Define Every NHL Team's Market

[Cotton]

East of Toronto, Oshawa is Bruins town pretty much because of the Generals (Orr).

I don't wear my Leafs jersey there when I watch games with my in-laws and eat at Teddy's after because I don't want to get beat up.

Is this satire?

 

[Bouboumaster]

New Brunswick might be rooting for Montreal Nova Scotia PEI and NFLD are much more Leafs fans than Habs fans.

Eeeeeeeew!

 

[generalshepherd141]

Who lays claim to the wonderful state of Iowa? Anyone from there? I’d guess hawks, but it’s just a guess.

I'd have to imagine we have the Quad Cities area locked down for sure. Maybe all of eastern Iowa can be safely claimed as Hawks territory? Not sure about the rest of Iowa though.

 

[Hasbro]

I don't think anyone in the States gives two figs about the Leafs.

There are two types of hockey fans: Leafs Fans and people who hate the Leafs.

They’re like the Norte Dame of the NHL.

 

[Staniowski]

In the Atlantic Provinces......

Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador each have lots of Habs and Leafs fans....probably roughly the same amount of support in each province.

Nova Scotia might have more Penguins fans than almost anywhere else in Canada, for obvious reasons.

In New Brunswick, Habs are #1 by far because of the large Acadian population, who overwhelmingly cheer for the Canadiens, and large support from non-Acadians too.

English-speaking parts of NB probably have a higher percentage of Bruins fans than anywhere in Canada, but they are still a distant third behind Habs and Leafs.

 

[Chan790]

Albany's not Rangers territory, you might make a case for Binghamton based on history

Live in Bing...you'd think there would be a lot of Rangers fans because of location and history...but there is no real consensus for anybody.

There are some NYR fans, but just as many Devils and Sens fans (the current and immediate-past NHL affiliation partners of the local AHL team), a more than handful of Leafs, Wings (Ugh...everywhere) and Flyers fans (There's a lot of S. NJ kids at BU), some Pens fans (our big AHL rival is Scranton-WB)...the largest contingent though is probably Sabres fans by a small margin. (Traditionally Bing was NFL Giants territory, but is starting to lean Bills too. I don't know why W. NY fandoms are migrating east.)

I do think I'm the only Canes fan I've ever met here though.

 

[rfournier103]

Toronto: Universe

I don't think anyone in the States gives two figs about the Leafs.

I’ve lived in Massachusetts my whole life and never met a single Maple Leafs fan that wasn’t born in Ontario. Not one.

I’ve met two Montreal Canadiens fans who were born here in Mass., and both had parents from Quebec.

I’d say the Bruins have more of a stranglehold on Massachusetts than most other teams have on their markets. The last two hockey logos I’ve seen on anyone around here other than the Bruins’ were the Whalers and the Nordiques. Ain’t nobody walking around Boston wearing Leafs or Habs gear. If so, I’ve never seen it.

 

[Bank Shot]

There are two types of hockey fans: Leafs Fans and people who hate the Leafs.

They’re like the Norte Dame of the NHL.

In Canada sure. Have you ever been to the States though? No one cares about them.

 

[rfournier103]

In Canada sure. Have you ever been to the States though? No one cares about them.

I’ll bet my next door neighbor would have to guess what sport they play because he has probably never heard of them.

 

[Hasbro]

How many more players will the Avalanche need to bring in from Halifax to switch Nova Scotia to their territory?

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Maritimes still have a decent Bruins fanbase.

In my experience as a lifetime Maritimer, Toronto Mtl, and Boston all have large fan bases, Pens are clearly 4th because of Crosby, and then the rest are all pretty random and rare to see.

 

[Negan4Coach]

LOL @ Carolina's market being "North Carolina, South Carolina". Try Raleigh. Full stop. You go to a sports bar up in the mountains or on the coast and tell them to put on a Hurricanes game they derisively say "Miami only plays on Saturdays!"

 

[ManofSteel55]

Yeah, I wonder about Georgia. Carolina could try to tap into that market too.

My sister lives in northern Georgia. She told me the only hockey fans she has met who weren't Canadians or kids of Canadians were some Nashville fans. She's an Oilers fan, and the only Oilers games she goes to are when they play Nashville as well. Small sample size of course so it hardly represents the entire state.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Yea I was going to say
Hats I see people wear

Penguins
Habs
Jets

Would be my top 3 teams however
Boston may be a close 4.

Saw some Hawk fans and King fans but that seems to have faded away and was bandwagon s

It is definitely all over the place.
Saskatchewan belongs to nobody but the Riders

This is probably the most accurate statement in the history of HF. Everyone who knows people from Saskatchewan has a different perspective of what teams are popular. Oilers, Flames, Leafs, Bruins, Penguins...but let's be real, they aren't hardcore fans for any NHL squad the way they are for the Roughriders.

 

[RogerR]

East of Toronto, Oshawa is Bruins town pretty much because of the Generals (Orr).

