Which NHL Fanbases Get the Easiest Ride to the Rink in 2026-27?
Canada Sports Betting broke down the full 2026-27 NHL regular-season schedule, game by game, to find out which fanbases get a weekend-heavy, prime-time slate and which ones are stuck watching from the stands on a Tuesday afternoon.
We looked at five scheduling factors for each of the 32 teams: how many home games fall on a weekend, how many land on a Saturday specifically, how many weekend games start before 5 p.m. local time, how many weekend games are against a rival or divisional opponent, and how many weekday games start before 5 p.m. local time (a measure that counts against a team, since afternoon puck drops on a workday shut out most fans). Each factor was scored out of 100 and averaged equally into one Fan-Friendly Schedule Score.
Vancouver comes out on top, Utah sits at the bottom, and the gap between them tells its own story about who the NHL’s schedule-makers favour this season.
2026-27 schedule at a glance
All 32 NHL teams · 42 home games eachKey findings
Vancouver has the NHL’s friendliest home schedule
The Canucks top all 32 teams with a score of 74.6, despite having the NHL’s fourth-lowest share of weekend daytime starts, tied with Utah at 11.1%.
Boston and Detroit round out the top three
The Bruins (72.9) lead the league for weekend daytime starts at 52.9%, while the Red Wings (72.5) play more weekend games against rivals or divisional opponents than anyone, at 57.1%.
Utah Mammoth sits last in just their second season under that name
Utah’s schedule scores lowest in the league at 26.8, with the fewest weekend home games (21.4%) and the fewest weekend games against a rival or divisional opponent (11.1%).
Anaheim’s Saturday slate is the thinnest in the league
Only 11.9% of the Ducks’ home games fall on a Saturday, the lowest share of any team and a big reason they finish second-last overall at 30.3.
More than half the league scores above average
The league-wide average score is 58.6, but the median is 61.4, meaning a majority of teams land above the mean once the bottom few drag it down.
Weekday matinees hurt Nashville and San Jose the most
The Predators and Sharks are tied for the league’s highest share of weekday daytime starts at 14.8%, the single biggest drag on either team’s overall score.
Which NHL Schedules Are the Most (and Least) Fan-Friendly?
Compare the highest- and lowest-scoring teams on the Fan-Friendly Schedule Score.
Top 10 Most Fan-Friendly Schedules
Highest Fan-Friendly Schedule Scores in the NHLBottom 10 Least Fan-Friendly Schedules
Lowest Fan-Friendly Schedule Scores in the NHLVancouver, Boston and Detroit lead the league
Vancouver’s 74.6 score comes from a near-perfect weekday record (zero weekday daytime starts) combined with a weekend-home-game share of 42.9%, second only to St. Louis (45.2%) in the league. Boston (72.9) and Montreal (71.1) are part of a four-team group tied for the next-highest weekend-home-game share, at 40.5% alongside Minnesota and Chicago, while Detroit (72.5) earns its spot almost entirely through rivalry and divisional scheduling: 57.1% of the Red Wings’ weekend home games come against a rival or Atlantic Division opponent, the highest share in the NHL.
The average schedule score sits at 58.6
Across all 32 teams, the league averages 58.6 out of 100 on the Fan-Friendly Schedule Score, with a median of 61.4. Because the bottom of the table drags the mean down more than any single team drags up the top, a clear majority of teams actually land above the league average rather than clustering around it.
Utah, Anaheim and Columbus close out the table
Utah Mammoth’s 26.8 is the lowest score in the league, driven by the fewest weekend home games of any team (21.4%) and the fewest weekend games against a rival or divisional opponent (11.1%), which comes in just the Mammoth’s third season as a franchise and second under that name, after playing their 2024-25 inaugural year as the Utah Hockey Club. Anaheim (30.3) is close behind, held back mainly by the league’s thinnest Saturday slate at 11.9%. Columbus (43.2) rounds out the bottom three, with the NHL’s second-lowest share of weekend daytime starts at 7.1%.
Fan-Friendly Schedule Score for all 32 NHL teams
Every team’s overall score and the five underlying percentages behind it, for the 2026-27 regular season.
