Balancing your favorite and second favorite teams?

TheMule93

On a mule rides the swindler
May 26, 2015
12,466
6,512
Ontario
I watch my favorite team 99.99% of the time and other teams .01% of the time

It's been a good balance for me
 

sabremike

Friend To All Giraffes
Aug 30, 2010
22,544
33,789
Brewster, NY
Sabres are my fave since I adopted them after my Whalers were murdered. Living in the NY Metro area I ended up getting a season ticket for the Isles about 10 years ago that was in the double row at the top of the old Coliseum and was technically obstructed for $10 a game. I just wanted to see cheap hockey but over time from going to games and making friends they became my second fave. This is actually quite common for Sabres fans because so many have had to leave WNY for economic reasons and find themselves in another city with a team they will adopt as a second fave. This is also why wherever we play we always have a sizeable number of our fans at the game.
 

TheDawnOfANewTage

Dahlin, it’ll all be fine
Dec 17, 2018
12,023
17,505
I don't normally start watching a second team till playoffs start otherwise I watch the oilers lose till the end of the year

. But I don't see a problem with it, if you're a fan of hockey it's nice to cheer for a team that still has a shot.

Ya that's normally more my style, but after watching Sharks/Bruins and Sabres/Panthers.. I enjoyed watching one of those games. The other.. oof. Not just the losing, but the quality of play.. I'll still likely watch Sabres through the end of the year but more outta curiosity than hope I guess.

And ya, pretty much what SabreMike just said- ended up in CA for economic reasons, Sharks seemed cool so I started following, and before ya know it I have a Western team to cheer on. Used to have a handful of wants/don't wants each playoffs and still do, but now the Sharks just top the want list.
 

Maukkis

EZ4ENCE
Mar 16, 2016
10,538
7,218
Jets, Jets, Jets. I don't feel genuine happiness when other teams win.

I guess the team I would have the easiest time rooting for after Winnipeg would be Boston, but I don't consider myself a fan of them. Don't think you can truly have multiple teams from one league in your heart.

And then, the obvious: I'm up for cheering for literally anyone who plays the Leafs at any given night.
 

LeafGrief

Shambles in my brain
Apr 10, 2015
7,616
9,532
Ottawa
I might pick a team that I'd rather have win when I'm watching a playoff series, but there ain't no "second team" here.
 

wahsnairb

Registered User
Jun 9, 2010
5,240
2,558
Just wondering what others' attitudes were to this..

Sabres are my first love, hometown team, and they'll always come first. If they're in the race/playoffs, that's it, that's who I root for. Everything else is periphery.

But they're trash this year and look fully out of the playoff race. Even if they go on a miraculous tear I just don't see much happening this year.

So I root for my second favorite team, the Sharks. I'm a bit less passionate about them, but for the rest of the year when I flip on a game it'll likely be Sharks. When playoffs roll around I'll be all-in for the Sharks to win, followed by teams I kinda like (Flames) and rooting against teams I dislike (Leafs).

Just wondering how others do it, cause I make kinda a hard switch that might be considered somewhat bandwagonish. I figure the reality is it isn't Buffalo's year, I spent time in SJ and legit love that team, but as long as both have a shot I gotta stick with Buffalo. I now know that ain't happening this year, so I'll pick the second prettiest girl at the ball, so to speak. Thoughts?

I am a diehard Hawks fan (with a tattoo so you can’t take that back or turn it off), but I definitely cheer for Columbus while I live here and I cheered for Tampa while I lived there. Now that I am gone, I don’t cheer for Tampa even though they are world beaters now and I didn’t really cheer for the Jackets when I was down there.
 

CanadianPensFan1

Registered User
Jun 13, 2014
7,051
2,049
Canada
Interesting topic for a change. Well done, sir.

Pens are my #1 team, without fail. Been cheering for them since '88 when I was but a wee lad. Backstory: I was born and raised in Montreal and as such, I was a Habs fan. I was watching a Habs/Pens game one evening, there was this player on the ice. He was just magic. I asked my dad "who the heck is that guy? #66? And why does he seem so much better than everyone else." My dad said "that's Mario Lemieux and he is better than everyone else." From that day forward, I was a Pens fan.

Now, once the Pens are out of it, I'll cheer for Montreal. They still hold a place in my heart as a born and bred Montrealer.

I now live just outside Ottawa so I will cheer for the Sens to win. Really, after Pens and Habs, I'll cheer for any Canadian team to win (outside of the Leafs who need to be shot to the moon).
 

