Blackhawks fans considered the ‘coldest’ and most aggressive in the NHL in new study originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
Hockey fans are known for being some of the most exuberant in all of sports. Whether you’re at TD Garden in Boston or the Bell Center in Montreal, there’s nothing like watching the action on the ice in person.
It turns out that Black Hawks has the league’s loudest group of fans, according to a new study. According to casinos.orgBlackhawks fans have called themselves the most aggressive in the NHL.
To create their list, the group sent a survey to 3,000 NHL fans in the United States and Canada and asked them about their sporting behaviors. This included questions about the frequency of booing, rooting for the opposing team’s injuries, badmouthing on the opposing team’s social media platforms, not apologizing for past inappropriate behavior, and a general lack of empathy for the opposing team. They then used all this information and synthesized it into an “icy” index.
Blackhawks fans scored it 96.9 out of 100 on the “icy” index. Avalanche fans came in second with 94.0. The “warmest” fans belong to the Ottawa Senators, who scored just 5.5 in the index.
One big reason why Blackhawks fans scored so high: 22.2% of fans said they had gotten into fights with fans of the opposing team (the highest number in the NHL) and another 46% said they had no regrets about their past unsportsmanlike behavior.
See how the group weighted its index:
Participated in physical fights – 25%
Fans due to injuries – 15%
Engages in inappropriate behavior (badmouthing, insulting, etc.) – 15%
Does not regret bad behavior – 15%
Lack of empathy for the defeat of the opposing team – 15%
High frequency of boos – 5%
Useless chatter on the opposing team’s social media accounts – 5%
Sportsmanship Self-Assessment Rating – 5%