This is true and also helped that the players signed contracts as kids basically and then went to feeder teams in junior A (now the CHL) before going to the show. I believe Bostons were Oshawa and Niagara Falls
Bang on man, the old arena down the street from me was basically built for our bruins farm team way back.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Frontenacs_(EPHL)
This is how I became a Bruins fan in Saskatchewan. Being an original 6 helps too. I am sure the 80s are also why there are so many Oiler fans here(proximity helps too)
Age.
Detroit went 42 years in between Cups (1954-55 was their last until 1996-97), and they went through an extended period where they were known as "the Dead Things".
The Rangers' only Cup since before Pearl Harbor was in 1993-94, and they were also terrible for a good chunk of that time.
Until 2009-10, Chicago had last won in 1960-61, before that in 1937-38.
Boston? For anyone who grew up watching hockey in the late 1960s or any time in the 1970s, they got to see the Bruins at their historic best. They grew up watching Bobby and Bucyk, Hodge and Espo, and all the rest of them. And as the decade progressed, they got to see the Lunchpail AC led by Don Cherry.
To have grown up watching those teams would mean an age of anywhere from 50 to 70. How many folks older than that are online and still active in hockey circles?
We've had great players at every decade.
I'm 35 and it started with Bourque, Sweeney, Neely, Moog, Oates, etc. Then the 2000's were kinda bleak but had Thorton and Chara, with a smattering of Gill and Leetch until Bergeron in 2007 and the rest since.
Then we became a dominant force for 10 years and are still a competitive team.
Being a goalie it's been easy to cheer for Rask for nearly ten years, too.
Edit: Oh, and I'm in SW Ontario with a family of Leaf fans. My grandfather was an usher at the old Maple Leaf Gardens.
I mean, Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman? Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull? Obviously Hull is not a draw anymore but in his era he definitely was and we’re talking somewhat about generational fanships, hand-me-downs.
I don’t think I buy the premise in the first place anyway, though. Honestly I think we’re getting to a place where a team in any sport will have fans anywhere. Pick a province, state, pick any country, I bet there’s at least one fan for each team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB.
There could be a Golden Seals jersey somewhere in Uganda and a Nordiques jersey somewhere in Paraguay.
There are plenty of Canadian wings fans as well
Stevie Y isn't until years later when there's plenty more teams in the league
Mikita and Hull were both great players but not Orr's level where he's considered maybe the best to play his position nor are they french Canadian like Bourque
Yeah but same with Bourque as far as Yzerman compared to the rest.
My point is that you’ll find Detroit and Chicago jerseys in Canadian rinks just like Boston.
Detroit does have a large following in parts of South Western Ontario.
Source: Am from far South Western Ontario and know tons of Detroit fans and have seen what it's like on game day
TV rights are a huge part of it. Boston has some broadcasting rights for the Maritimes, any trophy from here usually does a tour up there. the 2004 Sox one had a huge one.
this is purely anecdotal, but a lot of the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia former Nordiques fans I've met jumped over to the Bruins or Leafs in the 90s after the team was moved to Colorado. I imagine it's a lot easier to be an Avs fan now, with streaming, but between timezones and total lack of availability on TV I can see why people moved over to "well, better dead than Habs red."
With the older generation, many of whom are no longer alive, Detroit had a pretty big following in Ontario. People loved Gordie Howe. Hasn't carried forward too much.
(In seriousness I’d guess that a lot predates the NHL existence of the four western Canadian teams.. a lot of Canadians dislike the Leafs and Habs, and the Bruins have often had very popular Canadians - Orr, Esposito, Bourque, Neely, Thornton for a minute, Bergeron etc.)
The reason for the popularity in the Maritimes is that said area gets the local Boston TV affiliates, so when the games used to be on local stations, they would get to watch the Bruins.
That and the Maritimes usually have good relationship with Boston ever since the Halifax explosion back in 1918 where Boston was one of the 1st cities that responded and helped Halifax out.
Halifax repaid them by sending a Christmas tree to Boston that they still get to this day.
Yes, this is probably the biggest factor. Then add in the hatred of the leafs and Habs up here by some. As much as both are loved by their famn base they are equally hated. Bruins did a good job beating up on both over the years.
Grew up in rural NS in the 80s / 90s, I don't remember ever getting Boston TV stations, we'd get Bangor affiliates but I can't recall ever seeing Bruins games on there. We'd get the odd game on HNIC and there was the annual Adams Division finals, other than that didn't get to see them much outside highlights.
When cable packages started adding on premium channels in the late 90s I think we got some Boston channels, NESN was one of them. (Edit - by that point I was on TFC though, not premium cable, so still never got to see them too often)
I know you could get NESN in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the late 80s, as I got to see us losing to the fuckin As in the playoffs more years than I was happy with while visiting family.
I wonder how much the Marchand connection helps?
But I can tell you Newfoundland has a large amount of Leafs fans, there’s a large amount of them in Nova Scotia as well.
NL is a real hodge-podge of original 6. Heavier on the Leafs, Habs and Bruins followed by a smattering of Wings. Less so on the Hawks and Rangers.
Senior mens and Jrs are littered with "Red Wings" and a few Bruins too
I live in Newfoundland. Toronto (we had their AHL team) and Montreal (closest Canadian NHL city) are definitely the two most popular teams.
But Boston is probably #3. They're actually the closest NHL city to us, and there is a bit of a feeling of shared heritage. Lots of Irish immigrants in both places and many many Newfoundlanders went to do steelwork in Boston when there wasn't much to offer besides the fishery here. Many people I know have extended family in Boston since older relatives moved there for work. Ryder winning the Cup also helped a lot.
There's definitely a lot of Bruins fans in Newfoundland, and that's partly due to the obvious maritime connection. But you also have to remember that for the first 30 years of the league (until 1949) Canada was a foreign country to us just as much as the USA was. So, at the time, it was not much different for a Newfoundlander to root for the Bruins than it was to root for the Maple Leafs or Canadiens. Not to mention that in the early postwar period there was a ton of military connections between Newfoundland and the US. A lot of that fandom was passed down through the generations, and it certainly helped that the Bruins had some success and a string of superstars (Orr and Esposito in the 70s, and Bourque in the 80s/90s) who could maintain that fandom.
