winter, and neighborhoods feel like ghost towns after dark. When I go visit my wife's family in the interior I feel like there are a lot more hardcore fans there because they are shut in too.

I don't think the fact that a hockey team fails to sell out when they are bad says much at all about the quality of the fans in that context.

 

[Zippgunn]

I think this is kind of an important point. There are a lot of options for people to spend their time on in BC compared to the majority of the country during the winter. If the team isn't great, people have other stuff to do, even if they are Canucks fans and follow what's happening with the team. This is even more true for markets in the south.

If you were a Panthers fan when they are bad, why would you spend your time and money watching them lose when you can do so many other things outdoors that are free. If you are in Edmonton or even Toronto, in the dead of winter there isn't a ton to do in the evening that doesn't cost money (as almost everything has to be indoors). And if you go out and socialise, it's likely at a bar or at a friend's house where it's easy to put the game on. In most of the south, you can go hang out in a park or wherever. In the temperate parts of BC you don't have quite as many options as the south but definitely more than somewhere like Toronto, which I found out when I moved there in January. Everyone stays inside here during the winter, and neighborhoods feel like ghost towns after dark. When I go visit my wife's family in the interior I feel like there are a lot more hardcore fans there because they are shut in too.

I don't think the fact that a hockey team fails to sell out when they are bad says much at all about the quality of the fans in that context.

What then does it say about the quality of the fanbase when they sell out all the time even though they are awful?

 

[CanuckleBerry]

I live in Dawson Creek, 20 minutes from the Alberta border and 6.5 hours from Edmonton.
I get that the Oilers and Flames are closer, but damn it bugs me to feel as a Canucks fan I’m in the minority.

I guess that's the role that geography and proximity can have in a regional identity. Same reason why Lower Mainlanders identify a lot more in some respects with PNW states than they do with Southern Ontario or even Alberta.

Dawson Creek and Fort St John lean much more conservative and have an economic base that relates them to much of Alberta. Makes sense.

Prince George, where I grew up, must be far enough south to click more with the general BC identity. There's some level of Oiler/Maple Leaf support there, but the Canucks are definitely still the predominant fanbase.

 

[EpochLink]

I guess that's the role that geography and proximity can have in a regional identity. Same reason why Lower Mainlanders identify a lot more in some respects with PNW states than they do with Southern Ontario or even Alberta.

Dawson Creek and Fort St John lean much more conservative and have an economic base that relates them to much of Alberta. Makes sense.

Prince George, where I grew up, must be far enough south to click more with the general BC identity. There's some level of Oiler/Maple Leaf support there, but the Canucks are definitely still the predominant fanbase.

I can dig this, I respect people from Washington/Oregon/California alot more than people from Alberta.

 

[LightningStorm]

I guess that's the role that geography and proximity can have in a regional identity. Same reason why Lower Mainlanders identify a lot more in some respects with PNW states than they do with Southern Ontario or even Alberta.

Dawson Creek and Fort St John lean much more conservative and have an economic base that relates them to much of Alberta. Makes sense.

Prince George, where I grew up, must be far enough south to click more with the general BC identity. There's some level of Oiler/Maple Leaf support there, but the Canucks are definitely still the predominant fanbase.

I can dig this, I respect people from Washington/Oregon/California alot more than people from Alberta.

I live in Seattle, and I've heard that people in the Vancouver area are mostly split between the Blue Jays and Mariners when it comes to baseball. People may point out the Jays coming to Seattle in droves, but that's their only chance to see them each season. M's fans in Vancouver have all season to make a trip to Seattle.

 

[CanuckleBerry]

I live in Seattle, and I've heard that people in the Vancouver area are mostly split between the Blue Jays and Mariners when it comes to baseball. People may point out the Jays coming to Seattle in droves, but that's their only chance to see them each season. M's fans in Vancouver have all season to make a trip to Seattle.

I think that baseball fandom has slanted much more to the Jays in recent years mostly due to the Mariners' suckitude. If they ever had a prolonged period of dominance in the AL I think you start to see a swing back to more balance in the Vancouver market.