With NHL training games afoot, ToonieBet (https://tooniebet.ca/ca) polled roughly 2,000 NHL fans in Canada. The poll covered a host of topics. Subjects ranged from the best arena atmosphere across the seven NHL arenas in Canada to fan confidence in their favo(u)rite Canada-based NHL franchise. Respondents also answered an array of questions — some serious, some more whimsical — about their game day rituals and superstitions.
Here are some of the results.
Best arena atmosphere: Bell Centre
Bell Centre, the Montreal Canadiens home area, garnered the most votes for best atmosphere in the seven NHL home barns. Forty-two percent of respondents chose the home of les habitants (and the chien chaud).
Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg placed seconds in the best atmosphere poll question. Scotiabank Arena in Toronto placed third.
Meanwhile, pollsters asked respondents about their satisfaction level with the team ownership and management in the seven Canadian markets. The Vancouver Canucks finished at the bottom. Although the Ottawa Senators made the playoffs last season and appear to be a team on the rise, the Sens finished sixth on that poll question.
Likeliest Cup winner: Edmonton wins the poll easily
No shocker here. The Edmonton Oilers are back-to-back defending Western Conference champions. Unsurprising the Oilers garnered a landslide win (52 percent of all votes among the seven teams) to the poll question of which Canadian NHL team has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup in 2025-26.
This question reflects a bit of a cultural difference. Although every team roster has a mixture of nationalities represented, Canadian fans (and especially the Canadian media) focus on franchise base city much more than U.S. fans and media. In the United States, it’s very franchise-based success (or lack of success) focused rather than the franchise country base.
O Canada
Sixty percent of the poll respondents say they sing along to O Canada when the anthem(s) play before the game’s opening faceoff. I’d be interested to see a similar poll question among U.S. based fans.
Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of fans prefer to watch games with a family member, friend, and/or associate. Just 18 percent prefer to watch on their own. In a media capacity, I enjoy press box conversations before the game or during intermissions. During game play, I much prefer to focus on the ice except if there’s a disputed play, an unclear detail (“did that look like he tipped the puck?”) or a stoppage.
Favorite superstition: The lucky sweater
Look at an old picture of the crowd at an NHL hockey game. Before the 1970s, men wore formal attire — quite often, suits, ties and hats — in the stands — to attend games. In the 1970s, attire became much more informal. By the 1980s, replica team jerseys became in vogue as fan game time attire.
That trend has only grown in popularity over the last 40 years. Today, the majority of the crowd sports their team of choice’s jersey. In fact, a large percentage of diehard fans own more than one sweater to represent different players of the present or past.
According to the ToonieBet poll, 63 percent of respondents wear a specific (or “lucky”) jersey when they attend an NHL game. Interesting factoid: across the entire NHL, home jersey sales outpace the team’s road sweater by a huge margin. When NHL team’s reversed the wearing of white/ light shaded jerseys at home and darker sweaters on the road, the sales popularity also reversed.
Bottom line: Uniformity is a real thing in the stands as well as on the ice.
Other poll question results per ToonieBet
- A quarter of adult Canadians have a specific beer brand of choice. The most popular beer brands were Molson Canadian, Kokanee, and Sleeman’s.
- 36% of Canadian fans were unaware at Detroit Red Wings fans throw an octopus on the ice or Nashville Predators partisans throw a catfish on the ice as a pregame superstition during the NHL playoffs.
- Rituals: Before going to a game in person, nearly a third of respondents say they always go to the same pregame establishment for refreshments.
- Chicken Wings were the most popular food eaten while watching NHL games, followed by nachos and poutine.
| % of Fans | Gameday Rituals/ Superstition |
| 63% | Canadian NHL fans own a lucky jersey for their home team |
| 28% | Have a preferred beer brand to drink during games |
| 36% | Unaware of Octopus/Catfish playoff superstitions |
| 29% | Visit the same pregame establishment |
| 24% | Choose chicken wings as their favourite pregame snack |
| 60% | Join in singing O Canada before the game starts |
| 18% | Enjoy watching NHL games on their own |
| 25% | Enjoy placing a pregame wager on NHL games |