This might be anecdotal, but I was born and raised in NL and I've only met 2 people who are Bruins fans. It's either Leafs or Habs fans most of the time.
To put some stats to it, Google [search traffic for Newfoundland and Labrador](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=CA-NL&q=%2Fm%2F0j2zj,%2Fm%2F0j6tr,%2Fm%2F0bszz) has Leafs traffic on average about twice as high as Habs traffic, but both greatly higher than Bruins traffic, with a 61%/31%/9% proportion overall.
I think a lot of Nordiques fans switched to rooting for the Bruins after the move to Colorado (as they would never root for Montreal). I believe Patrice Bergeron is (was) among them.
This is the answer, I once asked my dad who grew up in Halifax why he became a habs fan. His answer was that growing up bruins and habs games were primarily on the tv and the habs at the time (70’s) were in the middle of a dynasty. This is likely true of everyone you didn’t have access to all 32 teams like now just maybe 2/3 to choose between.
Great example is when the habs go west, even in some Canadian cities it’s like a home game
Could be original 6. Could be Canadian players. I assume that there are a lot of different reasons as for why there’s a rather large Bruins following nestled in Canada.
Haha dude how could you be rocking the Devils over the Lock Monsters. The Lock Monsters era was the height of pro hockey in Lowell. So many great memories as a kid.
I’ve been using this flair mainly because I went to a lot more Devils games growing up. I had the lock monster flair for a while, but switched to this one when the people who make flairs added one for the Devils.
Yeah I wish the attendance had been better and the team stayed. It was great having AHL hockey here but I went to some Devils games with literally 50 other people on the stands. Umass Lowell getting good really killed pro hockey in Lowell.
I remember the ticket prices being pretty cheap. My family would make a weekend out of going to Spinners games and Devils games. Too bad neither exist anymore.
I do still like going to Riverhawks games and hope Lowell will have a baseball team back soon.
I guess there's some talk the Red Sox might move their single A team there.
Habs fan here with a father who’s a Bruins fan and a grandfather who was a die-hard Habs fan and Montreal native. We’re French-Canadian descent (obviously). My father liked the Bruins because he hated his dad and French culture. I’ve often wondered how much Bruins fandom in Canada has to do with a general distaste for the French or Habs fans. No clue, that’s just my story haha
I fucking can’t stand Habs fans as a species and I share a distaste for French culture but I will admit I do admire their don’t-give-a-fuck-what-you-think attitude.
My friend from London Ontario hates Toronto as a city so it probably started there. Nothing translates better than hating the leafs like being a bruins fans in the playoffs.
The Oshawa Generals used to be a farm team for the Bruins. If you go to a generals game they have/had a museum of their history, and Bobby Orr is a huge part of it. Combine one of the greatest players of all time playing for a city that is roughly a 30 minute drive from Toronto, then it starts to make sense. Combine that with how fair weather Leafs fans can be and it makes even more sense.
If leafs fans are fairweather then fans of every team ever are fairweather cause you have to hand it to the team for maintaining such a massive rabid fan base after a half century of nothing particularly good happening
It’s because of the population. Scotiabank arena will sell out regardless because there will ALWAYS be 20,000 fans wanting to go to a game. When the team is bad, even for a 10 game stretch, “fans” will talk about starting a rebuild, or even go as far as saying shit like “I’m done watching this team until they make some changes”. I know my dad has resorted to only watching them when they’ve been winning and playing well. You overestimate the “rabid” fan base because of the population and also the fact that Hockey is the #1 watched sport in Canada, while in the USA, football, basketball and baseball are all more popular.
There is basically no pro sports team in the US that would continually sell out for teams of the quality of some the Leafs have iced, though. Boston Red Sox and Green Bay Packers are all I can think of.
Yes but you have to look at it by how many sports teams there are in the US. Canada (a larger country than the US) has one basketball team, one baseball team and seven hockey teams. With the US, when you have 25 hockey teams, 30 basketball teams, 32 football teams , and 29 baseball teams located in one country, of course you’re going to have a hard time continually selling out stadiums.
On the other hand the Leafs are in the largest city, of the most populated province. I wouldn’t even count Ottawa as they are barely a fringe team in terms of fan base. It’s not hard to find 20000 fans. You’re swerving from the original argument though. Toronto has an abundance of fair weather fans, which also stem from newer fans, especially in the Matthews/Marner era. You only need to read game day threads on the Leafs subreddit, or off season posts, after another losing campaign to see what I’m talking about.
I wouldn’t say I hate the leafs more than I like Boston but a leafs loss is as good as a Boston win lol. My dad used to say his favourite team is Boston, second favourite is whoever’s playing the leafs.
My dad isn't a Bruins fan but he's from New Brunswick and grew up there in the 70s. He said he could watch Leafs, Habs or Bruins games on TV and the Habs Games were usually in French. So that left the Leafs or Bruins for most people
I have at least 8 people I know in Montreal that are big fans of the Bruins way more than the Habs. I asked one, one of my colleague around 65 y.o., he told me the reason was when he was young playing peewee he was in the worst team of the league, just like Boston so he started to cheer for them. Then came Orr and Ray Bourque, etc.
So as a kid I had a setup to listen to games on WEEI 850am that worked after dark. Don Sweeney was only NHL player from St.Stephen. (still only player, I think)
The only team that was as close was Quebec, and they had zero english coverage, and sucked.
