What hockey team should I cheer for? A guide to picking your NHL team

Hockey is great! Hockey is fun to play and watch, but do you know what makes it even better? When you have a team to cheer for. Sometimes I wonder if I like my team more than I do the game itself.

As a Calgary Flames fan I’ve been through many ups and downs (it often feels like there have been many more downs). They’ve basically had one good year since winning the Stanley Cup back in 1989 — one! There’s been a lot of pain and frustration in those years, but I wouldn’t trade them for any other team.

So my advice for getting into hockey is to pick a team — but know what you’re getting into. I’ve put together a number of different ways you can pick your team. People are different and like to pick based on different criteria, so I’m giving you lots of options.

But once you pick your team, make sure you stay with them — through thick and thin!

So here are some things to think about as you pick your team:

Geography — Cheer for the Team Closest to You

The easiest way to pick a team is to cheer for the one that’s closest to your house.

When I was growing up in Calgary in the 1980s I had a choice to make: the Edmonton Oilers or the Calgary Flames? Edmonton had the Stanley Cup and the best player in the world in Wayne Gretzky. Calgary was the hometown team. I made a conscious decision to pick the Flames — and I’ve never looked back.

Being with the team closest to you has a few big advantages:

• Easiest access to information — the local radio, the people you bump into, your coworkers — they’re all going to be talking about that team, and it’s just fun to be part of those conversations
• You can go see them live — one of the best ways to get hooked on a team is to see them play in person. The pregame warmup, the cold air in the building, cheering with thousands of other fans after a goal — there’s nothing like it
• There are others around you who care — it’s fun to cheer and commiserate with people who love the same team. I have so many friends who love the Flames. The good times are better shared, and the bad times are easier with company

If you’re not sure which NHL city is closest to you, a quick look at the NHL’s team map will sort that out. With 32 teams spread across North America now, you might be closer to one than you think.

Cheer for the Team from Where You Grew Up or Were Born

Where you live now isn’t always where you’re from.

I have a friend who’s lived in Edmonton, Ottawa, and Toronto over the past 20 years. He cheers for the Vancouver Canucks — because that’s the city he grew up in. Doesn’t matter that he’s surrounded by Oilers fans and Leafs fans. The Canucks are his team, full stop.

A lot of fans are the same way. The city you spent your formative years in has a way of sticking with you.

Rally Behind the Team Your Parents Support

Walk into any NHL arena when one of the Original Six teams comes to town — Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, or the New York Rangers — and you’ll notice something a little surprising. There are always a lot of fans cheering for the visiting team. Way more than you’d expect from transplants.

Many of those fans cheer for those teams because their parents did.

Before NHL teams came to Western Canada (the Canucks arrived in 1970, the Flames and Oilers in the late 1970s and 1980s), fans out west had to pick one of the original teams. Many of them kept that loyalty their whole lives — and passed it down to their kids, who passed it down to their kids.

Who did your mom and dad cheer for? Do you want to continue the legacy?

Teams with History — the Original Six

If you love tradition and want to cheer for a team with real history behind it, one of the Original Six is the obvious choice. These are the teams that survived the early years of the NHL and have been around the longest.

A quick note: the “Original Six” era actually started in 1942, not at the NHL’s founding — the league had more teams before that, and a few folded along the way. But these six carried the league for 25 years before expansion, so the name stuck.

• Montreal Canadiens — 24 Stanley Cups, the most in NHL history. Their last was in 1993, but the history here is unmatched. Les Habitants are the most storied franchise in the sport.
• Toronto Maple Leafs — The most talked-about team in Canada, and probably the most tortured. They haven’t won since 1967 — the longest active Cup drought in the league. If you like drama, heartbreak, and endless debate, welcome home.
• Detroit Red Wings — Four Cups between 1997 and 2008, built the right way through patient drafting. Currently in a rebuild under GM Steve Yzerman, but the Red Wings name still carries serious respect.
• Boston Bruins — Won in 2011 and have been a perennial contender ever since. One of the more consistently well-run franchises in hockey.
• New York Rangers — A storied franchise playing out of one of the best arenas in sports (Madison Square Garden). Won in 1994 and remain a legitimate playoff team year after year.
• Chicago Blackhawks — Three Cups between 2010 and 2015 — one of the great dynasties of the modern era. Currently in a full rebuild around Connor Bedard, so the near term is lean, but the foundation is being built right.

