"Hockey fans are always in the mood to dissect what's wrong" Truest statement I've ever heard 😅🙌

I saw a game in Seattle and had to explain the game to the people next to me (he asked me questions about what was going on). I loved it and so did they. Made the night lots of fun

Being a Coyotes fan is like staring into the sun. The pain eventually stops but damage is still being done.

I have to say that other than podcasts like 32 Thoughts, the CJ Show, and Agent Provocateur; THG has completely replaced everything else as my go-to for hockey and major reason is obnoxious posters pretty much everywhere else. THG videos are always excellent and the posters are almost invariably polite and good fans of hockey regardless of their favourite team(s) -- I enjoy reading their comments and thumbs-upping and sometimes replying.

Every long-time, knowledgeable, expert hockey fan was once a new fan just learning the game.

Lifelong St. Louis fan. The wife and I have been traveling to away stadiums to watch the Blues once a year. We've only made it to 9 so far, but Nashville has been the least welcoming. We are quiet and respectful fans when traveling, but MANY of Nashville's fans were miserable, vulger, and hockey illiterate. The more friendly fanbases were Washington, Minnesota, and Toronto (believe it or not).

As a Jackets fan, I always come to this channel for the even-handed takes and excellent analysis irregardless of the team. Thanks for doing what you do!

As a CBJ fan, I might not know what's going on but I'm happy to be here and always thrilled when someone notices we exist.

Buffalo native. Tampa Bay Area resident. Lightning fan. One of the weird dynamics of NHL hockey fandom in the Sunbelt is the huge numbers of people who were born “up north” but have located to the Sunbelt for employment opportunities and lower taxes. Some of these people adopt the teams of their new home. Some never give up their allegiance to the the teams of their Rust Belt youth. Some people cheer for both their new and old teams. Nomadic, relocated “Yankees” make up a large percentage of fans at Sun Belt NHL rinks, especially in the early years of expansion. Another observed phenomenon in Tampa, and I am sure in South Florida, Nashville, Vegas, Arizona and California too is “hockey tourism.” Fans from “up north” and in Canada fly down to see their hometown team play a team in the South or Out West. It’s an easy sell. Fly to Florida from chilly Toronto or frigid Buffalo or anywhere up north in February. See your team play a game (or two), play golf and go to the beach and get some sun. Or go to Nashville and after the game, walk out of the rink right onto Broadway and enjoy some fantastic live music. Vegas…enough said.

As a Roanoke resident and Railyard Dawgs season ticket holder I love seeing you in that sweater! Go Dawgs!

I'm not giving up on Buffalo, love the team! Cheers 🍺

The Hockey Guy is a channel where a true unbiased analysis occurs of the games played in the NHL. This is a channel where it has a comfortable feel about it suiting both the novice as well as the seasoned hockey fan with what happened in the games being reviewed. It's a pleasure to listen to Shanon because he doesn't act like a seal performing a routine to entertain like some unmentionable other channels. My interest lies with the game, not some seal balancing a ball to entertain the audience with everything that doesn't involve hockey. Thanks Shannon you have the perfect formula.

Im a Ducks fan living in Houston. Just moved here three years ago from southern Ca. Got into hockey in the 02-03 season when a friend in high school had an extra ticket to the pond and invited me out. I was hooked. It’s been a casual fandom for years, but discovering your channel and some streaming sites that help me watch games outside of local broadcasts, I’ve been getting way more into it lately.

As a Columbus fan, I am honestly sick of the "Pittsburgh West" stigma that Columbus has had over the years. Yeah, we might have been plopped in the middle of Pens/Red Wings territory, but this fanbase is passionate and growing.

I appreciate the discussion about the gate keeping of southern hockey fans. It’s hard to care about a team when they don’t make the playoffs for 10 years (but some of us did lol). But now in Raleigh you can’t go 5 mins without seeing a Canes sticker on a passing car and it’s great!

I'm one of the Avs fans just here to hear you say "The Colorado Avalanche won the cup!" haha, in all seriousness I have loved your channel for years and am excited we are right around the corner of another season! GO AVS!