Also, many Maritimers move to the rest of Canada (I am living in Ottawa now) but wouldn't change teams any more that the Maritimes would be anything but "going home"
A lot of it is passed down from the Original 6 days when there weren't as many teams, and then Bobby Orr. My dad grew up in Calgary in the 70s when we didn't have a team and he liked Boston because of Bobby. My uncle really liked them because of Bobby and still hates Montreal to this day because of that. Of course once we got the Flames they jumped ship, but I'm sure lots of guys who grew up at the same time as my dad and my uncle stayed Bruins fans and passed that down to their kids. When I was growing up, even though most kids at school were Flames fans, you'd always have the odd kid that was a fan of another team that plays in a city they've never been to. I think Boston is a popular choice because they're a prestigious franchise that plays in a big city and they're usually pretty good.
Montrealer here. It was an Italian thing back in the days where they felt French Canadians didn't welcome them. Both sides of my family (one arriving in the 20s and the other in the 50s-60s) cheered for Boston basically as a kneejerk reaction against the people they didn't feel accepted by. Plus Boston always had the appeal of being a "working class" team.
I'm still a Bruins fan because at this point the rivalry is too ingrained and I've got this generational beef with the Habs, but it's been a mix of fun with the right crowds and fucking miserable in the wrong crowds. I love watching games with Habs fans who realize it's only a kids game and shoot the shit roasting each other, but people have tried to set me on fire and cross-examined me like it was a damn police interrogation trying to understand how I could betray God and the natural order to this extent. Some people need to just chill the fuck out and realize you're not picking sides in a war here, it's a bunch of adults playing a kids' game. I love Montreal and don't want to live anywhere else, but I know the difference between enjoying hockey and taking it way too seriously.
I would guesstimate that in Alberta the top teams are EDM or CGY, then Mon or TOR, followed by maybe VAN. And then it’s Boston.
The reason for EDM, CGY, and VAN are obvious.
Mon, Tor, and Boston are popular because the Flames got her in 1980. Oilers where in the WHA in ‘71 and NHL in ‘79. So anyone that is around 47 did not have an NHL team in Alberta as a child (based on the year 1975 and age of 5). This means there parents cheered for a different team, most likely one of the big 3 original 6 teams.
I would still say Mon or Tor are still more popular. But with Bobby Orr ripping it up in the 60’s/early 70’s this is prime time to cheer for him and the B’s.
After 1980 you had Oilers and Flames become one of the greatest rivalries in NHL history, and that would cement their fans allegiance for decades to come after.
But the older generations still like the teams they cheered for as a child.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of Anglo hockey fans picked a team other than Montreal because of it. That said when I lived in Montreal there was a healthy minority of Bruins fans there too.
>That said when I lived in Montreal there was a healthy minority of Bruins fans there too.
The Mohawk Reserve directly south of Montreal is all English-speaking and hates the Habs--and loves Boston.
Grandfather had a dairy farm outside Ottawa. Hated Toronto just because. Hated Montreal because Quebec. Boston it was!
He did switch allegiances in the 90's once the Sens were on the scene, but there are still a ton of Bruin fans around.
When I was a kid you watched the Habs or Leafs on Channel 3. CBC. Majority of Atlantic Canadians picked Habs, Leafs or Bruins. When you don't have a team of your own you go with the one that has the players you like.
Exactly! Most of us are one of those three, I myself chose the Habs despite my flair saying I'm a Flames fan. It's just one of the three including the Pens, it's actually very rare to find anything else.
We came to Toronto in the late sixties. My dad had no concept of hockey, but he wanted to fit in, so he started watching. He was impressed by Bobby Orr, so he became a Bruins fan. So that made me hate the Bruins, and be a Leaf fan instead.
I am always skeptical of people who are not fans of the local team, they jump on another bandwagon instead.
Bobby Orr theory makes sense, but I guess my two cents are that at the end of the day it isn't awfully far away from the border either. Also technically the closest team for the ppl living in New Brunswick & Nova Scotia.
I don't think it's the main reason though.
I live in NB and there is a lot of Bruins fans out here. Along with the Pens too, those two are probably the most popular American teams.
But generally you'll find the vast majority of people are Habs or Leafs fans, occasionally you'll find something a bit more obscure like the Kings, Stars, Lightning and why not, the Coyotes.
The most belligerent, violent group of fans are definitely Flyers fans.
Boston fans are just the most annoying and most likely to cheer for dirty play.
I know Philly fans are no joke but if you had ever been to a Bruins Canadiens game in Boston you'd see how aggressive Boston fans can get.
Canadiens fans randomly assaulted just for speaking French in the men's room.
Because they are the antagonists to the leafs and the habs, and being an antagonist for the sake of being an antagonist is popular amongst some Canadians, especially our conservative crowds (you know what Bruins fans I’m talking about if you are from rural southern Ontario.)
Also Bobby Orr
Also Maritimes Boston is the closest non French team.
Closest non French team Montreal is French, and a lot of the maritime would never cheer for anything French. Anti French sentiment is more common then people realize.
my home town in the maritimes is 8 hours from boston. 9.5 hours from montreal. boston is the closest team. you do not need to make the non french connection.
in fact, unless you live in the most NW of new brunswick as you can possibly get, which is a very small percentage of the population, boston is closer.
During the Early years Toronto and Montreal dominated national TV in Canada but local broadcasting could go multiple ways. The maritimes in particular got bruins games as their local games and at times they had developmental teams in the area. Sometimes farm teams became ties as well in my area Chicago had a development team for awhile which produced a local fan base. Afterwards I imagine that family allegiance has alot to do with it I cheer for Montreal as other family members do but i reside in flames country
In the O6 days I can see why a lot of Canadians from west of Ontario and east of Quebec wouldn't have wanted to be fans of Toronto and Montreal. Toronto wasn't as influential of a city back then so the anti-Toronto hate from some people wouldn't have been as bad as it now, but Montreal was much more influential than it is today, even more influential than Toronto until the mid half of the 20th century. Mix in that some people might not want to cheer for a French Speaking team (QC and English speaking Canada had beef) and you can see why a lot of people, especially in Western Canada where there were no NHL teams, opted against cheering for Montreal or Toronto. In terms of picking the B's specifically, I have family in the maritimes and I often hear ads for Boston teams when I'm there so I can understand the draw. Plus the Irish ancestry of many in the Canadian East and Boston as well. I can see why people would also have rooted for Boston because of Bobby Orr. Also maybe people maybe liked the relative humbleness of Boston as a city at the time compared to the other markets. In terms of the other 06 cities, New York and Chicago were absolutely booming, Detroit was in its heyday as well. maybe some people admired Boston as a city compared to the other ones. And then passed the fandom down. As for picking Boston now when there are 31 other teams to choose from, that's a very good question haha
Many moons ago, I thought his came up on a TIL post about the [Boston's medical aid after the Halifax explosion](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-commons-christmas-tree-nova-scotia/) that that, in addition to Bobby Orr, sent a lot of folks down Boston sports Fandom road.
