That's probably because you are an armchair NHL fan and do not follow the British game at all. If you actually went to a game you would see those teams I mentioned always have the most worn jerseys by the fans, and are always the most common for kids on the ice at practice.
At the NIC the most common NHL jerseys I've seen are either Penguins, Florida Panthers (I guess its an "ooo, same nickname as Nottingham" thing) or whichever team won the Stanley Cup last!
As for what the rec hockey players wear, once again the most common NHL jerseys I see have a flightless bird on them and I'd say nine times out of ten feature the number eighty seven.
At the NIC the most common NHL jerseys I've seen are either Penguins, Florida Panthers (I guess its an "ooo, same nickname as Nottingham" thing) or whichever team won the Stanley Cup last!
As for what the rec hockey players wear, once again the most common NHL jerseys I see have a flightless bird on them and I'd say nine times out of ten feature the number eighty seven.
This is the truth now, when I first started playing 6-7 years ago all the kids my age wore Red Wings jerseys and now it's Penguins. I remember buying a Carolina jersey just to be different
I line in the EPL so I go to a few different rinks and at every game there is always a Capitals jersey and 8/10 times it has 8 and Ovechkin on the back, it's also hard to go to a game without seeing a Rangers or Leafs jersey. The Florida jerseys must definitely be a Nottingham thing, but I don't think I saw one when I went to the NIC to watch GB v Netherlands.
Minnesota, the biggest Swedish community in the States. And they keep piling up on Finnish players and still wondering why they never win anything? Karma is a ....
But back to the topic on support from our side of the pond.
Myself I'm a Bruin, been so since the early 90's
AIK my team also had a very similar jersey to Bruins in the 92-93 season i believe? (Same colors also helps) And i know a bunch more of us that support the Bruins. A couple of players from AIK has also been in Boston during the years, which obviously helps. (Tim Thomas the latest)
And also Philly or NY Rangers seems to have a large amount of followers from AIK-fans that support a NHL team.
NY Rangers - Largest city as Stockholm, classic team, etc...
Philadelphia - Per Erik Eklund (85) and to a lesser extent Pelle Lindbergh along with a similar fan-base along with Bostons and NY that an AIK-fan can relate to.
Otherwise i would say that it's the team with the most or should i say popular swedes are playing and the team that gets the most TV-air time. Ie the east coast.
That's my 5c on the topic.
Last edited by Gnawer: 08-17-2012 at 01:10 PM.
Reason: spelling
In South Africa I've seen a few hockey jerseys. At a mall in Cape Town there were home/third Leafs jerseys, home Rangers', home Canucks and both home and away Flyers jerseys in a sports store. Found that quite interesting as I've never encountered a South African hockey player (excluding Olaf Kolzig). I asked the guy working there and he said they were just seeing if there was a market for them and that they'd only ordered 1-3 of each.
Hard to say what is the favourite NHL team in Denmark, but since Frans Nielsen made his debut for the Islanders that team got a lot of the exposure in the press. The danish press actually talked about the existence of NHL, and how much money Frans Nielsen was making (with his rockbottom salery lol). Off course if Canucks ends up having 2 danish players (Jannik Hansen and Nicklas Jensen) then it doubles all other teams that only have one dane on the roster. I would also think that most of the danish hockey fans cheer for teams with danish players. Hoping that one will finally win the Stanley Cup or either be kicked out fast so they can play the WC and this year the VERY important olympic qualification.
Austria: Buffalo AINEC. Followed probably by TOR, NYI, DET, PIT, NYR, PHI, MTL, CHI, BOS in that order. Some diehard Oiler fans, still remaining from the 80's, as well. Rather EC than WC teams, because WC teams often start around 4am here.
Of the NHL fans I know here in Germany the favs are Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. Usually teams with Gemans on their roster and the traditional super powers get most media attention.
Of the NHL fans I know here in Germany the favs are Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. Usually teams with Gemans on their roster and the traditional super powers get most media attention.
They've all had their fair share of German players/draftees. I know San Jose has drafted more Germans than that, but I can't think of any except maybe Hospelt.
I think Pittsburgh has a rather large following in Sweden since when Lemieux and Jagr was there during the hockey card boom in the mid-nineties. Sandstrom and the two Samuelssons did'nt hurt their case either. Their logo was also fun. Perhaps they're quite popular in many countries.
These are so called "true fans". The teams have been those since 90's school days, and we have fighted in many schoolyard fights defending our opinions Allthought I haveto say I think Red Wings has allways been cool, I like it too, even thought its pretty bad enemy for Ducks. Its classic jerseys and history and great players which it allways seem to have makes one to respect the team.
But most of the fans are right now Ducks and Minnesota, because those teams have great finns and multiple of them. Now granlund with the Wilds and Vatanen with the ducks as new wont make it less. But those fans will follow where ever the finns are, they arent really that big fans I think.
Then there is bandwagoners, like now you can see Kings cap's used all the time, who the hell used a Kings cap year or two ago? No one.
They've all had their fair share of German players/draftees. I know San Jose has drafted more Germans than that, but I can't think of any except maybe Hospelt.
The Sharks had also drafted Dominik Bielke, Patrick Ehelechner and Timo Pielmeier.
Also since the acquistions of Ehrhoff and Sulzer, the Sabres seem to be getting more popular. They also have some tradition with German players. Hecht has been playing for them for a long time, and they had drafted players like Gogulla, and Schütz in recent years, and Jayson Meyer and Uwe Krupp sometime in the 80s, 1983 or 1984 I think.
Ducks with Finland is an easy one: Selanne, Koivu, Vatanen, Lydman and they had Ruutu and Tarkki
Now they're doing what they can to win Swedes over: Lindholm, Rakell, Friberg, Karlsson, Fasth, Andersen (yes I know he's Danish but he comes out of the SEL) and will likely add Elias Lindholm if they can.
Anaheim - 8x
Boston - 3x
Detroit - 2x
Montreal - 2x
NY Rangers - 2x
NY Islanders - 1x
The high amount of Anaheim fans is explainable with me and most of my friends being fans of Davos, who started to follow the NHL closer as soon as Hiller went to the Ducks.
It's pretty hard to tell for Switzerland. I guess every team with swiss players has it's "fanbase", that roots more for the player than for the team itself.
The "common" swiss hockey fan has nearly no knowledge of the NHL and is very focused on his local team. I think that's caused by our media, which tend to heavily overrate the NLA while the NHL was nearly ignored in the mainstream media for a long time. During the last 1-2 years they started to report in a regular fashion how the swiss players were doing.
I'm from Sweden, my favourite team is the Rangers and have been my favourite team since i got my first hockeycard (Mike Richter) . Detroit is a populare team here. I know a few people that likes the Canucks, and Lightning.
I bet the habs are the most popular NHL team world-wide, but as for them appealing to a specific country I don't know. I just figure their logo is the most well-known.
I'd say that Habs, Rangers, Wings, Penguins, Bruins & Blackhawks are the most popular teams outside North America, don't know which team is the most popular among them thought...
I bet the habs are the most popular NHL team world-wide, but as for them appealing to a specific country I don't know. I just figure their logo is the most well-known.
LOL not even close Red wings and Ducks are far more popular
Allthought I haveto say I think Red Wings has allways been cool, I like it too, even thought its pretty bad enemy for Ducks. Its classic jerseys and history and great players which it allways seem to have makes one to respect the team.
. Detroit is a populare team here. I know a few people that likes the Canucks, and Lightning. 