I don't wear my Leafs jersey there when I watch games with my in-laws and eat at Teddy's after because I don't want to get beat up.

Huh? Orr finished playing in 1979 in the NHL. The Generals so much long before that.. Not many care. Heck, so many didn't even watch Lindros in late 80's/90's

 

[brentashton]

The Leafs :

Fixed it for you...

 

[tarheelhockey]

LOL @ Carolina's market being "North Carolina, South Carolina". Try Raleigh. Full stop. You go to a sports bar up in the mountains or on the coast and tell them to put on a Hurricanes game they derisively say "Miami only plays on Saturdays!"

Excuse me SIR but I know for a fact that the Canes dominate the Garner market

 

[Negan4Coach]

Excuse me SIR but I know for a fact that the Canes dominate the Garner market

Alrighty then, the "greater" Raleigh area. Or even the Triangle, if you prefer. But you drive an hour away, and forget about it, lets face it.

 

[heilongjetsfan]

In some cases this is easy, but some areas are less clear. I also wonder about places like Wisconsin or Saskatchewan, or some of the northern provinces like the Yukon Territories or Nunavut. I'm sure this'll generate some controversy since there are battleground areas.


ANA: Orange County CA, San Diego(? since their AHL team is there)
AZ: Arizona
BOS: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, most of Connecticut
BUF: Upstate NY, parts of extreme southern Ontario(?)
CGY: Southern Alberta
CAR: North Carolina, South Carolina
CHI: Illinois, Indiana, Southern Wisconsin(?)
COL: Colorado, Utah(?), Wyoming(?), Montana(?)
CBJ: Ohio
DAL: Texas
DET: Michigan, Ontario in Windsor area
EDM: Northern Alberta
FLA: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, South Florida in general
LA: Most of Southern California
MIN: Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, North Dakota(?), South Dakota(?)
MTL: Quebec, Maritimes(Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island)
NSH: Tennessee
NJD: Northern and Central New Jersey
NYI: Long Island(Nassau County, Suffolk County New York)
NYR: New York City, Southwestern Connecticut, Westchester County, Rockland County, Orange County New York, also dips into NJD and NYI markets
OTT: Far-east Ontario, far-west Quebec
PHI: Most of Eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey(Burlington County, Camden County, Gloucester County, Salem County, Cumberland County, Cape May County, Atlantic County), Delaware
PIT: Western, Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania, West Virginia
STL: Missouri, Southern Illinois
SJ: Bay Area, Northern California
TB: Gulf Coast Florida
TOR: Ontario
VAN: British Columbia, Washington(? Though if so, not for long)
VGK: Nevada
WSH: DC, Maryland, Virginia
WPG: Manitoba

I would say you need to consider history as much as maps, at least when it comes to Canada and other areas of the US where hockey is older than the NHL team.
For a long time, there were only 2 Canadian teams but the whole country watched every Saturday night. Until the 70's most people in Canada were either Leafs or Habs fans or some sort of contrarian that nobody invited to a party twice. Even still, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg suffer thousands of local traitors turning up for most Original 6 games.

Also, I would say Winnipeg also draws at least 25% of Saskatchewan and more than half of Ontario from Thunder Bay eastward.

 

[Spoilers]

Edmonton has Northern Alberta, the Yukon, and parts of NWT, northern Saskatchewan and northern BC.

 

[alko]

Who owns Nunavut Territory in Canada?

 

[Three On Zero]

 

[Ajax84]

San Diego isn't Ducks territory no chance in hell!!!

I'll mostly second this. There is some minimal support for the Ducks because the Gulls are the Ducks' affiliate, their games are locally televised (along with the Kings), and some people like to follow prospects as they advance, but San Diego's team are the Gulls (who've been around in various iterations far longer than the Ducks; beginning in 1966). There will be some people repping the Ducks at a Gulls game, but it's pretty inconspicuous. San Diegans just aren't going to support an LA/OC-based team. It's like expecting people from Pittsburgh to support Philly.

Anecdotally, it seems like the Red Wings are the most popular NHL team in town, but by no means is SD "Red Wings territory." Also, like the rest of California, the vast, vast majority of people are indifferent to hockey.

 

[kvladimir]

I've been living in Sault Ste Marie (ON) this summer, and I've noticed that most hockey support is for the Habs, Red Wings, Bruins and Leafs, in that order. Haven't seen any other NHL brands around here...

The Habs' playoff run may have influenced that perception, though.

 

[WiHockeyGuy]

Just reinforcing most of what has been said about the Wisconsin hockey market:

Southern Wisconsin is, without a doubt, Hawks territory. Northern Wisconsin is Wild/Red Wings, with Red Wings becoming more predominate the closer you get to the UP.

Western Wisconsin is Wild.

If you go purely by percentage, I'd say that Wisconsin is:
Blackhawks: 60%
Wild: 30%
Red Wings: 10%