Canadians top list of most foul-mouthed NHL fans

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – When you think of aggressive and foul-mouthed hockey fans, the loudmouths in Boston and Philadelphia might come to mind.

But it seems they have nothing on the fans of a couple of Canadian clubs, including the Vancouver Canucks.

Vancouver fans rank only just behind Calgary Flames supporters when it comes to swearing, according to analysis from Casino.org, shattering Canadians’ reputation for politeness.

The website looked at what it calls the “brash attitudes and actions of fans and players alike.”

To gather its data, the company looked at Reddit and the rate of profane words per 100 subscribers to each team’s subreddit.

Flames and Canucks fans out-swear the third place Broad Street Bullies in Philadelphia by a long shot.

The study’s authors say maybe it’s that Canadians are a whole lot more passionate than Americans about hockey.

“In terms of profanity, the followers of two Canadian teams far exceeded other fan bases,” the feature reads. “To be fair, Canadians have a particular passion for the game, with devotion rarely equaled by Americans. It’s possible they’re profanity simply indicates extreme enthusiasm rather than anger.”

Casino.org notes that Calgary fans have been through quite a bit recently, perhaps contributing to their profanity.

They’ve had a “rollercoaster” season in 2019-2020, dealing with things like injuries, inconsistent play, and the Bill Peters scandal, which saw the coach resign after his use of racial slurs was uncovered, the website adds.

“On the other hand, perhaps on-ice performance doesn’t dictate fan profanity at all. Followers of the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings used the fewest explicit words per 100 subscribers, despite the fact that these teams had two of the league’s worst records when the 2019-2020 season halted due to COVID-19 concerns. Conversely, fans of Tampa Bay, one of the league’s most successful squads, had the third-lowest rate of profanity.”

By the way, the least profane fans in Canada can apparently be found in Ottawa, which sits in 28th spot overall.

Meanwhile, the rankings sit a little differently when you ask fans themselves who they think are the most vulgar fan base.

According to fans, those who support the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers are almost neck and neck when it comes to their profanity levels.

Bostonians top the list with 37.2 per cent, while Philadelphians come in at 36.5 per cent.

“These opinions might reflect a broader sense of resentment about Boston’s sports fans, who are widely seen as obnoxious about their teams’ recent run of successes,” Casino.org writes.

In this ranking, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ fans are the most profane of all the Canadians, followed by supporters of the Montreal Canadiens. Way down the list sits Vancouver Canucks fans, sandwiched between the Nashville Predators’ and Arizona Coyotes’ fans.

“Perhaps this dynamic has something to do with Canadians’ widely admired manners. The nation does have a reputation for making nice, and some data suggests Canadians are particularly cordial on other social media platforms.”