The NHL's Best and Worst Fans Online

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Boston Bruins fans celebrate after Zdeno Chara (33) of Slovakia, scored during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, in Boston. Boston won 4-1.

Image: Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

By Alex Magdaleno2014-02-28 10:22:06 UTC

The NHL breeds die-hard, wild fans that could talk your ear off with hockey trivia — but there’s always room for more passion.

The excitement and hype surrounding Winter Olympic hockey — highlighted by moments like T.J. Oshie’s legendary shootout for Team USA or Marie-Philip Poulin’s overtime goal to win gold for Team Canada — likely earned the sport many new fans. But if you don’t yet know where to place your allegiances within the hallowed rinks of the NHL, look no further.

Online ticket broker TicketCity used a variety of metrics to determine the NHL’s most engaged fan bases.

The rankings look at a teams' average home attendance, average ticket price, Facebook presence (including likes and how often the team is talked about), Twitter following and, lastly, average monthly Google searches for team-based keywords. Each metric is given a different weight depending on whether or not its a better reflection of home team behavior, so home attendance and home ticket price are worth more in terms of rankings.

Canada’s sweethearts, the Toronto Maple Leafs, are no surprise at number one overall, according to TicketCity. That's despite ranking below the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks when looking at Facebook fans only. Meanwhile, despite some out-there attempts to get people to buy tickets, the Florida Panthers are last on the overall list.

You can check out TicketCity’s full rankings here but if you just want the overall countdown, here you go:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs

2. Boston Bruins

3. Chicago Blackhawks

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

5. Detroit Red Wings

6. Montreal Canadiens

7. Vancouver Canucks

8. New York Rangers

9. Philadelphia Flyers

10. Los Angeles Kings

11. Winnipeg Jets

12. San Jose Sharks

13. Edmonton Oilers

14. Washington Capitals

15. Colorado Avalanche

16. Buffalo Sabres

17. St. Louis Blues

18. Minnesota Wild

19. New Jersey Devils

20. Calgary Flames

21. Anaheim Ducks

22. Dallas Stars

23. Tampa Bay Lightning

24. Ottawa Senators

25. Nashville Predators

26. Phoenix Coyotes

27. Carolina Hurricanes

28. Columbus Blue Jackets

29. Florida Panthers

30. New York Islanders

Where does your team end up? Are you in the middle of the pack despite holding the record for selling out games from 1995 to 2006 like the Colorado Avalanche? Or do you follow the cheeky Twitter account of the Los Angeles Kings?

Let us know in the comments.