NHL Teams you love to hate...

[IronChefShark]

[-Helix-]

And Philly. They have the worst homers of any team in any sport.

Is that what they're writing in the Tampa Bay Bandwagoneer pamphlets they pass out as it rumbles through town?

Nope. They don't have to.

You'd have to be mentally retarded to not realize Philly has the worst fans in sports.

But I do agree that this area (Central Florida) has alot of bandwagon fans. Red Wings bandwagoners, Avalanche bandwagoners, Flyers bandwagoners, etc.

However, cheering for the hometown team, The Lightning, is not bandwagoning. It's the stupid hockey fans that cheer for the "elite" northern teams that piss me off when they have just as good hockey in town.

And just so you know I've always been a Lightning fan since I started following the sport back in the 90's. Although I admit my passion for the team grew around 2001 when I started to notice that while the rest of the league started to play boring trap styles, the Lightning were very exciting to watch and soon became my life obsession.

The Cup was icing on the cake. Probably the only good thing to happen in the sport since the mid-90's. (The last time the NHL was actually fun to watch.)

Thankfully the Lightning resuced the sport for me. I was starting to drift away from the game in the late 90's thanks to the boring domination of the same teams every year. *cough*RedWings,Avalanche,Devils*cough*

I would've gouged my eyes out with a fork if I had to watch another playoff series with the Devils. Zzzzzz

Oh and it snows here in Central Florida too. It just doesn't stick to the ground.

But I'm not sure what that has to do with anything anyway. I mean, I know it's a winter sport. But so is basketball. Should basketball teams only be in snow markets? Last I knew hockey was played indoors these days anyway.

[-Helix-]

4 - Canadiens (Drunk frenchies. What's to like?)

Then of course there's the Maple Leafs. But nobody likes the Maple Leafs. I don't even think Maple Leaf fans like the Maple Leafs. 

What's to like about the Montreal Canadiens? I'm a Leafs fan. It's my duty to hate this team. They're my team's mortal enemy, and I will always hate them, till the end of time. You see, I have a ligit reason to hate this team. However I do respect all that they've done, and there is PLENTY to love about them: oldest hockey team around today, est. 1909. So many teams from that year and before, yet the Habs are still here. 24 Stanley Cups. Hold teh record for most consecutive Cup wins at 5 in a row, and they did it TWICE. More all time greats then the Lightning have players.

As for the Leafs, well we may not have as glourious a history as the Habs, but it's pretty darn close: 13 Stanley Cups, most of any team not named the Canadiens. Second olderst team in hockey around today, est. 1917. Won the first Stanley Cup of the NHL era, at the same time we won the Cup in our first year of excistance. Became the first team in history to win three Cups in a row, and the first team to win back to back Cups. The only team ever to win the Stanley Cup after being down 3 games to 0 (1945 (?) against the Detroit Red Wings). Of the top three leaders in goaltender wins, two are Leafs (Terry Sawchuk and Ed Belfour). Like the Habs, more all time greats then the Lightining have players.

I'm also going to use this post to add a #6 to my list:

6) Tampa Bay Lightning- Forget Colorado and Detroit, this is the ultimate bandwagon team. They go from the leauge bottom in attendence to selling out every game once they win a Cup. I spent a year in Tampa. I even went to a few Bolts games. Most of those fans know nothing about hockey. They even have to explain the rules over the PA system. The Lightining have proven one thing though: If you play in the NHL for 10+ years you're going to win Lord Stanley's Cup by just playing the numbers.

Listen -Helix-, if you want to add the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs to youre list of team to hate, by all means to so. However when explaining why, don't try to belittle two of the greatest franchises that have ever played. Just admit to the true reason why you hate them: jelousy, the fact that the Lightning will never accomplish anything close to what the Habs and Leafs have accomplished.

Uhm...

Haha.

Sorry I just noticed this post.

... Oh man....

.... Haha.

Please tell me that wasn't a serious post.

That's gotta be the most half-brained arguement I've ever read.

Do Dolphins fans or Ravens fans get yelled at for hating against the more historic NFL teams such as the Lions or Bears or Packers? No. It's sports, you can hate whoever you want.

Do Marlins fans or Diamondback fans get yelled at for hating against the more historic MLB teams such as the Red Sox or the Yankees? No. It's sports, you can hate whoever you want.

