NHL Teams Popularity
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Who is the most popular team in the NHL? A look at the data reveals some rather unsurprising results.
The NHL is one of five major sports leagues in North America and is statistically the fourth most popular sport to watch behind the NFL, MLB and the NBA. There are a total of 32 teams in the NHL; 7 in Canada and the rest in the USA. Their popularity differs enormously and can be broadly attributed to three factors; Legacy, Success, and Geography.
Legacy
Five of the six most popular teams were part of Hockeys 'Original Six' the only exception being the 1967 expansion side the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pittsburgh outfit has muscled their way into 3rd position with some recent Stanley Cup successes, and by having several star players like Sidney Crosby on their roster.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the lowest ranking member of the 'Original Six' (in 7th spot). Their long-suffering fans haven't seen a Stanley Cup win since 1967. With such a huge hockey market in southern Ontario, it would be likely that a winning team would see their popularity increase enormously.
Success
The top ten most popular teams have all won multiple Stanley Cups except for the 9th placed Vancouver Canucks. The Canadian outfit has made it to the finals on three separate occasions but has fallen just short each time.
In fact, the most popular 16 teams have won 84 Stanley Cups while the least popular 16 teams have only won 17 - albeit the most popular teams have also had many more years in the league, so we'd need to analyse those numbers further.
Geography
The least popular teams in the NHL are mainly the expansion teams situated in the sun-belt of the southern US states; the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Coyotes are prime examples. Interestingly the New York Islanders a team with x4 Stanley Cups and based in the Northern states rank remarkably low at 28th. However, the last of their Stanley Cups were won over 30 years ago (in 1983), and they're competing against two other NHL teams in a crowded New York market.
The team with the lowest number of online fans are the Florida Panthers who are also the most southerly team. They have a total of 196,000 fans which is only 6% of the fan base of the Chicago Blackhawks - the most popular NHL team.