BonMorrison

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
33,611
9,296
Toronto, ON
Leafs and Predss are my two teams. I remember many years ago my friend asked me "BUT WHAT IF THEY MEET INT HE FINALS" and I laughed hysterically and said that won't happen in a million years but now I feel like it's as close to happening as it might ever will be and boy will my face be red if it does.

Leafs were my first love and got me into the game, I started cheering for the Preds in 2010-ish as an outlet because of all the Wings fans in my hometown (Windsor).

Love them both to death and glad they're my two teams. This season I've definitely been following the Preds more closely but I say I watch them both pretty evenly.
 

Falco Lombardi

Registered User
Nov 17, 2011
23,176
8,467
St. Louis, MO
Blues first, second, and third.

Now because I'll watch any hockey, there are teams that I enjoy watching, generally Tampa, but not to the level to where I would say I have a second team.

Closest I get to a second team is whoever is playing the Blackhawks or Sharks
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
13,579
18,347
Las Vegas
2nd favorite team?

Bruins or nothing.

I'll watch any hockey game and be invested in it, but for actually caring and rooting interest its Bruins only.

lone exception is a soft spot for anyone who beats Montreal
 
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Mildan

Registered User
Jan 7, 2019
469
425
Between teams I like usually support a team that needs the win more to make the playoffs. Tonight is tough choice between florida and carolina with aho and barkov, but as floridas chances are so thin anyways I hope Carolina to win on overtime. I tend to hope teams with Finns to do well but I also support smaller markets over big ones
 

ViktorBaeArvidsson

Greenville Swamp Rabbits fan lol
Feb 18, 2017
3,364
2,819
The Bible Belt of South Carolina
Can’t say I’ve ever had that feeling, I’m sticking with Nashville no matter how much pain they give me. “Hey man we made the Cup but guess what a former Predator is gonna knock you out” *single tear rolls down* Why Hornqvist, why’d you have to be the one... It could’ve been anyone, but of course it was you.

Buy my book
 

Whaleafs

“The Leafs are mulch again”
Mar 24, 2017
1,348
2,068
HFX
I don’t have one second team, it’s just someone I end up pulling for in the playoffs when the Leafs either don’t qualify or whenever they are eliminated. It’s different almost every year. Some years it’s been a proxy to beat Montreal (Bruins, Rangers), others it’s for a team that’s never won before (Vegas, Nashville) but it’s usually for a player.
 

God King Fudge

Championship Swag
Oct 13, 2017
6,308
6,793
Grew up in Orlando and TB is my #1. Moved somewhere else and I'm close to Dallas, St. Louis and Nashville. It helps them all being in the West, but I don't follow them even remotely as close as TB. I'll check on scores, catch a game if I can, but it's only if TB doesn't have anything going.
 

SotasicA

Registered User
Aug 25, 2014
8,489
6,402
No balancing necessary. Only one team's banners are allowed in this household.

Just wondering how others do it,
I can't imagine having a 2nd favourite team.

Sure, there are teams I hate more than others, and thus I will root especially against those teams no matter who they play, but it's not really the same thing, is it?
 

goldenbladz1

Registered User
Feb 11, 2015
1,598
803
Hawks are definitely my favourite team but always liked the Whalers and those series with Quebec, Montreal, Boston etc (Bring back the Whale and Nordiques). Most family members/inlaws are Leafs fans so end up watching a lot of their games
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
I'm more of a Kings well-wisher than a Kings fan, so...it's pretty easy for me. I grew up in Pittsburgh worshiping the Penguins and I've been with them through the lowest of lows and highest of highs. They're my team and nothing will ever change that.

The Kings just happen to play significantly closer to where I live now. I'll root for them, but the satisfaction of watching the Kings raise the Cup was in-line with the satisfaction of watching the Pens win a shootout on a Tuesday night in November against a random western team.
 

Unlimited Chequing

Christian Yellow
Jan 29, 2009
23,614
9,553
Calgary, Alberta
I'm a hockey fan, period.

Outside of the Oilers, Canucks, and Ducks, I can find myself cheering for just about any team at some capacity given the right circumstances whether it's for a team or player I like or they're just playing a team I don't like as much. In fact, now that all the players I hated on the Canucks are long gone I don't even feel animosity towards them like I used to; they're just... there.

However, I consider the Bruins my Eastern team if I had to pick a second team. I'll never cheer for another Canadian team just for the sole fact that they're a Canadian team though. I think that's just plain stupid.
 

rubikscube

Registered User
Oct 27, 2017
3,016
5,650
Weinerpeg
Jets then any Western Canadian team if they're in contention. If not I cheer for a team who hasn't won anything in forever or has no cups
 

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