Puh-leeze. Are you even a sports fan at all? Nobody :censored:ing gives a about stuff that happened 50 years ago. We follow sports because we want to watch an entertaining game, or to find out who's going to win TOMORROW. If anything, those jokes of overaged franchises need to move over for the next generation. I'd kick the Canadiens out of the NHL before, say, the Coyotes. The NHL is a business, and the American market is much more important. I guess that makes you jealous, though. Jealous that your stupid Canadian teams are second rate.

If anyones jealous it must be you. Jealous that Sun Belt American teams cane be more productive than your precious historic teams that havn't done in 30 years. But I understand. Must not be easy when a Sun Belt team can outplay 29 other teams to win Lord Stanley's Cup, yet your own team hasn't seen the thing since 1967.

I bet it sure was hard for the Canadiens to beat a total of 5 (five) other teams to win most of those cups!!

For being a fan of a team that is head and shoulders above my favorite team, you sure do seem obsessed with bringing other fans down just to make yourself look better.

Sure the Maple Leafs and Canadiens have great histories behind them. But I'm not sure what that has to do with them being on my list. (Actually it's just the Canadiens that was on my list. I stated that nobody liked the Leafs because.... well... it is pretty common knowledge that Toronto IS the most hated team in the league. I was just poking some fun is all. Actually I don't mind Toronto at all.)

I started following hockey in the early 90's. Are Toronto and Montreal two of the oldest hockey teams in the world? Of course, I knew this. Do I care? No, not really.

I mean, I know I should respect my elders. But sometimes, old people just seem to get in the way.

And I will never respect the Canadiens. The team with the most disrespectful fanbase in the league. They don't deserve anything more.

I'd like to see you make that same arguement for the New York Yankees, one of the most hated sports franchises in the WORLD. You'd get eaten alive.

Just because they're a great historic team, doesn't mean people should be forced to respect and like them.

I know Canadians don't have much to be proud of. But it's time to get off that soapbox and deflate that ego.

I'm a huge hockey fan. Been around the game practically my entire life and it is practically my entire life. But the one thing I can't stand about the sport is dumbass selfish elitist northerners/canadians like this guy that think they're the only ones deserving of enjoying the sport or their team just because of their location.

I guess Canadians are afraid of losing the only thing they're good at. That's the only logical reason I can think of that they don't want the sport to do well. Either that or they only like to follow jokes of sports leagues. Or maybe they want to go back to 6 teams so their favorite teams will be good again.

But a 6 team league would be an even bigger joke, and the Maple Laffs, and Canadiens would be great punchlines to something nobody else in the world would care about.

Oh, and I'm sorry about the horrible Tampa fans who just realized recently that they could trust the Lightning organization again. Back in 1999 or 2000 or whenever we were owned by a friggin Japanese guy who thought he was investing in rice cakes. The Lightning were rated the worst franchise in sports at one time. Would you really trust of support something that bad? Maybe Toronto would, but what else do they have to do up there?

Colorado and Dallas never would've had the support they do now if it weren't for having great teams in their very first years. Instead, Tampa was subjected to one of the WORST teams in SPORTS for their first 9. And you blame them for just now starting to support the team? You'd have to be a retarded Maple Leafs fan to support something that bad. If anyone has bandwagon fans it's the Colorado or Dallas or New Jersey fans that wouldn't be there right now if it weren't for having top teams in their first years of contention.

Oh, and wheres the criticism of Calgary who was known for having one of the quietest and emptiest arenas in the league before last season's finals? Oh, right. They're a northern Canadian team. Even if they do have a bigger history of financial problems than many Sun Belt teams, they're okay.

Some of our fans may not be as intelligent as others like myself. But they got to learn sometime. Better now than never, right? No, wait. You'll disagree with that. Because you want to see the league fail and die. The thought of the sport becoming more popular disgusts you.

Some hockey fan you are.

[JBPerry]

Red Wings, Avs(gotta hate the avs), Edmonton (all stars fans hate the oilers simply because we play them in at least one round in the playoffs every single year) then the kings, especially since they're our division rivals

[Breakwood]

And I will never respect the Canadiens. The team with the most disrespectful fanbase in the league. They don't deserve anything more.

And why would we have the most disrespectful fanbase?

[Adam]

the fact that bob cole and harry neale barely know the other teams that are playing them, and just don't even talk about those teams.

