2025 Guide for New Fans Picking a Favourite NHL Team

2025 Guide for New Fans Picking a Favourite NHL Team

welcome back all right so sometimes in the comment section there are suggestions that are made that I go you know what that’s actually not a bad idea and this is one of those suggestions which and I’ve done the video on this before but not for a long time i know Utah wasn’t in the NHL the last time I did this i don’t know that Seattle was either so looking at teams around the National Hockey League and if you’re brand new to watching hockey you might be like “Hey so how do I pick a favorite team and what criteria?” So there are certain criteria and I don’t shame people for the one at the bottom here bandwagon i I don’t I the thing with it is this so I jumped on a bandwagon in 1981 with the Minnesota Northstars and I’ve never jumped off of it i jumped on a bandwagon with the Vancouver Conucks in 1982 i’d already been a fan before that because of uh geoloccation because I’m not too far from Vancouver but it really amped up in 1982 when they went all the way to the Stanley Cup final and then the other team that I rooted for Boston it was really a matter of I wanted a team in the East to cheer for and I wanted it to be a team that’s different and the Boston Bruins happen to have players that I really liked they got Cam Neely loved Cam Neely in Vancouver so when he went to Boston and really took off I was very happy um to root for Boston and did for a long time after um still to this day so those three teams I picked up in the 80s when I was a kid and so there you go and yesterday in the entertainment guy even had pictures of of myself as a little kid wearing a Gretzky shirt just to prove that the the whole hockey thing is not new i was wearing hockey shirts way back when so on the board I’ve got teams in reverse alphabetical order cuz sure why not and I’ve got criteria on the board here so for people who might be new fans and I’m not going to use all these colors because looking at it now I’m like all right I’m not going to necessarily check off not necessarily unless it’s for me there may be some examples that I use and that I cite and I may check it off for myself but again this is more along the lines of if somebody’s new to the game and I do see the comments all the time of hey I’m new to the sport and you know it’s great to watch your videos and thanks for everything so um winner if if honestly teams will get fans because they win and fans will and and now that’s where I’m different i normally when I pick up a new league or a new whatever it is I will go “Well what team’s at the bottom i’ll root for those guys cuz that’s that’s the team.” And and it’s it’s not I don’t I don’t recommend that strategy at all but it’s led to endless heartache for me with other sports outside of hockey san Diego Padres’s um although the Padres’s weren’t awful when I picked up the Padres’s it was just their the colors of the uniforms were different and there were players I really liked on the team and so yeah San Diego Padres’s and all that fun stuff um and then in basketball it was the San Antonio Spurs that I picked why really like the players really like the players and I was kind of sick and tired of the same teams before San Antonio started winning championships same teams winning championships Bulls and so yeah um I I became a fan of the San Antonio Spurs which will throw people some people watching this might be thrown off by that might be like I he’s he’s a Spurs fan to this day yeah I I if I had to pick a team in basketball I’d probably pick the Spurs as my favorite i know it’s supposed to be the Raptors i’m in Canada and all this but no so if you’re going to pick a team based on it being a winner um obviously right now the Winnipeg Jets are the President’s Trophy winners but if you’re going to go with Stanley Cups what are we thinking last five years so because if you go back 10 years that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a winner now but if you’re looking at the last 5 years so 2020 and 2021’s Tampa 2022 would be Colorado stop laughing colorado I still feel like are a winning team and I know that this year wasn’t overly encouraging i am bewildered at how this team has not won a Stanley Cup since that 2022 win i still think that’s going to happen again uh Vegas uh obviously Vegas a recent Stanley Cup winner Florida a Stanley Cup winner i’m not going to put a check mark next to the other eight teams that are still in the playoffs i feel like President’s Trophy winner last year and then let’s go through these teams washington yeah I would say with Washington that could be a team you’d consider a winner because they don’t miss the playoffs often uh Vancouver I’m going to I’m going to lean towards no with Vancouver when it comes to winner uh Utah uh Toronto St louis st louis won the cup in 2019 haven’t they they won missed the playoffs since then seattle San Jose Pittsburgh Philly Ottawa Rangers Islanders Devils Nashville Montreal uh Minnesota there is one other one other thing that I remember because I brought Ivon in to talk to me about this oh I’ve already got pink on the board uh let’s see what other colors are there can I find another Can Can I find another yeah probably i probably can let’s see if this is uh too bright to be seen on the board oh yeah yeah let me