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| Rank | Team | Score | Weekend home | Saturday home | Weekend daytime | Weekend rivalry/div. | Weekday daytime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver Canucks | 74.6 | 42.9% | 31.0% | 11.1% | 44.4% | 0.0% |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 72.9 | 40.5% | 33.3% | 52.9% | 41.2% | 12.0% |
| 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 72.5 | 33.3% | 23.8% | 42.9% | 57.1% | 3.6% |
| 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 71.1 | 40.5% | 31.0% | 17.6% | 35.3% | 0.0% |
| 5 | Los Angeles Kings | 69.2 | 35.7% | 33.3% | 20.0% | 33.3% | 0.0% |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 68.4 | 35.7% | 23.8% | 46.7% | 40.0% | 3.7% |
| 7 | Edmonton Oilers | 68.3 | 31.0% | 26.2% | 30.8% | 46.2% | 0.0% |
| 8 | Winnipeg Jets | 66.7 | 33.3% | 19.0% | 42.9% | 42.9% | 0.0% |
| 9 | Colorado Avalanche | 66.3 | 35.7% | 26.2% | 33.3% | 53.3% | 7.4% |
| 10 | Carolina Hurricanes | 65.6 | 42.9% | 31.0% | 27.8% | 22.2% | 4.2% |
| 11 | Philadelphia Flyers | 65.4 | 38.1% | 26.2% | 37.5% | 43.8% | 7.7% |
| 12 | Ottawa Senators | 65.2 | 38.1% | 31.0% | 25.0% | 43.8% | 7.7% |
| 13 | St. Louis Blues | 64.4 | 45.2% | 26.2% | 21.1% | 31.6% | 4.3% |
| 14 | Minnesota Wild | 62.8 | 40.5% | 26.2% | 29.4% | 41.2% | 8.0% |
| 15 | Calgary Flames | 62.6 | 33.3% | 23.8% | 28.6% | 35.7% | 0.0% |
| 16 | Nashville Predators | 62.2 | 35.7% | 33.3% | 46.7% | 40.0% | 14.8% |
| 17 | Chicago Blackhawks | 60.6 | 40.5% | 16.7% | 47.1% | 41.2% | 8.0% |
| 18 | San Jose Sharks | 60.5 | 35.7% | 31.0% | 40.0% | 46.7% | 14.8% |
| 19 | Florida Panthers | 59.6 | 35.7% | 31.0% | 13.3% | 33.3% | 3.7% |
| 20 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 57.9 | 33.3% | 28.6% | 21.4% | 42.9% | 7.1% |
| 21 | Seattle Kraken | 55.8 | 35.7% | 23.8% | 26.7% | 40.0% | 7.4% |
| 22 | New Jersey Devils | 55.0 | 31.0% | 21.4% | 46.2% | 23.1% | 3.4% |
| 23 | New York Rangers | 54.4 | 35.7% | 14.3% | 20.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% |
| 24 | Dallas Stars | 54.0 | 31.0% | 23.8% | 7.7% | 38.5% | 0.0% |
| 25 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 52.3 | 35.7% | 28.6% | 0.0% | 33.3% | 3.7% |
| 26 | Washington Capitals | 50.8 | 33.3% | 21.4% | 28.6% | 35.7% | 7.1% |
| 27 | Vegas Golden Knights | 48.2 | 26.2% | 23.8% | 18.2% | 45.5% | 6.5% |
| 28 | New York Islanders | 44.2 | 33.3% | 21.4% | 28.6% | 42.9% | 14.3% |
| 29 | Buffalo Sabres | 43.6 | 28.6% | 23.8% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 6.7% |
| 30 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 43.2 | 33.3% | 28.6% | 7.1% | 21.4% | 7.1% |
| 31 | Anaheim Ducks | 30.3 | 33.3% | 11.9% | 14.3% | 21.4% | 7.1% |
| 32 | Utah Mammoth | 26.8 | 21.4% | 19.0% | 11.1% | 11.1% | 3.0% |
How the Fan-Friendly Schedule Score works
Data and scope
- Schedule source: the full 2026-27 NHL regular-season schedule, sourced from NHLE.com, covering every game from September 29, 2026 through April 10, 2027. The analysis uses each team’s 42 home games only.
- Rivalry and divisional data: weekend opponents were checked against Wikipedia’s “List of NHL rivalries” and the 2025-26 divisional alignment to flag rivalry or same-division matchups.
- Local start times: each game’s local start time was calculated from its UTC start time and the venue’s UTC offset. A game is classed as “daytime” if its local start is before 5:00 p.m.
- Saturday and weekend flags: taken directly from the schedule’s day-of-week field, with “weekend” covering Saturday or Sunday.
The five scheduling factors
- Weekend home games: the share of a team’s 42 home games falling on a Saturday or Sunday.
- Saturday home games: the share of home games falling specifically on a Saturday.
- Weekend daytime starts: of a team’s weekend home games, the share starting before 5 p.m. local time.
- Weekend rivalry/division games: of a team’s weekend home games, the share against a documented rival or a same-division opponent.
- Weekday daytime starts: of a team’s weekday home games, the share starting before 5 p.m. local time. This factor works against a team, since a workday matinee shuts out most fans who have jobs or school.
Turning five percentages into one score
- Each of the five percentages is min-max scaled to 0-100 across all 32 teams: the lowest team on that factor scores 0, the highest scores 100, and every other team falls proportionally in between.
- The weekday daytime factor is inverted before scaling, so that having fewer weekday matinees produces a higher score.
- The five scaled scores are then averaged with equal weight, 20% each, to produce the final Fan-Friendly Schedule Score out of 100.
What the score does and doesn’t measure
- This score measures schedule convenience only. It does not account for ticket prices, team performance, travel distance for visiting fans, or broadcast windows.
- A low score on one factor can still produce a strong overall score if a team performs well on the other four, which is why Vancouver tops the list despite one of the league’s lowest weekend-daytime shares.
Schedule and rivalry data: NHLE.com and Wikipedia’s “List of NHL rivalries,” compiled for the 2026-27 NHL regular season.
