Hello and welcome to Ice-Capades! While my next post will focus on my pictures and recollections of hockey games, I wanted to introduce myself, and by myself, I mean my hockey fandom.
I am a recent convert to following hockey. It started in 2023 with the Sabres, thanks to my friend Brinkley. While I was not a big hockey fan, I found her posts about the Sabres’ losses (and wins) on Instagram fascinating. I started watching Hockey YouTubers like The Hockey Guy and Hockey Psychology as aids for understanding the game. I also watched some Sabres games with Brinkley; while we lost both games, I at least got to see a hockey fight.
I then added the Panthers, Flyers, and Hurricanes to the teams I follow. I had to respect the Panthers after I saw highlights from their Stanley Cup run in 2023; any team that beats the Boston Bruins like the 2010 Flyers did will earn my veneration1. Speaking of the Flyers, I had to follow them because I believe that if I did not have them as one of my teams, I would have to return my Philly sports fandom card. And the Hurricanes…I mean, what’s not to like about a team that has Rod the Bod, I mean Rod Brind’amour, coaching them? It also does not hurt that they have some exciting players in Seth Jarvis, Jackson Blake, Jacob Slavin, and my favorite poke-checking goalie, Pyotr Kochetkov.
Below is a tier maker on how I feel about the other twenty-eight teams not named the Panthers, Flyers, Sabres, and Hurricanes.
Two notes here: One, all of these are my opinions about the team, not about the fanbase. If the hockey team you follow is at the bottom, know that I do not think poorly of your fandom. Second, the NHL tier maker I used has the Arizona Coyotes logo; that team moved to Utah at the end of the 2023-2024 season and became the Utah Hockey Club.