let me just go ahead and we’ll figure we’ll figure that part out I think later on yeah I’ll figure that Well you know what i’ll just do that one in black as well at least on this part of the board cuz Ivonne said there were people she talked to that said the team’s history might be a reason to root for them all right so uh where were we nashville Montreal Minnesota montreal is where I remembered oh yeah the history part uh Minnesota LA Florida Edmonton edmonton in the Stanley Cup final last year i’m I’m gonna qualify them as one of the one of the winners uh Detroit Dallas should I put Dallas too as one of the the winners currently been pretty good for a while um no i’m not going to do that with Dallas uh Columbus Chicago after Colorado of course I already got the check mark there carolina they win during the regular season i would say Carolina you’re you’re pretty much guaranteed to enjoy the regular season with them calgary Buffalo Boston’s out of the playoffs now so they don’t qualify and Anaheim uh up and cominging teams so teams to keep an eye on in the coming years because looks like they could be pretty darn good i would put Utah in that category i would put I want to say Seattle but not not not quite san Jose absolutely i’m going to cheat and go over to Montreal here too pittsburgh Philly Ottawa yeah Ottawa rangers Islanders Devils can we qualify Devils as up and coming at this point i don’t think we can uh Minnesota LA uh Detroit Dallas detroit’s got a lot of good young talent i’m going to put a check mark there too uh Columbus columbus we’re going to find a whole other reason with Columbus uh Chicago yeah Chicago’s got a lot of good young talent there calgary buffalo i want to put a check mark next to Buffalo i’m thinking about all the young talent in Buffalo h but if I put them as an upand cominging team there’s going to Well you guys are going to say whatever in the comments anyways i will qualify Buffalo and Anaheim as good upandcoming teams so if you’re looking to root for a team that may very well be pretty darn good soon there you go great look this is very subjective this is very much a subjective thing but if you’re talking about a reason to cheer for a team and I know how superficial this sounds but jerseys the colors sometimes it’s it’s a hockey mask sometimes it’s you know little things that you might look and go you know I think that’s a cool look now traditionally if you’re talking about looks uh the original six usually get high marks so that would be a second check mark for Chicago a second check mark for Montreal check mark for Toronto most people like the look of the Detroit Red Wings as well it’s traditional it’s uh you know you guys get it so I would say Detroit uh who else in the in the original six i would say the Rangers the Rangers have an original look as well being original six is that all the original six did I get all of them see so Toronto Rangers Chicago Detroit Montreal Boston how could I miss Boston oh my gosh I’m not a Boston fan anymore all right so we’ll put the check mark next to Boston boston’s got an excellent look so we look at the rest of the teams anaheim’s definitely improved theirs buffalo’s the goat head we do like the goat head i would say Calgary but traditionally that look isn’t one that’s been of the more popular variety what other team has a popular look people really like uh I can’t say Tampa wouldn’t say St louis new Jersey new Jersey most people really like the Devil’s logo and the the color scheme which red and black’s kind of a common color scheme of course uh Islanders Flyers Pittsburgh Seattle seattle’s color scheme I think is popular minnesota I like their logo and I I do like that they have a green jersey i like that it’s a little different and I feel like that logo is pretty popular so are we happy with that for Great Look and then we get into one that I’m not sure why I put a color on the board because it’s not necessary uh favorite player so one reason you may have to pick one team over another might be a favorite player this could be somebody who’s done really good work in the community it could be somebody who um you really like the way they play the style of hockey and for me I’m usually one over by hard workers i’m usually one over by guys who are of smaller stature and play bigger than they are i am usually one over by players who go out there they do their jobs they don’t complain um and and guys who have a good sense of humor this kind like there are things in hockey that I notice and I’m like that’s that’s a player I really root for so favorite player can be a reason to root for a team so if you’re new to hockey uh you can go through various articles you know what I really like this player maybe it’s their play maybe it’s their stats maybe you’re just like you know what he flat out produces and I love that maybe they throw a ton of hits and you’re like I really like the hitting aspect of the game so therefore Kefir Sherwood becomes a favorite and the Vancouver Canucks become a favorite which uh is masochism a reason to pick a team i I don’t know why I’m saying that after mentioning the Vancouver Conucks and then I look at the Sabres logo uh geoloccation another color I put on the board that obviously I’m not going to be using for the viewer but I’ll use it for myself uh geoloccation is the reason why I