Saint Louisian here. It’s been amazing to watch the explosion of hockey since I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s. We maybe had a few rinks, but once Brett Hull arrived it’s just exploded. And since the cup season there is a rink in every neighborhood it seems. I can only remember a real lull in the support for the Blues and that was in 2005-2009. Those were some dark years for the note

THG might be the only person I've ever seen or heard, capable of an extremely rare feat: fair, impartial and objective hockey analysis. I can sometimes disagree with the conclusions but never the process, and as such this has become my go-to for quality hockey content!

I hate Gatekeeping. I hate it so much. Like, if they don’t know hockey, take the time to be like “Ayo what don’t you understand? Oh, so they didn’t touch the puck and it went back the goal line. So it’s calling icing” and explain it. I was that person who knew nothing of hockey. Get more people into hockey. That’s how we make it grow

Islanders fans are passionate and love our team win or lose! We love chirping back and forth with Ranger and Devils fans and it’s fun having such close rivalries.

Sharks fan since 1991 loving my Sharks win or lose and love watching Hockey Guy whether it's Sharks content or not, keep up the great work Shannon!

Dollar Bill Wirtz, late owner of the Blackhawks, thought televising home games was insulting to the season ticket holders, and it was akin to giving away his product, and had a blackout on all home games. When his son Rocky took over after his death, home games were finally televised. Prior to that, we used to go to bars in the Chicago area that had satellite dishes that would pick up the visiting teams feed, and the bartender would turn the sound down and put the radio on to listen to Hawks radio broadcast. There is still some animosity among many Hawk fans for Dollar Bill, for what he did to us fans.

Kraken fan here! Happy to be a new arrival and avid fan thanks to our underrated and very mighty team! 😁 Love your breakdowns as someone relatively new to the sport (two years).

As a Blue Jackets fan, I feel really good about the development of the fan base. I've seen great growth even as the team has regressed some. However, there are still a ton of people just waiting for the success. There are also a lot of fans of other teams from before we had our own home team. A lot of old Red Wings fans seem nice and knowledgeable, but most of the Penguins fans are either young band wagon fans or jerks that want to feel superior to Columbus fans.

The Canes have put the hope and excitement back in the city of Raleigh couldn’t be more happy 😊

I'm a 32yo Seattle fan from the Philly area and the arrival of the Kraken brought back my love of hockey from when I was a kid! I do still care about the Flyers, but they're not my favorite anymore (main reason being I hate the color orange 😅). I know a lot of things about the game, but I don't know everything quite yet. Thanks for having such a great channel! LET'S GO KRAKEN!!!!! 💙🦑

Hockey is hopefully getting more permanent in NC. from 4,500 to 14,000 Season ticket holders in a few years shows commitment, with RBA here, I don't see the fanbase dwindling anytime soon as well. That guy is adored by fans, HUGE ovation for him opening night, made him tear up. He is NC Hockey.

I live in Western Pennsylvania. Casually watched the Pens with friends for 5-8 years as they consistently asked me to become a real hockey fan. Officially became a hockey fan and chose the Golden Knights in 2017. Have watched 70%+ of games last 2 years. Been to 1 game in Vegas and 3 in Pittsburgh. I now am more of a NHL fan than NFL. I appreciate your channel a lot!

As a Kings fan, I'm always watching hockey videos everyday. Can't get enough of hockey.

Thank you for bringing up that here in Chicago there were legitimate reasons we weren’t behind the team as much. Not many people know we had to pay $15 per game on PPV to watch them. The Wolves we’re on regular tv and many people, myself included, watched them more because of it. I believe they were also getting more fans in attendance than the Hawks at the time too. It was only in like 2009 that we finally were able to watch the Hawks on TV when Bill died. Side note, drove up to Milwaukee with my family to see the Hawks get their asses kicked by the Wild but it was a great experience and my preference for the next NHL location.

