Always A Good Time - Forbes List Of The Most Loyal Fans In Hockey

[Darkstone42]

Top-5

1. Chicago Blackhawks (#2)

2. New York Rangers (#1)

3. Boston Bruins (#2)

4. San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues (#3 and #6)

5. Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and

Philadelphia Flyers (#4, #5, and #5)


Bottom-5

30. New York Islanders (#30)

29. Columbus Blue Jackets (#29)

28. Phoenix Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets (#28 and #27)

27. Buffalo Sabres (#23)

26. Tampa Bay Lightening (#26)


The Most Loyal Fans In Hockey - Forbes

DISCLAIMER: Not actually true.

 

[Darkstone42]

Remember when the Flyers only won 22 games in 2006-07? That was one of the worst years ever and plenty of fans still showed up

It's one of my earliest hockey memories...

 

[Cobiemonster]

It's one of my earliest hockey memories...

Ironically the year the Flyers were bad, that's the year the Penguins started to win

 

[Destroydacre]

What a terrible list, I don't care what their determining factors are. Buffalo, Columbus and Winnipeg belong nowhere near the bottom 5. Where is Florida or Anaheim? Pittsburgh in the top 5? Sorry, I know they sell out now that they're good, but where were the fans in the early to mid 2000s? Don't buy the Rangers in the top 5 either. Surely some of the Canadian teams must be in the top 5.

Conclusion: go home forbes, you're drunk.

 

[awaz]

The flyers obviously have the most loyal fans. So this list is bad.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

And the Rangers fans just here at SportsHoopla all wrote their team off when down 3-1 to the Pens. Just wanted them "put out of their misery"


I am starting to question the validity of this list.


I'm just glad they got Blue Jackets fans right. Their showing in the first round was just pathetic.

You might as well just say my name. Just because I was down on them doesn't mean i'm not loyal to them.

 

[dare2be]

but where were the fans in the early to mid 2000s?

they were mentally preparing for the team to fold or move.

Not defending the list at all, it is garbage, but that period in Pens history is an anomaly, coming out of bankruptcy, fire sales, ownership woes, threats to leave town, etc.

Thanks, Howard Baldwin.

 

[DragonfromTO]

they were mentally preparing for the team to fold or move.

Not defending the list at all, it is garbage, but that period in Pens history is an anomaly, coming out of bankruptcy, fire sales, ownership woes, threats to leave town, etc.

Thanks, Howard Baldwin.

Don't talk to me about bankruptcy. Pffft, as a fan you haven't dealt with real adversity until you've dealt with this

 

[Gooch1034]

You might as well just say my name. Just because I was down on them doesn't mean i'm not loyal to them.

I agree with you. I was down on the Pens and pissed off at them. Doesn't mean I am not loyal to them.

 

[beantownmaniac]

No it's not...how the eff could anyone root for 2 teams in the same league???

It's just...unnatural...sacrilegious...perverted...

depraved

:p

I'm a die hard Red Sox fan but also root for the Braves as they were my moms favorite team. She used to go to the games when they were in Boston. The Packers were my first team because my dad rooted for them long before the Pats even became a team. When I learned of the Pats I became a die hard fan but still cheer for the Pack.

 

[SFNL]

Didn't read the whole thread, but based on the OP, there's just too much of a correlation between recent success and the top numbers.

There should be some sort of formula for attendance during non playoff years to decide this.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Didn't read the whole thread, but based on the OP, there's just too much of a correlation between recent success and the top numbers.

There should be some sort of formula for attendance during non playoff years to decide this.

Or maybe average attendance in the last 20-25 years?

 

[pixburgher66]

I simply don't think there's any way to quantify loyalty. Too many factors, too opinion based, and it depends on if you're talking recently or all together. Then you have to account for teams that haven't been around as long. Is it really fair to give the Hawks better numbers as an original 6 vs. the Avs who have only been around less than 20 years? Basically it's impossible to quantify from a realistic perspective. From a business perspective I don't call that loyalty, I call that investment.

 

[esls79]

Throughout the years, I've been loyal to the following:

The Habs as I got CBC Montreal growing up
The North Stars - when they were on and the Habs weren't
THe Penguins via radio on KDKA after the North Stars left town
The Wild then got a team and I was loyal to them for almost a decade until the original owner sold
The Kings and the Ducks are the local teams now, but my wife is more of a Ducks fan, therefore so am I

So I am plenty loyal, just not to one team

 

[juliansteed]

When it comes to it Boston was full Red Sox mode then and Chicago wasn't even getting the games on TV. Obviously this list stinks and is based merely on money. Even if I stick by my team through it all, in the lean years I'm less likely to buy merchandise or tickets.

Again, I consider those types of things a test of loyalty, not an excuse for a lack thereof. They may be reasons why they aren't so loyal. Not passing the test doesn't put them at the other end of the spectrum but it just makes me question having them at/near the top. Fortunately the Bruins managed to have great attendance this year and last with a Sox World Series sandwiched in between. Like I said, I think the 1st few season after the big lockout were an anomaly for both teams, but still too soon to completely disregard.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

These lists are always a joke because they fail to account for so many things like ownership situation and fan displeasure.

A lot of people sticking up for Buffalo in this thread, and they perfectly demonstrate both of those factors. Consider that it was barely over 10 years ago that the team wasn't very good, the owner turned out to be a criminal, and the league had to run the team for two years. I don't know any fans that wouldn't react negatively to this situation.

And then more recently, the discontent with the poor decisions and the amount of time that it took the team to finally can Regier. People refusing to spend money when they're unhappy with the team doesn't necessarily make them disloyal. As the saying goes "Protest is Patriotism"

But considering this one specifically lists Pure Entertainment - which is really a function of how good the team is - and History and Tradition as two of the 4 categories, it's kinda pathetic.