picked the Vancouver Conucks initially because the Canucks are the team I saw all the time the Conucks are the team that were getting all the coverage so if you’re exposed to that team locally you are likely to root for that team there are exceptions and there are contrarians too that will say “You know what i I get that team all the time on my TV i’ll root for their their opponents.” I kind of respect that go to games in Vancouver you’re going to see people wearing the other team’s jersey and sometimes it feels like they’re really a fan of the team and sometimes it feels like they just want to cheer against the Canucks well you paid for your ticket you’ve earned that right and then because I’m in British Columbia there isn’t really a a geol location but I’m going to say this because we’ve gone down to California as much as we have and I’ve got that Anaheim one up there it has definitely made a difference for me personally it’s it’s caused Anaheim to even though it’s not close to where I live it it kind of feels like you know I have an affinity for that team now because of my familiarity with the organization with the people that that are down there i’ve been in the offices and it it definitely makes a difference to how I feel about things it I will say this here too though there were there were people saying that I I didn’t come out and you know completely slag the team for hiring Joel Quinnville because I was somehow bribed or bought off no I didn’t slag it because everything’s been said already everything’s been said by everybody for years i’m just going to report on a hiring and go from there but it can be a reason for somebody no longer to be fan a fan of a team is based on who they bring in or they don’t so not only does the favorite player or favorite coach f but and somebody who’s not your favorite somebody you really don’t can’t stand um an example amongst players would be Brad Marshon there may very well be fans who did not like Boston and said “Maron I can’t stand them.” Then he goes to Florida and they would say “You know what i used to like Florida but now they got Marshon i don’t want to see them win the Stanley Cup anymore.” I that is something that I know with other sports I’ve done that i feel like with the NFL I’ve done that where a quarterback will switch teams i’m like I can’t stand that quarterback i do not want to see them win now i don’t please for the love of all this holy don’t let them win don’t don’t you dare let that general manager look smart for picking that guy up um so there’s that then there’s the contrarian there are those amongst us who will wear a jersey of a team just to make everybody else around us angry if you want to accomplish that might I suggest the Boston Bruins i’m trying to think of who else right now you’re defending Stanley Cup champions or Florida so if you pick Florida there are going to be people who um would call you a a bandwagoner and we’ll get into the bandwagoner part of things too um who else would be a contr vegas would be a contrarian pick and I know Vegas fans don’t like when I say that but it’s true there are a lot of people who resent Vegas for the the lack of missing the playoffs when they came into the league as an expansion team and all of that and I’ve talked about it and having gone through the whole process i remember when the team was drafted and everybody said “Well this team’s going to be crap.” And then they were really good and then they’re like “Oh well the NHL knew.” And that this whole thing was was totally set up this way then why’d you say they were crap during the expansion draft so Vegas would definitely be a pick if you want to be contrarian and it it feels like at times uh Pittsburgh and Chicago are contrarian picks look at that three check marks for Chicago three so there’s there’s there’s definitely you know if you pick up Chicago from this I’m I’m sorry but it does qualify to me as a great look upand cominging team a lot of good young players and it’s contrarian to other people people just don’t want to root for Chicago uh so that’s out there uh underdog so let’s get the blue marker for this the light blue marker for this underdogs so if you want to root for the underdog first off you’re probably going to be disappointed i rooted for underdogs for years this is the face of disappointment so you’re going to go with Vancouver because even when they’re good they still somehow are bad uh underdogs islanders are usually an underdog team right now I would qualify Philadelphia in that in that situ you know what la’s lost four years in a row to the same team in the playoffs that officially puts the LA Kings on that on that list for me uh another underdog calgary came out this year as a team that was expected to be bad and they weren’t and Columbus columbus nobody expected anything from them they ended up having a season that was far better than I think anybody would have anticipated it was going to be uh who else ottawa they’re usually underdogs and as an upand cominging team there’s there’s definitely some some rollover between those two things an up andcoming team is usually an underdog so I could I could definitely put that check mark next to almost any team that I qualify as an up andcoming team so there’s that you know um I’m trying to think if there’s anybody else that I would say really you know if