Your 2nd Favorite NHL Team

[ross10019]

Ho hum, dog days of summer, little NHL news of relevance, fantasy league (ours, at least) shut down for the summer, no trade discussions, yada yada.

Thought I'd throw out a question that gets asked from time to time, and for me has taken on new significance lately.

Who is your 2nd favorite NHL team (which I believe some have referred to as their "girlfriend" team)? In many cases I'm sure it's not an easy question to answer (although obviously some of you will give the obvious "there is no 2nd favorite, only the 1st!). Another way of posing the question is, if your favorite team is out of it, who would you pull for to win the Cup?

For me, obviously No 1 is the Habs.

My 2nd favorite team is very tough to pick.

I've liked the Pens the last few years with the team they've built, and the 24x7 crystallized how much I like the team/players as well as the coaching staff and management, love Bylsma, great coach.

Always liked Buffalo, historically because they always seemed to put an exciting product on the ice (in the old days, Perreault, Martin, more recently the Drury/Briere years), but mainly because their fans are so passionate and yet they've always tended to get screwed, first on the ice (the famous Brett Hull goal) and in recent years due to the ridiculous frugality and non-hockey sense of their ownership (thankfully OVER now!).

And even though they (with the Leafs) are our sworn enemy on the ice, I have always admired the Bruins, especially this year's installment, with that grit and intensity that made up for years of frustration with that epic Cup victory.

Over to the West, I've always been a fan of the Sharks, exciting hockey to watch and, like the Sabres, hard luck playoff teams.

Similarly, I've always loved the Wild, even though they haven't always put the most exciting team on the ice (to say the least), but like the Sabres, those passionate fans deserve success.

Then there are the original 6ers, the Hawks and Wings, how can you not like those teams (well, I guess if you're a Canucks or Avs fan!).

And the Canucks, similar to the Sabres, awesome hockey market but just never quite made it despite having some great product on the ice. Some of the histrionics of this year (mainly Gillis' antics) have detracted from their "lovability", but they're still such a solid team and Canadian, which obviously means something to some of us (whether currently in Canada or expats like me).

But in the end, there is one team that has, relatively recently, become my "girlfriend" team:

The New York Rangers

The main reasons:

1. The way the team is being built, polar opposite of the past, building from within with relative patience (and when impatience shows, it's to sign a Brad Richards like this year, which just adds so much to that home-grown core).

2. The character players. Let's start with Callahan, in my mind one of the premier examples of a "character" player in the entire league, and go from there. Richards, Dubinsky (despite my recent post suggesting that he was not thinking "team-first", he's still easily a character player), Gaborik, Prust, Boyle, Rupp, Girardi, Staal, and Lundqvist. These are all the types of heart and soul players that fans love to watch, so going to a Rangers game is becoming a real treat. And then there is the coach, Torts, obviously a firebrand and not everyone loves him, but when you see what he gets out of his players (Stepan, Boyle, Prust are the most recent examples), you have to respect him.

3. I guess living in NYC has made a difference, the Rangers get lots of coverage, relatively speaking, and so I've heard and read more about them than before I moved here. So I get more opportunity to see the team play and to recognize points 1 and 2 above. And, if the Habs don't win the Cup, then it would be awesome, for me at least, to have a Stanley Cup Parade in this city. Down Broadway.

4. I acquired Gaborik way before he came to the Rangers, and Lundqvist a few years ago, so my fantasy team is dependent in large part on the Rangers success and so I've watched the team more in the past several years. That said, the fact that the Rangers roster includes players from my fantasy roster is irrelevant, it has more to do with watching the team more for that reason, and realizing what a solid team it is, based on points 1 and 2 above.

So, apologies for the long post, anyone else care to share?

[bondon]

Well if you're talking about which team is my second favourite if my absolute favourite team gets booted out of the playoffs that's going to be hard because my second favourite team is the Leafs .

There are a whole slew of teams though that I really like. Usually it happens by me checking out one of their hockey games and then I like the players on it and begin to watch them more and more.

St.Louis is definitely at the top of my list in that regard, I think this team is going to be something special in the not too distant future. They have so many young players on that team that I love to watch...Berglund, Stewart, Oshie, Shattenkirk, the list goes on.

Another team was Boston, but not anymore lol. Anaheim was another one.

Edit: and Ross NYR actually is another team that I liked to see. Ryan Callahan is one of my favourite players in the NHL, I'm not really a fan of the big flashy scorers..I like the guys that can do it all and play hard all the time.

[playmaker26]

Flyers are obviously my favorite.

The other two teams I'd root for would be Tampa and LA. Martin St. Louis is my favorite player so that is why I like Tampa. And I love LA's vintage yellow and purple jerseys so much that I have made those jerseys for my mens league team. Plus I like a lot of their players and now they have Richards and Gagne so that helps too.

[STONE.]

Canucks are #1.