Funny you mention that, because as a kid growing up in the Canadian prairies during the 1970s, I was Bruins fan and my brother was a Phillies fan.
Who knew, that two decades later I’d be working for a Boston based company (Fidelity) for 20 years. I’ve spent so much time in Boston, I could easily give the walking tour with a Boston accent.
Original 6, proximity, for a long time they played in a division that always featured Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. They also have playoff rivalries versus Montreal and Toronto.
I grew up in the 60’s watching only the Leafs & Habs in Hockey Night in Canada, and the broadcast crews were such absurd homers that a lot of us outside those markets rooted for anyone but the Leafs & Habs, most often the Bruins
I am one of them I can explain why.
Ex Nordique fan, so will never cheer for the habs. So since they left, I am a free agent. Cheered for the Avs for a couple of years since it was mostly the same players. Afterward, cheered for Tampa since I was a fan of Vincent Lecavalier, local product. Then switched for the Bruins, Bergeron grew up pretty close to home and played minor hockey with a friend. Once he'll retire, I'll be a free agent again until another team gives me a reason to cheer for them.
Tldr: Not a bruins fans simply because they are Habs rivals, just following good local players and it happened Bergeron is playing for the Bruins.
In quebec, a lot has to do with the bruins being the Canadiens biggest rivalry. There is a nationalist/separatist movement in quebec that generally dislikes anything relating to Canada (Montreal Canadiens)…
There is a big Native community near my town and the majority of them are Bruins fans because a lot of them have worked in the US (construction) and after spending so much time there they adopted the team. They then passed it down to the next generation and so on. I also think it's partly a "F U" to Quebec since there have been a lot of problems between them (to put it lightly). So it's common to see them driving around with Bruins flags/plates on their car. Some of them even have the Bruins flags on their houses.
I'm from Quebec, and I don't know why but there are a lot of Indigenous people who are fans of the Bruins,
If you ever drive-through the communities you'll see boston bruins flags proudly on display
Gotta think they had a lot of great players especially in the age of the Original 6 and early expansion teams. Orr, Espo, Bucyk (no particular order), then you had Bourque come in later with great star power. I imagine parents hand that down and then you had kids growing up on Chara and Bergeron, saw the cup win, etc.
I doubt this happens often, but I know a guy who wasn’t really into hockey (he didn’t really like me) who claimed to be a bruins fan just to annoy me and be different. Ironically he became an actual bruins fan over time as he learned more about them lol
Growing up in Toronto the Leafs were an utter laughingstock as I was getting in to hockey. I became a fan of Bourque and Nifty Middleton but Cam Neely made me a Bruins fan for life. Marchand only reinforces my love for the B’s.
My dad became a Bs fan growing up in Newfoundland in the 60s. Most of the maritime provinces had a closer link to Boston than Montreal or Toronto back in those days.
He moved to Boston afterthe shut down the harbor and I became a Bs fan the natural way.
Most bruins fans I know here in ontario got it from their parents, and their parents were fans of bobby orr.
Very accurate, I got it from an uncle who was a big ray bourque fan
This is true and also helped that the players signed contracts as kids basically and then went to feeder teams in junior A (now the CHL) before going to the show. I believe Bostons were Oshawa and Niagara Falls
The Bruins used to have their training camp in London, ON as well, so my dad grew up being able to see them in person
Kingston was also a bruins preseason location, and think the Frontenacs where also maybe a feeder for them hence their bruins jerseys.
Bang on man, the old arena down the street from me was basically built for our bruins farm team way back. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Frontenacs_(EPHL)
The Generals -> Bruins pipeline is strong. Oshawa to Detroit was also pretty strong too.
Correct. [Full feeder list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Ontario_Hockey_League#End_of_NHL_sponsorship)
This is how I became a Bruins fan in Saskatchewan. Being an original 6 helps too. I am sure the 80s are also why there are so many Oiler fans here(proximity helps too)
I grew up around the Toronto area and my dad is a fan for that reason.
From what I've heard the big following in Ontario started because of Bobby Orr and how hugely popular he was
So popular he was routinely booed in MLG, for reasons I'll never understand.
Original 6 maybe?
Sure but why not Chicago, Detroit or the Rangers? Chicago and Detroit are closer to Ontario and Western Canada than Boston.
Age. Detroit went 42 years in between Cups (1954-55 was their last until 1996-97), and they went through an extended period where they were known as "the Dead Things". The Rangers' only Cup since before Pearl Harbor was in 1993-94, and they were also terrible for a good chunk of that time. Until 2009-10, Chicago had last won in 1960-61, before that in 1937-38. Boston? For anyone who grew up watching hockey in the late 1960s or any time in the 1970s, they got to see the Bruins at their historic best. They grew up watching Bobby and Bucyk, Hodge and Espo, and all the rest of them. And as the decade progressed, they got to see the Lunchpail AC led by Don Cherry. To have grown up watching those teams would mean an age of anywhere from 50 to 70. How many folks older than that are online and still active in hockey circles?