you want to root for a team just because they’re an underdog i know there’s people saying Toronto to their their computers or their phones or their TVs right now i can’t hear you and I don’t know that Toronto would be qualified as an as an underdog i I do think that Toronto Why See I’m I’m trying to think of other other terminologies too that’s why I had to call my wife in to say “Look am I covering everything here?” All right so we’ll we’ll qualify the underdog as being done there now bandwagon bandwagon is a bad word don’t jump on the bandwagon how dare you jump on the bandwagon uh it feels like right now the Dallas Stars are a bit of a wagon they pick up Mo Rantin um hot team most of the season uh the Jets win the President’s Trophy i would say that’s a bit of a bandwagon washington wins the East definitely a bandwagon vegas is usually a bandwagon team you want to pick up a team that’s going to going to win that would qualify Edmonton then as a bandwagon obviously Florida defending Stanley Cup champions and then it gets a little bit more sketchy here i I don’t think Carolina doesn’t qualify to me as a bandwagon team it kind of has to be a team that’s still in the playoffs right now too so that rules out a lot of other teams on the board yeah rules out a lot of other teams on the board so then then you get into the history part of it so if you want to root for a team I’m going to use the black marker again because I don’t I don’t think people are going to care i worry far more about the color of the markers on boards than anybody else does but if you’re looking at the history of the team if you want a team that has a long rich history anything that’s I would say 50 years plus should qualify but not everybody’s history is the same so we go through Winnipeg Washington history not really vegas eight years Vancouver it’s a sad history utah just came into the league toronto there’s definitely some historical reason to pick Toronto and I know people complain “Oh it’s not since 1967,” but they did win 13 Stanley Cups during the original six and and prior to the original six era so there’s definitely some history there um St louis no seattle obviously one of the newer teams san Jose Pittsburgh pittsburgh there’s a historical side to that because they won the cup is it five times since 1991 that to me some historical reason to root for them the Flyers the history for the Flyers that qualifies for me would be the Broad Street Bullies and the fact that they kind of revolutionized the game in the 70s there was a lot of talk about whether it was for the better or for the worse but it is it is historical uh Ottawa sure uh if you want to have that throughine between the current senators and the previous senators that moved to St louis and then folded uh it’s it’s about a century of hockey in the city of Ottawa the Rangers definitely have the historical side of it i know the Stanley Cup since 1940 have been scarce but still there was a Stanley Cup in 1940 there were ones prior and there’s the one in ’94 i will give the Islanders the check mark too because of the four straight Stanley Cups in the 19 early 1980s new Jersey sure I I’ll be generous with New Jersey in this case because they do have the three Stanley Cups and quite the story there montreal obviously gets the historical side of it i would be crazy not to give them the historical side of it why don’t I have Minnesota as an underdog oh my gosh let me fix that minnesota’s absolutely Minnesota’s kind of the ultimate underdog at this point not having one around in it’s been a while um Kings I mean they do have the two Stanley Cups 2012 2014 there’s a lot of history there sure and St louis yes st lewis came in at the same time and just thinking back there was the almost moving to Saskatoon storyline which I’ve talked about on the channel before uh where they and they opted out of the draft that year just some crazy history with St louis um Florida Edmonton yes Edmonton i’ll give them two black check marks and the historical was the uh the the dynasty back in the 80s and right into 1990 detroit obviously gets that as well dallas have the Minnesota Northstars before Dallas are we counting the Minnesota Northstars i am so because I’m counting the Minnesota Northstars and that move and everything I’m giving them the check mark columbus no colorado they had the Quebec Nordics so that’s two black check marks for uh the U Colorado Avalanche chicago obviously gets that check mark as well so that’s four check marks for Chicago um Calgary Cup in ‘ 89 Stanley Cup final in ’04 moved from Atlanta yeah um and now I’m looking at the Winnipeg Jets over there i’m going to give the Winnipeg Jets that too because you had the original Winnipeg Jets in the 80s and while that history moved to Arizona and then it’s just gone now because Utah didn’t take that so it may end up being returned to Winnipeg but I would say for the city of Winnipeg and because they’re still the Jets sure i gave that to Ottawa i should give that to Winnipeg as well buffalo oh there’s a history i’m not giving them the check mark for it uh Boston yes uh and Anaheim i feel like I should with Anaheim because they originally came in as the Mighty Ducks and the movie came out and then they came out and it was it was an odd time i remember at the time being quite uh quite perturbed that the