Since this is a UK based website, we would like to welcome you to this three part special of The Definitive Fan – The online guide from PowerPlayGoal.com to British fans who you’re likely to meet (or not meet) at a hockey game.
Some of these fans clearly have a true passion for the game, others, well, they are just there for something to do.

British Fan Type #3 – The NHL Fanatic

This person looks strangely familiar…

Bio:
This type of fan, unlike the Football/Soccer Fan, has a tendency to live, breath, eat and sleep NHL Hockey rather than the UK’s national sport. They hate nearly every aspect of Football/Soccer/”The Beautiful Game”/Whatever the hell it’s called, and would much rather follow a more likeable alternative, which in this case would be Hockey. They will have good reasons for hating Football, such as attempted peer pressure, social pressure, or the fact that they have to put up with the sport being shoved down their throats by everyone in general, including the media.

Their interest in Hockey may root from a certain movie, cartoon, or even a stupidly inaccurate videogame like NHL Hitz. Ironically, they will usually end up disliking said film, cartoon or videogame once they have started following their supported NHL team full time, mainly because of inaccuracies.

Once they’ve picked their team, they will follow them through any means possible, with their most basic method being to regularly visit their team’s website, and they will also sign up to related forums and join in with discussions with the local fans. If they are lucky enough to be able to see their team on TV, they will jump at the chance. Otherwise, they’ll happily settle for an online radio feed… either way, if this type of fan happens to be supporting a team that’s many time zones away, for example one of the West Coast franchises, then their body clock will become quite messed up.

Sometime after they’ve become an NHL fan, they will learn that there is a local team somewhere nearby that plays on weekends. They will either regularly or occasionally attend games. Usually they will enjoy the game, but sometimes they will needlessly nitpick at everything, going as far as to compare the “poor standards” of British Hockey to the NHL, in order to make the latter sound better (because, of course, they like it better), sometimes even arguing with the local team’s Forum Users over the matter.

As a way of showing that they are a diehard fan of their chosen NHL team, this type of fan will blow their money on all sorts of merchandise like jerseys, pucks, pennants, t-shirts and hats, usually importing it directly from the US, enabling them to take advantage of the exchange rate. They will decorate their bedroom with the merchandise and wear their jerseys (or other items of clothing) with pride, and get quite agitated when visitors don’t recognise the team.

Characteristics:
Notably male, aged at least 14 and up. They will be easier to spot if they are wearing team-related clothing.

Favourite Team:
Their chosen team will have a certain aspect of their identity that will appeal to them, such as the name, logo and colour combination. The team’s location may or may not be important in their decision. If they are lucky, they will also have a small local team to root for, but they won’t care about them anywhere near as much as their chosen NHL team.

Other:
Since this type of fan has so much passion for the game, they may end up producing a website dedicated to Hockey. There’s at least one of these that we’ve seen on the web somewhere… PowerPlayNet? Something like that anyway…

I’m Wildwing64, hoping you enjoyed the last of this three part special of The Definitive Fan.