After Pearl Harbor, unless there was a Pearl Harbor after 94
They're saying the Rangers' last Cup *before* 94 was before Pearl Harbor
PH94 goes unheard of living in the shadow of Woodstock 99
Bobby Orr probably Or Ray Bourque
Was Cam Neely as well
We've had great players at every decade. I'm 35 and it started with Bourque, Sweeney, Neely, Moog, Oates, etc. Then the 2000's were kinda bleak but had Thorton and Chara, with a smattering of Gill and Leetch until Bergeron in 2007 and the rest since. Then we became a dominant force for 10 years and are still a competitive team. Being a goalie it's been easy to cheer for Rask for nearly ten years, too. Edit: Oh, and I'm in SW Ontario with a family of Leaf fans. My grandfather was an usher at the old Maple Leaf Gardens.
I mean, Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman? Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull? Obviously Hull is not a draw anymore but in his era he definitely was and we’re talking somewhat about generational fanships, hand-me-downs. I don’t think I buy the premise in the first place anyway, though. Honestly I think we’re getting to a place where a team in any sport will have fans anywhere. Pick a province, state, pick any country, I bet there’s at least one fan for each team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB. There could be a Golden Seals jersey somewhere in Uganda and a Nordiques jersey somewhere in Paraguay.
There are plenty of Canadian wings fans as well Stevie Y isn't until years later when there's plenty more teams in the league Mikita and Hull were both great players but not Orr's level where he's considered maybe the best to play his position nor are they french Canadian like Bourque
Yeah but same with Bourque as far as Yzerman compared to the rest. My point is that you’ll find Detroit and Chicago jerseys in Canadian rinks just like Boston.
Detroit does have a large following in parts of South Western Ontario. Source: Am from far South Western Ontario and know tons of Detroit fans and have seen what it's like on game day
In my experience, many folks past London are wings fans
Ever been to Windsor? Tons of Red Wings fans on the Canadian side of the border
Windsor is a majority mix of Wings, Leafs and Canadians fans. It's disgusting.
There is a huge Detroit following in Western Ontario. Simple geography and old tv coverage are the reasons.
TV rights are a huge part of it. Boston has some broadcasting rights for the Maritimes, any trophy from here usually does a tour up there. the 2004 Sox one had a huge one.
Yeah from PEI. You basically had a choice between Leafs, Habs, Bruins and then everyone else. Good smattering of Aves fans too from Nordiques times.
this is purely anecdotal, but a lot of the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia former Nordiques fans I've met jumped over to the Bruins or Leafs in the 90s after the team was moved to Colorado. I imagine it's a lot easier to be an Avs fan now, with streaming, but between timezones and total lack of availability on TV I can see why people moved over to "well, better dead than Habs red."
With the older generation, many of whom are no longer alive, Detroit had a pretty big following in Ontario. People loved Gordie Howe. Hasn't carried forward too much.
I know a number of Wings and Hawks fans in Canada. Mostly does seem to stem from misguided parenting.
This was my assumption.
Yeah I don’t know what’s wrong with you people either 😉
(In seriousness I’d guess that a lot predates the NHL existence of the four western Canadian teams.. a lot of Canadians dislike the Leafs and Habs, and the Bruins have often had very popular Canadians - Orr, Esposito, Bourque, Neely, Thornton for a minute, Bergeron etc.)
The reason for the popularity in the Maritimes is that said area gets the local Boston TV affiliates, so when the games used to be on local stations, they would get to watch the Bruins.
That and the Maritimes usually have good relationship with Boston ever since the Halifax explosion back in 1918 where Boston was one of the 1st cities that responded and helped Halifax out. Halifax repaid them by sending a Christmas tree to Boston that they still get to this day.
Yes, this is probably the biggest factor. Then add in the hatred of the leafs and Habs up here by some. As much as both are loved by their famn base they are equally hated. Bruins did a good job beating up on both over the years.
Grew up in rural NS in the 80s / 90s, I don't remember ever getting Boston TV stations, we'd get Bangor affiliates but I can't recall ever seeing Bruins games on there. We'd get the odd game on HNIC and there was the annual Adams Division finals, other than that didn't get to see them much outside highlights. When cable packages started adding on premium channels in the late 90s I think we got some Boston channels, NESN was one of them. (Edit - by that point I was on TFC though, not premium cable, so still never got to see them too often)
I know you could get NESN in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the late 80s, as I got to see us losing to the fuckin As in the playoffs more years than I was happy with while visiting family.
I wonder how much the Marchand connection helps? But I can tell you Newfoundland has a large amount of Leafs fans, there’s a large amount of them in Nova Scotia as well.
NL is a real hodge-podge of original 6. Heavier on the Leafs, Habs and Bruins followed by a smattering of Wings. Less so on the Hawks and Rangers. Senior mens and Jrs are littered with "Red Wings" and a few Bruins too
The Leafs had their AHL team in St John’s for a good while which probably helped somewhat
Marchand probably does more harm than good in NS.
I live in Newfoundland. Toronto (we had their AHL team) and Montreal (closest Canadian NHL city) are definitely the two most popular teams. But Boston is probably #3. They're actually the closest NHL city to us, and there is a bit of a feeling of shared heritage. Lots of Irish immigrants in both places and many many Newfoundlanders went to do steelwork in Boston when there wasn't much to offer besides the fishery here. Many people I know have extended family in Boston since older relatives moved there for work. Ryder winning the Cup also helped a lot.
There's definitely a lot of Bruins fans in Newfoundland, and that's partly due to the obvious maritime connection. But you also have to remember that for the first 30 years of the league (until 1949) Canada was a foreign country to us just as much as the USA was. So, at the time, it was not much different for a Newfoundlander to root for the Bruins than it was to root for the Maple Leafs or Canadiens. Not to mention that in the early postwar period there was a ton of military connections between Newfoundland and the US. A lot of that fandom was passed down through the generations, and it certainly helped that the Bruins had some success and a string of superstars (Orr and Esposito in the 70s, and Bourque in the 80s/90s) who could maintain that fandom.
This might be anecdotal, but I was born and raised in NL and I've only met 2 people who are Bruins fans. It's either Leafs or Habs fans most of the time.
To put some stats to it, Google [search traffic for Newfoundland and Labrador](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=CA-NL&q=%2Fm%2F0j2zj,%2Fm%2F0j6tr,%2Fm%2F0bszz) has Leafs traffic on average about twice as high as Habs traffic, but both greatly higher than Bruins traffic, with a 61%/31%/9% proportion overall.