Mighty Ducks movie had led to a team joining the National Hockey League so if I was just saying to somebody you know all right so you’re you’re going to start rooting for an NHL team um I don’t I don’t know i mean if Okay so what about rebuilds so I’ll put an R next to the ones that are in rebuilds i don’t feel like Utah is i feel like Utah’s pull pulling their way out of it um Seattle it’s a bit of a rebuild in Seattle a bit of a rebuild retool in Nashville bit of a rebuild retool in Boston anaheim’s been in that as well buffalo are they in a rebuild are they not uh Chicago is still in that rebuild uh Columbus has been with the fallout from the loss of Johnny Gudro i feel like Columbus has been in sort of that rebuild mode since then i I think they come out of it this summer though so they definitely qualify as as up and coming a bit as well depending on what they do with that money this summer uh Detroit’s been in a rebuild for a while uh Montreal’s coming out of their rebuild they made the playoffs i can’t qualify that pittsburgh started their rebuild uh Philly’s in the midst of a rebuild san Jose still in theirs this is why rebuilds are crazy to me on some level because you can argue one two three four five six seven eight nine well that’s 10 teams that’s almost a third of the league that we can look at and go “Well they’re in some form of a rebuild or they’re trying to come out of it.” And this is why when fans are like “Our team needs to rebuild.” We’re going to end up with like half the league rebuilding and half the league in the playoffs if this keeps up it just it feels like that’s where we’re trending that everybody goes into a rebuild these re rebuilds are going to take 5 to 10 years so that’s one thing to keep in mind is if you’re going to pick a team that’s rebuilding I hope you’re young because it can take a while buffalo Detroit uh and with half the league missing the playoffs it it really does make it so that rebuilds I feel like are far more common now than they were back in the 80s where you might see one or two teams going into a rebuild but 16 out of 21 made the playoffs so it wasn’t really an attractive option and now it is and with the salary cap era maybe that’s made it more attractive of an option too but either way um I I would love to stand here and say you know if I was recommending a team I’ll I’ll go through these teams i’ll go through them one time here winnipeg is a fun one to cheer for if you want a Canadian team that not a lot of people compared to other Canadian teams root for um and and I I I do like some of their third jerseys as well washington fun to root for if you want to root for a team that does have a pretty trout history especially regular season but they do have the 2018 Stanley Cup as well vegas uh Vegas is is I would say a fun team to root for if if you’re getting into the sport uh there is the contrarian aspect that if you’re wearing Vegas gear and you’re walking into any other arena around the NHL you’re going to probably get some groans not Boston level boston level gets to kind of like people want to hit you um I speak from experience uh Vancouver it is hard for me to recommend Vancouver right now for a new fan it It is and I’m not saying I’m not saying don’t but I’ve I’ve posted a video recently on my experiences as a fan of the Canucks and it’s there utah would be a very fun team to root for they just got their new new branding of course as the Mammoth and it does feel like they’re building something pretty special there in Utah and this this could be a team to keep an eye on in the coming years toronto Toronto’s fun to to watch and to talk about i and I don’t know about the experience of rooting for them from day to day um I don’t feel like it’s a much better experience than with Vancouver but they have made the playoffs nine years in a row so there’s that uh Tampa Tampa’s in kind of this this position where they still play during the regular season like a contender and it’s just not translating to the playoffs anymore when that happens that’s when a team is usually on the verge of going into a rebuild or a retool something like that very often we’ll see a team have good regular seasons but the playoffs tell you where there’s some weakness and then the following and subsequent seasons you may see that start to erode their record uh St louis St louis is fun they have a good fan base i I really do like the when the Saints go marching in every time they score and the bell dinging and all that for all the goals um so yeah St louis is fine and and you do have a bit of an underdog quality as well with St louis uh Seattle new team if you want to cheer for a new team they’re they’re one of the newer teams in the National Hockey League and if you like mythical creatures Kraken’s right there for you uh San Jose Sharks i couldn’t have made an argument back when this channel started up to root for the Sharks but I’ll say this they’re doing a good job on this rebuild and I don’t think they’re going to be that bad next year i don’t think they’re going to be a playoff team necessarily but I I think they’re going to improve and so that’s that’s important right there uh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh’s going into a rebuild or retool but you have Sydney Crosby of Genny Melin you have some some of the all-time greats in