Introduction
In connection with the start of the 2026 NHL season, Canada Sports Betting has analyzed over 1.6 million fan comments from the subreddits of all 32 NHL clubs to find out which fandoms are the most polite and, on the contrary, which fandoms are the most foul-mouthed. Additionally, the analysis also uncovered which NHL fandoms are the most positive and which fans are the most negative.
Highlights
- Edmonton Oilers were found to be the most foul-mouthed NHL fandom, with 17.89% of their comments containing swear words, ahead of Dallas Stars (15.44% of comments including swear words) and Boston Bruins (15.33% of comments including swear words).
- Edmonton Oilers also came out as the most negative NHL fandom, with 28.20% of their comments carrying a negative tone, ahead of Dallas Stars (28.02% of comments carrying a negative tone) and Boston Bruins (27.53% of comments carrying a negative tone).
- San Jose Sharks were found to be the most positive NHL fandom, with 53.72% of their comments carrying a positive tone, ahead of Philadelphia Flyers (50.49% of comments carrying a positive tone) and Anaheim Ducks (50.45% of comments carrying a positive tone).
- Carolina Hurricanes turned out to be the most polite NHL fandom, with only 8.62% of their comments containing swear words, ahead of Pittsburgh Penguins (9.40% of comments including swear words) and Washington Capitals (9.42% of comments including swear words).
You can see the results of all analyzed NHL clubs in the interactive table below:
The Most Foul-Mouthed NHL Fandoms
At first, a sample of comments from the subreddits of all 32 NHL clubs was collected, tracking the period of the last 12 months, and it was subsequently analyzed how many of the fan comments included swear words.
According to the results of the analysis, the Edmonton Oilers fandom was found to be the most foul-mouthed, since 17.89% of the comments on their subreddit included swear words.
Dallas Stars turned out to be the second most foul-mouthed fandom, with 15.44% of their comments including swear words, followed by Boston Bruins in third place at 15.33%. Rounding out the top five, Colorado Avalanche (14.28% comments including swear words) and Tampa Bay Lightning (14.15% including swear words) completed the list.
The Most Negative NHL Fandoms
Every comment collected was also run through a sentiment analysis tool, which classified it as positive, negative or neutral, allowing each fandom to be ranked by the share of its comments that fell into each category.
Edmonton Oilers were found to be the most negative NHL fandom, with 28.20% of their comments carrying a negative tone.
Dallas Stars ranked second, with 28.02% of their comments classified as negative, followed by Boston Bruins in third place at 27.53%. Tampa Bay Lightning (27.38% negative comments) and Colorado Avalanche (27.18% negative comments) rounded out the top five most negative fandoms.
The Most Positive NHL Fandoms
On the other hand, San Jose Sharks were found to be the most positive NHL fandom, with 53.72% of their comments carrying a positive tone. Philadelphia Flyers followed in second place with 50.49% positive comments, with Anaheim Ducks close behind in third at 50.45% positive comments. Ottawa Senators (50.42% positive comments) and Carolina Hurricanes (50.11% positive comments) completed the top five most positive fandoms.
The Most Polite NHL Fandoms
On the other end of the profanity scale, Carolina Hurricanes were found to be the most polite NHL fandom, with only 8.62% of their comments including swear words. Pittsburgh Penguins followed as the second most polite fandom with only 9.40% of their fan comments including profanities, with Washington Capitals close behind in third place (9.42% of comments included swear words). Montreal Canadiens (9.90% of comments included swear words) and Seattle Kraken (9.94% of comments included swear words) completed the top five most polite fandoms.
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Methodology
- Collection Period: August 2025 – September 2026; final analysis was carried out in October 2026.
- In total, 1,619,068 comments from the subreddits of all 32 NHL clubs were analyzed, looking for comments that contained swear words.
- Each club was assigned a percentage value based on the % of the comments on their subreddit that contained swear words.
- In total, 200,503 comments containing swear words were identified across the 32 clubs analyzed.
- Additionally, the emotional tone of each comment was assessed and categorized as either negative, positive or neutral.