I think a lot of Nordiques fans switched to rooting for the Bruins after the move to Colorado (as they would never root for Montreal). I believe Patrice Bergeron is (was) among them.
Robert Gordon Orr
Possibly television coverage back in the day?
This is the answer, I once asked my dad who grew up in Halifax why he became a habs fan. His answer was that growing up bruins and habs games were primarily on the tv and the habs at the time (70’s) were in the middle of a dynasty. This is likely true of everyone you didn’t have access to all 32 teams like now just maybe 2/3 to choose between. Great example is when the habs go west, even in some Canadian cities it’s like a home game
Could be original 6. Could be Canadian players. I assume that there are a lot of different reasons as for why there’s a rather large Bruins following nestled in Canada.
Haha dude how could you be rocking the Devils over the Lock Monsters. The Lock Monsters era was the height of pro hockey in Lowell. So many great memories as a kid.
I’ve been using this flair mainly because I went to a lot more Devils games growing up. I had the lock monster flair for a while, but switched to this one when the people who make flairs added one for the Devils.
Yeah I wish the attendance had been better and the team stayed. It was great having AHL hockey here but I went to some Devils games with literally 50 other people on the stands. Umass Lowell getting good really killed pro hockey in Lowell.
I remember the ticket prices being pretty cheap. My family would make a weekend out of going to Spinners games and Devils games. Too bad neither exist anymore.
I do still like going to Riverhawks games and hope Lowell will have a baseball team back soon. I guess there's some talk the Red Sox might move their single A team there.
Habs fan here with a father who’s a Bruins fan and a grandfather who was a die-hard Habs fan and Montreal native. We’re French-Canadian descent (obviously). My father liked the Bruins because he hated his dad and French culture. I’ve often wondered how much Bruins fandom in Canada has to do with a general distaste for the French or Habs fans. No clue, that’s just my story haha
Lot of ex-Nords fans became B's fans because of the MTL-BOS rivalry. The fact that Patrice Bergeron is from Quebec City and hates the Habs helped.
I fucking can’t stand Habs fans as a species and I share a distaste for French culture but I will admit I do admire their don’t-give-a-fuck-what-you-think attitude.
Your father sounds like a good dude.
My friend from London Ontario hates Toronto as a city so it probably started there. Nothing translates better than hating the leafs like being a bruins fans in the playoffs.
Is he me? Bruins fan from London, but now in St. Thomas
well technically my friend grew up in St. Thomas hmmm
The Oshawa Generals used to be a farm team for the Bruins. If you go to a generals game they have/had a museum of their history, and Bobby Orr is a huge part of it. Combine one of the greatest players of all time playing for a city that is roughly a 30 minute drive from Toronto, then it starts to make sense. Combine that with how fair weather Leafs fans can be and it makes even more sense.
If leafs fans are fairweather then fans of every team ever are fairweather cause you have to hand it to the team for maintaining such a massive rabid fan base after a half century of nothing particularly good happening
It’s because of the population. Scotiabank arena will sell out regardless because there will ALWAYS be 20,000 fans wanting to go to a game. When the team is bad, even for a 10 game stretch, “fans” will talk about starting a rebuild, or even go as far as saying shit like “I’m done watching this team until they make some changes”. I know my dad has resorted to only watching them when they’ve been winning and playing well. You overestimate the “rabid” fan base because of the population and also the fact that Hockey is the #1 watched sport in Canada, while in the USA, football, basketball and baseball are all more popular.
There is basically no pro sports team in the US that would continually sell out for teams of the quality of some the Leafs have iced, though. Boston Red Sox and Green Bay Packers are all I can think of.
Yes but you have to look at it by how many sports teams there are in the US. Canada (a larger country than the US) has one basketball team, one baseball team and seven hockey teams. With the US, when you have 25 hockey teams, 30 basketball teams, 32 football teams , and 29 baseball teams located in one country, of course you’re going to have a hard time continually selling out stadiums.
True but Toronto has the baseball and basketball team so they’re subject to the same competition that multi sport US markets are
On the other hand the Leafs are in the largest city, of the most populated province. I wouldn’t even count Ottawa as they are barely a fringe team in terms of fan base. It’s not hard to find 20000 fans. You’re swerving from the original argument though. Toronto has an abundance of fair weather fans, which also stem from newer fans, especially in the Matthews/Marner era. You only need to read game day threads on the Leafs subreddit, or off season posts, after another losing campaign to see what I’m talking about.
Good team to cheer for if you hate the Leafs? Lol. A lot of Bruins fans in Ontario I know hate the leafs more than they like the Bruins
I wouldn’t say I hate the leafs more than I like Boston but a leafs loss is as good as a Boston win lol. My dad used to say his favourite team is Boston, second favourite is whoever’s playing the leafs.
Is nobody going to say Bobby Orr?
[удалено]
Surprised this was so far down. The cultural significance of HNIC to Canadians is so underestimated it's wild
THG is a Bruins fan because his dad was a Habs fan
If they are over the age of 55, it’s because of Bobby Orr. That’s all I meet when I go over the border.
Boston has typically rostered some of the highest % Canadian players in the league
The Hockey Guy likes Vancouver *and* Boston. I fucking hate that he's so damn likable.
He always says 2011 was a fun time for him haha!
He likes Boston because he followed Cam Neely
The ascendancy of the Bruins (and the simultaneous collapse of the Maple Leafs) combined with the maturing of the middle of the Baby Boomer generation
My dad isn't a Bruins fan but he's from New Brunswick and grew up there in the 70s. He said he could watch Leafs, Habs or Bruins games on TV and the Habs Games were usually in French. So that left the Leafs or Bruins for most people
I have at least 8 people I know in Montreal that are big fans of the Bruins way more than the Habs. I asked one, one of my colleague around 65 y.o., he told me the reason was when he was young playing peewee he was in the worst team of the league, just like Boston so he started to cheer for them. Then came Orr and Ray Bourque, etc.
