Hockey fans are known to be some of the most passionate fans of any sport, and there's nothing quite like watching the game in person on the ice, whether it's at TD Garden in Boston or the Bell Centre in Montreal.
A new study has found that the Blackhawks have the rowdiest fanbase in the league. According to casinos.org, Blackhawks fans report themselves as the most aggressive in the NHL.
To compile the list, the group surveyed 3,000 NHL fans in the U.S. and Canada, asking them about sportsmanship behaviors, including frequency of booing, cheering on opposing team injuries, badmouthing opposing teams on social media platforms, lack of remorse for past inappropriate behavior, and lack of empathy toward the opposing team. They then used all that information to create an “Ice Cold” index.
Blackhawks fans received an “ice cold” index score of 96.9 out of 100. Avalanche fans came in second with a score of 94.0. The warmest home crowd was the Ottawa Senators, who received an index score of just 5.5.
The main reasons for Blackhawks fans' higher scores are that 22.2% of fans said they had gotten into fights with opposing fans (the highest in the NHL) and 46% said they had no regrets about past unsportsmanlike behavior.
Here's how the group weighted the index:
Participated in a physical fight – 25%
Cheers for injuries – 15%
Behaving badly (badmouthing, taunting, etc.) – 15%
Not regretting bad behavior – 15%
Lack of empathy for the other team's loss – 15%
Frequent booing – 5%
Badmouthing the opposing team on their social media accounts – 5%
Self-Assessed Sportsmanship Ranking – 5%
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