Oilers have happiest fanbase among Canadian NHL teams

These are heady times if you're an Edmonton Oilers fan, with the team making the playoffs for the past five campaigns and coming oh so close to winning it all this past season. Certainly, it's a totally different atmosphere compared to when they endured a 10-season playoff drought between 2006-07 and 2015-16.

As such, it will probably come as no surprise that a survey by Casino.org has ranked Oilers fans as the fifth-happiest fanbase in the NHL. Actually, there probably is some surprise, just in the fact they're not ranked even higher - not that fifth-best is a bad thing.

As per David Staples of the Edmonton Journal, this pleasant outcome extends to the Oilers fanbase also being the happiest among all seven Canadian NHL teams. And if this isn't enough reason to celebrate, consider that the unhappiest Canadian NHL fanbase can be found in Calgary.

Now we won't go quite as far as Staples, in suggesting the happiness -- or lack thereof -- of Flames fans is directly linked to the happiness of their Alberta rivals. However, we will at least agree that the recent success of the Oilers can't have helped!

Happiness really does begin at home

Also think about where the two teams host their home games, with the Oilers playing at Rogers Place, which is acknowledged as one of the top arenas in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Flames are still based at the Scotiabank Saddledome, as their path towards a new facility continues to drags on.

Also linked to how happy the respective fanbases are or aren't, consider their attendance figures for the 2023-24 season. On the one hand the Oilers averaged 18,267 fans per game (not including their outdoor game), which is just shy of their capacity of 18,347, at 99.5 percent.

On the flip side, the Flames averaged 17,490 fans this past season, against a capacity of 19,289. Yes, a 90.1 full arena isn't exactly a disaster but, as per Ian Mendes of The Athletic, it still represents their lowest average attendance of the salary cap era.

In many respects, the Oilers fanbase reminds you of the one in Green Bay, with a smaller market not stopping them from being one of the most successful franchises in the NHL. And this is whether we're talking about on-ice results, profit, franchise value, or just -- as per the link to this article -- fan passion.

Leafs fans join the Flames in their misery

As per the Toronto Sun, it is notable that among the other Canadian NHL franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the second-unhappiest fanbase. Although this is hardly surprising when their team has just one playoff series win since 2003-04 and a Stanley Cup drought dating all the way back to 1967.

In this respect, going back to the overall survey results finds another surprise in that the Florida Panthers fanbase is only ranked third-happiest, despite having just claimed the Holy Grail of hockey. Carolina Hurricanes fans rank happiest, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning fanbase.

Finally, returning to the Oilers again specifically, 100 percent of those surveyed are happy with the current players on the roster, as well as the overall game day experience. Although what can you expect, when you're watching the best player in the world at one of the very best arenas in all of North America, never mind just the NHL.

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