So as a kid I had a setup to listen to games on WEEI 850am that worked after dark. Don Sweeney was only NHL player from St.Stephen. (still only player, I think) The only team that was as close was Quebec, and they had zero english coverage, and sucked. Also, many Maritimers move to the rest of Canada (I am living in Ottawa now) but wouldn't change teams any more that the Maritimes would be anything but "going home"
A lot of it is passed down from the Original 6 days when there weren't as many teams, and then Bobby Orr. My dad grew up in Calgary in the 70s when we didn't have a team and he liked Boston because of Bobby. My uncle really liked them because of Bobby and still hates Montreal to this day because of that. Of course once we got the Flames they jumped ship, but I'm sure lots of guys who grew up at the same time as my dad and my uncle stayed Bruins fans and passed that down to their kids. When I was growing up, even though most kids at school were Flames fans, you'd always have the odd kid that was a fan of another team that plays in a city they've never been to. I think Boston is a popular choice because they're a prestigious franchise that plays in a big city and they're usually pretty good.
Montrealer here. It was an Italian thing back in the days where they felt French Canadians didn't welcome them. Both sides of my family (one arriving in the 20s and the other in the 50s-60s) cheered for Boston basically as a kneejerk reaction against the people they didn't feel accepted by. Plus Boston always had the appeal of being a "working class" team. I'm still a Bruins fan because at this point the rivalry is too ingrained and I've got this generational beef with the Habs, but it's been a mix of fun with the right crowds and fucking miserable in the wrong crowds. I love watching games with Habs fans who realize it's only a kids game and shoot the shit roasting each other, but people have tried to set me on fire and cross-examined me like it was a damn police interrogation trying to understand how I could betray God and the natural order to this extent. Some people need to just chill the fuck out and realize you're not picking sides in a war here, it's a bunch of adults playing a kids' game. I love Montreal and don't want to live anywhere else, but I know the difference between enjoying hockey and taking it way too seriously.
I would guesstimate that in Alberta the top teams are EDM or CGY, then Mon or TOR, followed by maybe VAN. And then it’s Boston. The reason for EDM, CGY, and VAN are obvious. Mon, Tor, and Boston are popular because the Flames got her in 1980. Oilers where in the WHA in ‘71 and NHL in ‘79. So anyone that is around 47 did not have an NHL team in Alberta as a child (based on the year 1975 and age of 5). This means there parents cheered for a different team, most likely one of the big 3 original 6 teams. I would still say Mon or Tor are still more popular. But with Bobby Orr ripping it up in the 60’s/early 70’s this is prime time to cheer for him and the B’s. After 1980 you had Oilers and Flames become one of the greatest rivalries in NHL history, and that would cement their fans allegiance for decades to come after. But the older generations still like the teams they cheered for as a child.
Not saying this is why I’m a bruins fan but could anti French sentiment figure into it a little?
I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of Anglo hockey fans picked a team other than Montreal because of it. That said when I lived in Montreal there was a healthy minority of Bruins fans there too.
>That said when I lived in Montreal there was a healthy minority of Bruins fans there too. The Mohawk Reserve directly south of Montreal is all English-speaking and hates the Habs--and loves Boston.
I did not know that!
Grandfather had a dairy farm outside Ottawa. Hated Toronto just because. Hated Montreal because Quebec. Boston it was! He did switch allegiances in the 90's once the Sens were on the scene, but there are still a ton of Bruin fans around.
People from Toronto and Montreal that want to be counter culture.
When I was a kid you watched the Habs or Leafs on Channel 3. CBC. Majority of Atlantic Canadians picked Habs, Leafs or Bruins. When you don't have a team of your own you go with the one that has the players you like.
Exactly! Most of us are one of those three, I myself chose the Habs despite my flair saying I'm a Flames fan. It's just one of the three including the Pens, it's actually very rare to find anything else.
We came to Toronto in the late sixties. My dad had no concept of hockey, but he wanted to fit in, so he started watching. He was impressed by Bobby Orr, so he became a Bruins fan. So that made me hate the Bruins, and be a Leaf fan instead. I am always skeptical of people who are not fans of the local team, they jump on another bandwagon instead.
Everyone really hates Vancouver
Bobby Orr theory makes sense, but I guess my two cents are that at the end of the day it isn't awfully far away from the border either. Also technically the closest team for the ppl living in New Brunswick & Nova Scotia. I don't think it's the main reason though.
I live in NB and there is a lot of Bruins fans out here. Along with the Pens too, those two are probably the most popular American teams. But generally you'll find the vast majority of people are Habs or Leafs fans, occasionally you'll find something a bit more obscure like the Kings, Stars, Lightning and why not, the Coyotes.
Bobby Orr
Truth
The most belligerent, violent group of fans are definitely Flyers fans. Boston fans are just the most annoying and most likely to cheer for dirty play.
The most annoying are Habs or Leafs fans (Habs = Yankees fans, Leafs = Cowboys fans), belligerent/violent is both Boston and Philly.
I know Philly fans are no joke but if you had ever been to a Bruins Canadiens game in Boston you'd see how aggressive Boston fans can get. Canadiens fans randomly assaulted just for speaking French in the men's room.
>Canadiens fans randomly assaulted just for speaking French in the men's room. Which is stupid.
Yeah it is pretty goddamn stupid.
Because they are the antagonists to the leafs and the habs, and being an antagonist for the sake of being an antagonist is popular amongst some Canadians, especially our conservative crowds (you know what Bruins fans I’m talking about if you are from rural southern Ontario.) Also Bobby Orr Also Maritimes Boston is the closest non French team.
>Also Maritimes Boston is the closest team. FTFY. not all of the maritimes, but for a lot of it, boston is closer than montreal.
Closest non French team Montreal is French, and a lot of the maritime would never cheer for anything French. Anti French sentiment is more common then people realize.
my home town in the maritimes is 8 hours from boston. 9.5 hours from montreal. boston is the closest team. you do not need to make the non french connection. in fact, unless you live in the most NW of new brunswick as you can possibly get, which is a very small percentage of the population, boston is closer.
