NHL favorite team straw poll (End of Week 1: Devils gaining, but Rangers in control)

Hillel Hoffmann · April 13, 2009, 12:07:01 PM

I am in task avoidance mode. And I'm bored. OK, it's more the former. But I also have NHL playoff fever (so sue me, I'm a Caps fan). Anyway, I've often wondered how the NHL loyalties of the Cornell hockey fan base on eLynah are distributed.

Favorite NHL team?

Me: Washington Capitals (adult convert; born a Bruins fan)

Standings rules:

1.0 pts for an unfiltered, uncontested favorite
0.5 pts each for split favorites (e.g. nr53, below)
0.5 pts for half-hearted demi-endorsement (e.g. Beeeej, below)
0.0 pts for power-waffling or an answer that's impossible to decode (e.g. billhoward, below)

Standings, Day 4:

ATLANTIC
Rangers (6.0)
Devils (3.5)
Islanders (2.5)
Flyers (2.0)

NORTHEAST
Bruins (3.0)
Sabres (2.0)
Canadiens (1.0)

SOUTHEAST
Capitals (3.5)
Thrashers (1.0)

CENTRAL
Red Wings (2.0)
Black Hawks (0.5)

NORTHWEST
Canucks (1.0)

PACIFIC
Sharks (3.5)
Kings (0.5)

Jacob '06 · April 13, 2009, 12:32:31 PM

Rangers

Beeeej · April 13, 2009, 12:40:11 PM

I don't really have one - I follow the teams with Cornell alums on them. For the sake of argument, the closest one geographically is likely to get the most attention from me, so we'll say the Islanders as long as Iggy's there.

nr53 · April 13, 2009, 01:20:48 PM

Devils since I grew up in NJ and Sharks since they're the local team around here.

billhoward · April 13, 2009, 02:01:09 PM

Bruins as long as Bobby Orr's Game 7 goal is remembered
Devils because it's our home turf (semi-convert)
Canadiens because of the Dryden link.
Any team with a Cornellian that makes a run at the Cup
Any team with stickhandlers/shooters like Malkin and Ovechkin who take the game to a highe level

ugarte · April 13, 2009, 02:41:11 PM

Detroit. I thought, and still think, that the winged wheel is the coolest logo in sports.

French Rage · April 13, 2009, 03:11:34 PM

Capitals because I grew up in DC, but to be honest I didn't follow hockey until Cornell, but I still have to have the hometown price. Sharks because I live out here now and they have Murray and Vesce and this is the team I've been in the area for more of since I started actually following the sport.

ftyuv · April 13, 2009, 03:40:50 PM

Bruins

Jeff Hopkins '82 · April 13, 2009, 04:46:20 PM

I'm a die-hard Flyers fan.

I grew up following the Bruins, but switched to the Flyers when I graduated from Cornell and moved back to PA. Been a Flyers partial season ticket holder for the past 22 years.

If the Flyers can't be there, I'll switch to the Bruins, especially because of Bitz' presence (and I have family in Boston).

judy · April 13, 2009, 04:54:13 PM

Caps cuz I started following the NHL after I graduated and moved down here and needed hockey to watch. In theory, I should be a Bruins fan since I grew up there, but no, I didn't follow hockey growing up and really, I just can't do it.

I plan on attempting to watch as many of the Pens/Flyers games out of pure morbid curiosity as a Caps fan and see who ends up bloodiest in the end.

Jacob '06 · April 13, 2009, 05:27:55 PM

Oh yeah, I secondarily root for the Kings also. I was at Caltech for a few years and ended up going to a lot of their games for my hockey fix, and have to root for the young talent they have especially Dustin Brown.

KeithK · April 13, 2009, 05:31:29 PM

I'm a native New Yorker and still a Rangers fan. But these days I follow the Sharks more due to 1) proximity and 2) Murray. So split between the two.

I'd feel guilty having switched loyalties but then I never watched hockey before Cornell and have never been a big NHL fan. If the Rangers or Sharks lost in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals I'd be disappointed but life would go on. If Cornell had lost the way Miami just did I'd feel like someone had just torn the still beating heart from my chest.

Rita · April 13, 2009, 05:39:46 PM

Since the Hartford Whalers left for Carolina I have been a die hard hurricane hater, even after they brought back Ronnie Francis. So Hillel, put me down for -1 with respect to Carolina ;-).

Now I root for the Sharks because of Murray and that they play some very exciting hockey.

cth95 · April 13, 2009, 09:26:14 PM

Grew up a Whalers fan, so am now a Bruins fan to stick with the rest of my New England pro teams. Having Bitz coming up and doing so well just makes it that much better.

Just named our new kitten Bitz after running through potential names that rhyme with the other cat's name, Mitts. Dorky, but had to do it.

Lauren '06 · April 13, 2009, 09:42:34 PM

Vancouver.

Oddly, I follow them much less now that I live here.