No kidding. This is Bob Cole doing the play by play for the Leafs VS the Sabres (just cuz):

Bob: Lindros speeding down the line! OH! It's stolen by the Sabres! *while Sabres have posession of the puck* ................ the Sabres defender swipes it down low ..... and the Lindros picks up the puck, great play by the big man (etc. etc.)

Cole doesn't know any of the players names, except for the Maple Leafs names, and it irritates a me because instead of saying Drury or Vanek, etc. he'd say "the Sabres" or "the defencemen" etc.

I'm a Sens fan so you know who I'm going to write out...

As for Bob Cole and Harry Neale, they need to frigging retire. They don't know what the hell is going on half the time. Last HNIC game I watched with them commenting there were AT LEAST 10 calls they got wrong. Either they missed what happened in the play or they couldn't get the players right. They don't even know some of the younger Leafs players! Time to retire old guys. Too bad CBC fired Cuthbert...

[xxjdm66]

1) Avalanche

2) Anaheim

3) Montreal

[KCScout76]

What website was that again - oh yes; WWW.NYRANGERSSUCK.COM

[IceCap]

I bet it sure was hard for the Canadiens to beat a total of 5 (five) other teams to win most of those cups!!

Righhhtttt. The 10 Cups they won after 1967 don't count. moron.

You have no respect for this games and its traditions. Think before you post next time.

How do Canadian teams doing well make the NHL second rate? You still have not answered this queston. You want to accuse us Canadians for being selfish for rooting for our teams? Why does being a fan of a Canadian team mean we want the leauge to fail? We want our team to do well. Since when did that mean we want the NHL to fall apart?

You wanna talk about economics? Ok. Well since the NHL lockout ended the Canadian teams have had the best attendence, the best TV ratings, and have generated the most revenue. How're the Panthers or Penguins doing in those departments?

Also, as you know, the N in NHL stands for "National"

What nation do you think that refers to? Well take a look at the original NHL teams:

Toronto Arenas (Maple Leafs), Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wonderers, Ottawa Senators, and the Quebec Bulldogs. That's right, the nation refered to in the NHL is CANADA!

You obviously know nothing of the game's history and traditions. Which I guess is understandable. You see there is a good chance the Lightining will not survive 20 in Tampa. Your team's legacy will be limited to a single, poorly desighned, Stanley Cup banner. A team that couldn't even hold onto its star goalie. A team which, in the year they defended the Cup made fools of themselves with piss poor on ice performances. A team that put their own captain on waivers. That ranks right up there with Toronto and Montreal, the two greatest hockey franchises to ever play. Learn to respect greatness when you see it, and you'll be much happier.

See you after the '06 Olympics, when we beat you AGAIN on the road to another gold medal. And remember, to understand the present you much respect the past. Everything goes in cycles, and this year the order of theuniverse has been restored, with the Lightning reigning as leauge laughing stock. Enjoy your Cup, next time they win one they're going to be playing in a real hockey town (I hear Portland is looking to get into the NHL. I'm sure Tampa wont care if they lose the bolts, in the end most of them are bandwaggoners).

[Kess]

1. Detroit

2. Chicago

3. Dallas

4. Vancouver

I can't muster up the energy to really hate Columbus or Nashville...yet.

[hoosier57]

1) Islanders: I just despise their fans. Like the one TV commerial:"Nothing intimidates like Islanders hockey." It should be:"Nothing intimidates like a shoddy GM, dumba$$ owner, and countless losing seasons."

2) Devils: I hate Brodeur and the rest of their aging team. I can't stand watching them on TV with their biased announcers.(i.e.)"What a save by Lundqvuist but I have to say Brodeurs was better."

3)Lightning: Even my Grandfather, who lived in New York since 1929, who went to the weekend Ranger games with his father at the old MSG, has jumped on the bandwagon since moving to Tampa in 1997. I also hate their logo. It's so....'90's.

4) Flyers: I just have to.

5) Stars: I hate all professional Texas sports teams, and this one is no exception.

[IronChefShark]

I bet it sure was hard for the Canadiens to beat a total of 5 (five) other teams to win most of those cups!!

Righhhtttt. The 10 Cups they won after 1967 don't count. moron.

You have no respect for this games and its traditions. Think before you post next time.

pot meet kettle. kettle meet pot.

[IceCap]

3)....I also hate their logo. It's so....'90's.

Try 70's. Which is sad, because it was designed in the 90's.

[bucskick20]

Dallas, They should of stayed in the STATE OF HOCKEY! IT's kind of obvious if you think about it.