Stanley Cup Contenders — Cheer for a Team That Can Actually Win

Some people want to cheer for a team that has a real shot at the Stanley Cup. Totally fair.

Here are the teams that have won recently or are legitimately built to compete in 2025–26:

• Florida Panthers — Won the Cup in 2024. Built through the draft and run exceptionally well. Still a top threat.
• Vegas Golden Knights — Won in 2023. One of the stranger success stories in sports — they went to the Final in their very first season back in 2017–18. Consistently dangerous.
• Colorado Avalanche — Won in 2022. Nathan MacKinnon is one of the best players in the world and they’re built to compete for years.
• Edmonton Oilers — Connor McDavid is the best player on the planet. The Oilers have finally built a complete team around him. If there’s ever a time for them to win, it’s now.
• Carolina Hurricanes — Quietly one of the best-run organizations in the league. Deep, well-structured, and a threat every spring.
• Dallas Stars — Another team that keeps showing up in the playoffs and making runs. Don’t sleep on them.
• Tampa Bay Lightning — Won back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021. Their window may be tightening, but you can never fully count Tampa out.

Rebuilding Teams — Get In at the Bottom

Some people love getting in at the ground floor.

There’s something genuinely fun about following a team through a full rebuild — watching them draft young players, seeing those players develop, and slowly watching the pieces come together. When it finally works, you were there for the whole journey.

Here are the teams in serious rebuild mode heading into 2025–26:

• Chicago Blackhawks — Connor Bedard is the face of this rebuild. He’s a generational talent — the kind of player who only comes around once in a decade. This will take a few more years, but the direction is right.
• San Jose Sharks — A full teardown in progress. They drafted Macklin Celebrini first overall in 2024. Patient fans only, but the upside is real.
• Anaheim Ducks — A young group led by Leo Carlsson. Another team where you’ll need a few years before they’re regularly competitive, but the talent pipeline is there.
• Columbus Blue Jackets — Adam Fantilli leads a young core. Columbus has been stuck in rebuild mode for a while, but there are real pieces here now.
• Utah Hockey Club — The newest franchise in the league. The Arizona Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City ahead of the 2024–25 season and became the Utah Hockey Club (nicknamed the Utah Mammoth). If you want to be a fan from day one of a brand new team, they’re your pick.

The Loveable Losers — Teams That Have Never Won

There are 10 NHL teams that have never won the Stanley Cup. If you love pulling for the underdog — the teams that keep trying and keep falling short — here’s your list:

• Buffalo Sabres — The longest-suffering of the bunch. In the league since 1970 and never come close. When they’ve gotten close, it’s usually ended in heartbreak.
• Vancouver Canucks — Three Finals appearances (1982, 1994, 2011) and zero Cups. Their fans know this particular kind of pain well.
• Ottawa Senators — Lost the Cup Final in 2007 in five games. Currently rebuilding with some exciting young players.
• Minnesota Wild — Never made it to a Final. A consistent presence in the league but never a champion.
• Nashville Predators — Made the Final in 2017 and lost to Pittsburgh. Still waiting.
• Winnipeg Jets — Two-time franchise (the original Jets moved to Phoenix in the 1990s; the current Jets relocated from Atlanta in 2011). Yet to win.
• Columbus Blue Jackets — In their 25-year history, they’ve won a grand total of one playoff series. One. They’re trying.
• San Jose Sharks — Made the Final twice (2016 being the most recent) and came up short both times.
• Seattle Kraken — Only in the league since 2021–22. Give them time.
• Utah Hockey Club — Brand new franchise. The clock starts now.