the game that are playing for Pittsburgh whose careers are winding down so over the next few years things are going to change dramatically in Pittsburgh I would think as those careers finish out and so you pick them up as your team you get a chance to watch them uh as they round out their careers philadelphia I think the rebuild’s going to work and I I think what we saw after Tordella got fired I think should bode well for them next year and you got Mechov really exciting young player there uh Ottawa I I enjoy watching Ottawa i’ve enjoyed watching Ottawa for a long time it feels like they’re they’re on the cusp they just need to avoid Toronto in the playoffs apparently they have never beaten Toronto in the playoffs um including this season but yeah Ottawa there’s there’s a good young team there and I I do think there’s some sub some some sustainable success for them on the way uh the New York Rangers the Rangers are in an interesting place where they expect to be back in the playoffs next year i think they get back in the playoffs next year i I don’t know whether they’re going to be a wild card or they’re going to be top three in their division necessarily but I mean the Rangers aren’t usually a bad team not usually uh the Islanders the Islanders are in this this holding pattern of sorts where they’re barely a playoff team or barely missed the playoffs and with Patrick Wah as their coach I like Patrick Wah uh there was a time where that wasn’t the case but I I have tons of respect for Patrick Wah and of course they’re looking for a brand new GM so maybe submit your name if you’re thinking about going for that job um although I think they’re pretty close to picking so you might be late uh applying new Jersey I I can find reasons to to root for New Jersey i’ve got a couple of check marks on the board here and and I think the Devils will figure it out i don’t think there is they’re that far off either so they might be a bandwagon team soon uh Nashville nashville’s tough nashville went out and got really expensive free agents last offseason and it didn’t work and now there’s talk of them rearming this summer we’ll see how that goes for them but I do have the R there because I think a rebuild or retool has to be done here uh Montreal montreal is going to be a lot of fun to watch for years to come they’ve got a lot of good young forwards a lot of good young defenders and a good young goalender and Fowler as well so don’t be surprised when Montreal is a pretty darn good team as soon as next season uh Minnesota there’s hope with Minnesota even though they haven’t won around since 2015 because the Minnesota Wild have cap space next year they already have a good foundation some really good players and some good young players so there’s no reason to think Minnesota’s just going to fall off the map next year uh the LA Kings in a bit of a tough spot i mentioned previously four straight years losing to the same team in the playoffs they should be bound and determined one question mark I do have though is Copitar and Dowy getting older so do you build around them with the idea of building back up to being a contender under a new GM or do you accept that some kind of change needs to take place so it’ll be interesting to see which direction they go florida in the playoffs and until they’re they’re eliminated from said playoffs they’re defending Stanley Cup champions and they scare the beepers out of most other teams uh the Oilers strong team almost came back and won that Stanley Cup last year i do think that we could see a Canadian team win a Stanley Cup soon but I’ve been thinking that for a while so we’ll see uh Detroit I really hope Detroit makes the playoffs next year not even kidding i I cuz it’s been a long time and I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible this channel uh became a hockey channel in 2016 they haven’t made the playoffs since then so I I do kind of feel like may maybe it’s me maybe it’s not Eisermanman or any of the moves he’s made maybe it’s not the team maybe it’s me uh Dallas I’m a big Dallas fan dallas is fun per personally for me uh being a Northstars fan first and then Dallas when I was in in high school and I was wearing Minnesota Northstars garb nobody else was wearing Minnesota Northstars i felt like it was my own personal team that I was rooting for and it was weird to people cuz I’m Canadian so I’m rooting for the Northstars but that was the team that I picked um it’s just that was the team I picked and then when they moved to Dallas my fandom went with them to Dallas cuz all the players went so why wouldn’t I root for them and I love Mike Madano so why wouldn’t I root for them in Dallas columbus there’s there’s definitely an emotional reason to cheer for Columbus this is a team that hasn’t had that postseason success they’ve never really and truly been a Stanley Cup contender going into the playoffs and Columbus has gone through a lot uh KV Lennox and now Gudro and just other incidents that have taken place with this team and so definitely I would say if there’s a reason to start you know rooting for Columbus and hope things go better for them um there you go uh Colorado has a good tradition they have some Stanley Cups to their name as well and they’ve got some of the most exciting young players in the game and some guys who are in their primer are