The Wings are slowly becoming #2 -- since I live in Michigan. If they could just move to the Eastern Conference, I'd be much quicker to embrace them!

For this year, I'll be rooting for the Jets like crazy.

[ross10019]

Yeah, per B0ndon's post, I also love what the Blues are doing and they also deserve some success after all thease years, great young team. Plus Jon Hamm from MadMen is a HUGE fan, and that's good!

Also agree with Stone, now that the Jets are back, they will also become a favorite for me. Lots of character players there (Ladd,in particular).

Playmaker, it will certainly be fun to watch the Kings over the next 5-10 years, wouldn't it be something to have a Rangers/Kings final some year? Media bonanza, Bettmann wet dream, and with the teams they are building, it would be a hell of a final.

[Pengwin7]

1. Philadelphia Flyers (I grew up in Tecumseh, ON. Home of Tim Kerr. When you move to a new town and the town sign says "Home of _____"... well, that is reason to make them your favourite team.)
2. Detroit Red Wings (closest NHL team: childhood)
3. Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers (closest NHL team: adulthood)

[wendelclark17]

other than my beloved leafs I have had a soft spot for the Bruins and Rangers dating back to the early 90's when I first really started watching a lot of hockey. I really like where both those org's are now (esp BOS for obvious reasons) but its hard to cheer for those guys when my leafs are still in the mix .... so generally I cant cheer for them until about December

Fav Rangers players from the early-mid 90s: Graves, gartner, Leetch, Messier, Turcotte, Richetr, Vanbiesbrouck, Richter, Larmer, etc

Fav Bruins players from the early-mid 90s: Moog, Neely, Bourque, Sweeney, Janney, Oates, Wesley, Juneau, etc

[horrorfan]

Well since my favourite team (Calgary) and second favourite (Ottawa) will likely both not make the playoffs, currently I'll generally cheer for anyone playing the Canucks. I've left off my two most hated teams, Edmonton and Toronto, since I don't expect them in the playoffs anytime soon.

But I sometimes pull for a team for different reasons, even part way through the playoffs. Aside from being against Vancouver, I was happy Boston won because I wanted Thomas (journeyman to Vezina to Cup), Bergeron (finally healthy) and Chara (former Sen) to win a Cup.

[dyzfunctioned]

EDM favorite... second is a toss up between a ton of teams.

[PrairieDog]

Vancouver Canucks.

The Jets never stopped being my #1 team.

[TwoPuckCanuck]

Oh this is a doosey Ross and I'm going to get chirped for this one, I can see it now.

For starters, as most of you can gather by your powers of intuition / my avatar, I am a die hard Leafs fan. I bleed blue. The Leafs have been my team since I was 4-years-old. The trouble here is I grew up in a small town called Lancaster, that sits 102 KM from Montreal and 124 KM from Ottawa. As you can well imagine, coming from a Franco-Ontarian family, they were all die hard Habs fans. Tie that in with the then-new Ottawa Senators organization and you have a recipe for following some heavy rivalled teams as they were my own.

I grew an affinity for Senators, as I couldn't support the long rival Habs. The Senators were then pushed on to me by a family member who bought season tickets for me and him. Four consecutive seasons (including the last) I managed to go to 30+ Ottawa Senators home games, so its hard no to feel attached. I tend to like certain players more than the team itself though, most recently Bobby Butler.

Looking over this, I can’t really call the Senators my 2nd team. I do have this attachment to them, but enjoy to them do poorly haha. I enjoy watching them play, I like some of their players, but couldn’t care less where they were in the standings.

One team that I have really enjoyed watching in the last year and half is the Atlanta Thrashers. With the departure of Kovalchuk, the Thrashers drew my interest. I was curious to see if they could still succeed without their franchise player. Since then, I have followed them closer than any other team (except for the Leafs!) and am now super excited they have become the Jets.

Took a while to workout / draw this conclusion, but….

I guess that would make my 2nd favourite team the Jets!

[Pengwin7]

One team that I have really enjoyed watching in the last year and half is the Atlanta Thrashers. With the departure of Kovalchuk, the Thrashers drew my interest. I was curious to see if they could still succeed without their franchise player. Since then, I have followed them closer than any other team (except for the Leafs!) and am now super excited they have become the Jets.

Shit man... cool.
I actually despised the Thrashers until they got rid of Kovalchuk.

Last year, I loved watching them. They are a cohesive team... they don't really have a great skill-set yet... but you can tell they enjoy playing together.

[lobo1969]

Oilers #1 always

#2 was Ottawa but they just got replaced by the Jets!

[zorks1239]

Oilers number 1by far.

Vancouver and buffalo number 2.
Vancouver ever since the pavel bure days. And buffalo because of Thomas Vanek. My wife and I named our 2nd son Vanek.

[Dean Youngblood]

DY's Top 5

1. Leafs
2. Lightning
3. Flyers

...gap...

4. Canucks
5. Predators (not sure why but I always find myself rooting for these guys)