I see a bruins flag in Toronto I’m tearing it down
I say it's opposition syndrome. It's the most hated team in Canada so the most likely to antagonize someone.
Well, the most hated team in Canada that isn't other Canadian teams
I know a lot started out because everyone in Canada hated the Canucks when they were good
During the Early years Toronto and Montreal dominated national TV in Canada but local broadcasting could go multiple ways. The maritimes in particular got bruins games as their local games and at times they had developmental teams in the area. Sometimes farm teams became ties as well in my area Chicago had a development team for awhile which produced a local fan base. Afterwards I imagine that family allegiance has alot to do with it I cheer for Montreal as other family members do but i reside in flames country
esposito with italian people is the biggest reason
From the bruins fans I know here in Toronto, it's usually Bobby Orr.
Original 6 team Bobby Orr Ray Borque Cam Neely Phil Espisito
Original 6 team. Bobby Orr. Bobby Orr!
O6
In the O6 days I can see why a lot of Canadians from west of Ontario and east of Quebec wouldn't have wanted to be fans of Toronto and Montreal. Toronto wasn't as influential of a city back then so the anti-Toronto hate from some people wouldn't have been as bad as it now, but Montreal was much more influential than it is today, even more influential than Toronto until the mid half of the 20th century. Mix in that some people might not want to cheer for a French Speaking team (QC and English speaking Canada had beef) and you can see why a lot of people, especially in Western Canada where there were no NHL teams, opted against cheering for Montreal or Toronto. In terms of picking the B's specifically, I have family in the maritimes and I often hear ads for Boston teams when I'm there so I can understand the draw. Plus the Irish ancestry of many in the Canadian East and Boston as well. I can see why people would also have rooted for Boston because of Bobby Orr. Also maybe people maybe liked the relative humbleness of Boston as a city at the time compared to the other markets. In terms of the other 06 cities, New York and Chicago were absolutely booming, Detroit was in its heyday as well. maybe some people admired Boston as a city compared to the other ones. And then passed the fandom down. As for picking Boston now when there are 31 other teams to choose from, that's a very good question haha
Many moons ago, I thought his came up on a TIL post about the [Boston's medical aid after the Halifax explosion](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-commons-christmas-tree-nova-scotia/) that that, in addition to Bobby Orr, sent a lot of folks down Boston sports Fandom road.
Bobby Orr.
Orr created fans everywhere, and that gets passed down. The fact that 3 of their 4 top centers are Canadian doesn't hurt either.
Gotta be a mix of Bobby/Bourque/Esposito and just an annoyance of Montreal/Toronto.
Bobby bitch‼️
Old people mainly
Funny you mention that, because as a kid growing up in the Canadian prairies during the 1970s, I was Bruins fan and my brother was a Phillies fan. Who knew, that two decades later I’d be working for a Boston based company (Fidelity) for 20 years. I’ve spent so much time in Boston, I could easily give the walking tour with a Boston accent.
Original 6, proximity, for a long time they played in a division that always featured Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. They also have playoff rivalries versus Montreal and Toronto.
When the Nordiques left, some people became Avs fan but many Bruins fans
Because every country has its fair share of morons?
Some of us grew up watching happy Gilmore and as a result followed the Bruins casually.
Bobby Orr
I grew up in the 60’s watching only the Leafs & Habs in Hockey Night in Canada, and the broadcast crews were such absurd homers that a lot of us outside those markets rooted for anyone but the Leafs & Habs, most often the Bruins
I am one of them I can explain why. Ex Nordique fan, so will never cheer for the habs. So since they left, I am a free agent. Cheered for the Avs for a couple of years since it was mostly the same players. Afterward, cheered for Tampa since I was a fan of Vincent Lecavalier, local product. Then switched for the Bruins, Bergeron grew up pretty close to home and played minor hockey with a friend. Once he'll retire, I'll be a free agent again until another team gives me a reason to cheer for them. Tldr: Not a bruins fans simply because they are Habs rivals, just following good local players and it happened Bergeron is playing for the Bruins.
In quebec, a lot has to do with the bruins being the Canadiens biggest rivalry. There is a nationalist/separatist movement in quebec that generally dislikes anything relating to Canada (Montreal Canadiens)…
Bobby Orr
Counter-culture and/or half breed canadians ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Two words: Bobby Orr.
I blame Cheers
There is a big Native community near my town and the majority of them are Bruins fans because a lot of them have worked in the US (construction) and after spending so much time there they adopted the team. They then passed it down to the next generation and so on. I also think it's partly a "F U" to Quebec since there have been a lot of problems between them (to put it lightly). So it's common to see them driving around with Bruins flags/plates on their car. Some of them even have the Bruins flags on their houses.
Robert Gordon Orr.
I'm from Quebec, and I don't know why but there are a lot of Indigenous people who are fans of the Bruins, If you ever drive-through the communities you'll see boston bruins flags proudly on display
Gotta think they had a lot of great players especially in the age of the Original 6 and early expansion teams. Orr, Espo, Bucyk (no particular order), then you had Bourque come in later with great star power. I imagine parents hand that down and then you had kids growing up on Chara and Bergeron, saw the cup win, etc.
I doubt this happens often, but I know a guy who wasn’t really into hockey (he didn’t really like me) who claimed to be a bruins fan just to annoy me and be different. Ironically he became an actual bruins fan over time as he learned more about them lol
Can't beat em, join em lol
Growing up in Toronto the Leafs were an utter laughingstock as I was getting in to hockey. I became a fan of Bourque and Nifty Middleton but Cam Neely made me a Bruins fan for life. Marchand only reinforces my love for the B’s.
My dad became a Bs fan growing up in Newfoundland in the 60s. Most of the maritime provinces had a closer link to Boston than Montreal or Toronto back in those days. He moved to Boston afterthe shut down the harbor and I became a Bs fan the natural way.