Cheer for Your Favourite Player

A lot of people find their team through a player first.

You watch a guy who’s fun to watch, you start rooting for him, and before long you’re invested in his team. It’s one of the most natural ways it happens.

Here are some of the most exciting players in the league right now and where they play:

• Connor McDavid — Edmonton Oilers. The best player in the world. Watching him at full speed is genuinely something else.
• Nathan MacKinnon — Colorado Avalanche. One of the most complete players in the game.
• Auston Matthews — Toronto Maple Leafs. The best goal scorer in the league. A future Hall of Famer.
• Leon Draisaitl — Edmonton Oilers. McDavid’s linemate and nearly as terrifying.
• Connor Bedard — Chicago Blackhawks. The next generation’s franchise player. Just getting started — worth watching from the beginning.
• Macklin Celebrini — San Jose Sharks. The 2024 first overall pick. One to watch.
• Sidney Crosby — Pittsburgh Penguins. Still playing at an elite level after 20 years. Watch him while you still can.
• Nikita Kucherov — Tampa Bay Lightning. One of the smartest offensive players of his generation.
• Jack Hughes — New Jersey Devils. Young, fast, and electric.
• Cale Makar — Colorado Avalanche. The best defenceman in hockey, and it’s not particularly close.
• Kirill Kaprizov — Minnesota Wild. One of the most fun players in the league to watch.
• David Pastrnak — Boston Bruins. One of the most lethal goal scorers in the game.
• Alex Ovechkin — Washington Capitals. The greatest goal scorer in NHL history — he passed Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record in 2025. If you haven’t watched him score, fix that immediately.

Find someone you love to watch and let that be your entry point. The team fandom follows naturally.

The New Shiny Toys — Vegas and Seattle

If you want to cheer for a newer franchise, two recent expansion teams are worth a look.

The Vegas Golden Knights came into the league in 2017–18 and immediately went to the Stanley Cup Final — something that had never happened for an expansion team. They won the whole thing in 2023. Vegas showed the whole league that an expansion team doesn’t have to spend years losing before they become relevant.

The Seattle Kraken joined in 2021–22. They’ve made the playoffs in their short history and are building something in one of the best sports cities in the US. Still establishing their identity, but a solid choice if you’re in the Pacific Northwest.

Go Against the Grain — Cheer for a Team Nobody Else Does

These are the teams with the smallest fan bases, the quietest arenas, and the least merchandise in the wild.

There are two things to like about this: if you ever get to a home game, tickets are cheap. And if the team ever turns it around, you can tell every bandwagon jumper that you were there from the start.

Teams that fit this bill right now:

• Utah Hockey Club — Brand new franchise, brand new city, tiny fan base so far. Ground floor opportunity.
• Columbus Blue Jackets — Perennially one of the league’s smallest fanbases.
• Carolina Hurricanes — Surprisingly good hockey team, surprisingly small national profile. Their fans are loud but there aren’t that many of them.

Right in the Middle — Not Bad, Not Great

Some teams are just… teams. Not embarrassing, not exciting. Respectable franchises that show up, play hard, and don’t do a lot to get talked about nationally.

If you just want to pick a team and watch hockey without the drama, these are your low-stress options:

• Philadelphia Flyers — Proud history, going through a transition. Fiercely loyal fan base.
• New York Islanders — Four Cups in the early 1980s, a long drought since. A team with history but no recent fireworks.
• St. Louis Blues — Won the Cup in 2019 in one of the great underdog runs in recent memory. A solid, workmanlike franchise.

There You Go

You’ve got what you need. Pick a team and cheer, cheer, cheer!

My honest advice? Start with geography or family. The teams you’re connected to through where you live or who raised you — those connections make the highs higher and the lows more bearable. Everything else is just a bonus.

Once you pick your team, that’s it. No switching. Welcome to the ride.

Drop a note in the comments and let me know who you picked!