pretty darn good too and while this year didn’t turn out as well for them I still think they’re going to be a contender for years to come chicago Chicago’s going to be a lot better next year absolutely going to be a lot better next year bright days ahead for the for the Blackhawks uh Carolina pretty steady as a good regulation or regular season team not regulation regular season team uh definitely need to work on that goal scoring come playoff time come playoff time it feels like the goal scoring always drops off it’s kind of frustrating to watch i don’t even necessarily root for the Canes from game to game but it can be frustrating to watch because during the regular season their scoring seems to be just fine and well enough uh Calgary as previously mentioned underdog weren’t expected to be any good this year and then turned out to be pretty good i would not be surprised to see them make the playoffs next year and there’s some good young players in their lineup and some others coming up too uh Buffalo lot of young players and a lot of talent and it’s just a matter of figuring out the puzzle to make Buffalo a playoff team if you can figure that out by all means please contact the Buffalo Sabres immediately um make it to the attention of Kevin Adams and let them know the blueprint because I think Buffalo and their fans really deserve to finally have a playoff team uh not making the playoffs since it feels like forever so and it you look at the numbers it it pretty much is forever uh Boston there are contrarian reasons with Boston also if you want to see a team go through whether it’s a retool rebuild Boston has to change something this summer right um it it’s a tough time if you’re getting into the sport for me to recommend Boston yeah that’s a tough one but I can recommend Anaheim i can and I’m just going to say Anaheim has some of the one of the best young cores in the game i don’t do the core rankings there’s other websites and hockey related uh blogs that’ll do the the rankings of a core um it’s always tough for me because you’re ranking a 20 21 22 year old player as if they’re going to be there forever and you’re trying to project out how good they’re going to be and that’s that is so totally subjective and to me that’s that’s a tough one i’ve I’ve tried to do that at times where I’ll come up on paper go okay here well I don’t know that guy might be great but how can I rank this team above that team when I don’t know for sure so it’s it’s like when I do the reddrafts the reddrafts I do kind of go back and forth on and then see the all the comments i can’t believe you picked this guy over this guy well I would but uh yeah so there you go all 32 teams and I’m sorry that I might have made this as clear as mud but if you’re a new fan hopefully I’ve given you some idea of which direction in which to go when you’re rooting for a team uh you don’t have to worry about whether or not they’re they’re local to you um it does help if you want to go and watch a game in person to pick a team closer to you and if you want to pick an AHL team so one other thing and it’s not on the board so you may very well be geographically close to an AHL team and so you could start going to AHL games which are much cheaper than NHL tickets by the way um being a season ticket holder in Abbottzford it’s very different than being a season ticket holder for the Vancouver Conucks so yeah Vancouver Canucks is a no for me for numerous reasons including just money no so you could pick an AHL team which is say Syracuse so if you’re if you live in Syracuse New York you can you know go to a Syracuse Crunch game and then you become a Tampa fan as well because you watch guys play for the Crunch and then they go up to Tampa it is fun to watch guys in the AHL and then see them play in the NHL it is uh having a team in Abbottzford has definitely been good for that and so there you go i hope that I’ve helped rather than muddy the waters further but let me know your thoughts and if you were a fan just starting to watch the National Hockey League now would you make a different choice in team in terms of which team you root for if you knew what you were getting into would you change your mind i’m not going to say I’m not going to say whether if I could go back to you know five six year old Shannon and sit him down and go “Hey you’re going to go through some pain i want to help you avoid that pain um have you have you ever thought about cheering for the Oilers just for the 80s you may not want to cheer for the Anyways let me know your thoughts in the comment section below as always i I couldn’t have done it i couldn’t have i couldn’t have and I went through all that pain in the 80s and you kind of own it you just kind of own it um all those all those losing years and thankfully they’re followed by more of them so you can just replace old pain with new pain and there are definitely some fans watching this that will identify with that so there you go thank you guys so much for all your support is greatly appreciated hit like and subscribe if you’ve not done so already uh thank you guys so much for all your support as always and I will talk to you again soon

Okay, this was suggested in the comments yesterday and I figured I hadn’t done a video on this topic in a long time.

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