I gotta say i really appreciate the positive outlook you showed about the Yotes here. It was refreshing not having to hear we should move

As a Buffalo fan, I watch almost every single video you post. Not because its all Buffalo content, but because I love hockey. I joined the Air Force and got stationed near San Jose. I have half season tickets to them this year just for fun. There is definitely a passionate fanbase in Buffalo. I am guilty of checking out on them for a bit but I always find myself getting into the off season discussion and hype for the next season. I don’t know why but it happens. I think its just my love for the game. I really hope Buffalo can be more competitive this year

Sharks fan here - been one in a small way since my dad covered Marleau in the papers from draft day, and have gotten fully into it in the 2010s. Interesting debate and discussion on rebuild vs casual fan retention in SJ now that we are not great. I’m just excited for the new kids and for hockey in general coming back!

Sabres fan checking in. I'm part of the diaspora, live in the Stars market. I generally go to one game a year when the Sabres come to Dallas. But I've heard that ticket sales in Buffalo have been rebounding nicely. The perception among the fan base is the team is expected to be much more competitive, if not playoff bound, and is headed in the right direction. The Prospect Challenge is happening this weekend and the Sabres games (at HarborCenter, not KBC) are selling out. The fans are very enthusiastic about the prospect pool and we're watching them with anticipation. The Sabres will be improved this year, but will improve year on year for several years to come and we're pretty geeked up about it.

As a Sabres fan who lives way out in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, it's a lot more economical to get a ticket to a Buffalo at Montreal game, which I have done for November 22nd. I've done it twice before since 2009, and the Sabres won both times I attended those games! There won't be many Buffalo fans at the game, but we're easy to spot, and we love to chat with each other. With Granato's coaching making them play like a team and not just a collection of individuals (hello, Toronto!), the future is looking bright!

Life long Blues fan here... I lived in the neighborhood next to the old arena and hockey was a year round topic. Enjoyed going to many great games years ago, especially when the Blackhawks ( Black and Blue Rendezvous) or the Red Wings were in town. Awesome channel!!!

My opinion is that inconsistent, unpredictable, and brutal Officiating is the biggest source of confusion, negativity and lack of credibility for the league and holding back growth in drawing in and keeping new fans engaged. 👋 from Calgary.

Your Luongo discussion reminds me of so many I’ve had about Rask as well. Goalies really are a heat magnet for some

I'm new to the Carolina area and a Pens fan. I thought PPG was close to unmatched with fans and ambiance. I have to say the Canes games are probably some of the best games I've been to in my life and I got to watch McDavid light up the OHL while in high school. The fans at PNC are incredible.

Love my Sabres...Hope this is the year they break through...I just like the fact they don't quit. They play like they are having fun.

I love the discussion about talking to Canucks fans. As I've said many times in the past, the Canucks have the most committed fanbase, as in, most of us fans need to be committed.

Your spot on with Avs fans now I’ve been so dedicated to my Avs for years and this is my 15th season as an Avs fan watch Hockey vids during the off-season regardless of if we won it all or not

I’ve just started getting into hockey these last few years and I gotta say, I appreciate your content👍🏿 Keep up the good work

Thank you for your explanations! Been a fan for a while and the way you put things, helps me explain to others. Thanks!

Caps fan here. I don't comment on that many videos but I watch almost all of them. Keep up the good work!

you should do a poll im actually curious how many of each fan base there are

The hockey guy really just has the best hockey channel on youtube, always such solid content

You may have more fans in Canada, but your most dedicated fan lives right here in Colorado. I watch every video you post and I’m better for it. Keep it up brother.

Keep up the amazing work !!! Excited to see the new Habs team this season.

Sabres fan here. I watch every Sabres game on tv (that will never change). But, I refused to see a game for the past 5 years because they suck and management showed no signs of even caring that they sucked. All we ask for is for management and players to care. Care about trying, care about the team, care about the fans, and care about our city and the history our franchise has here. Our city loves the Sabres and always will. We have one of the most passionate fan bases in the league, heck, we have the most passionate sports fans out there (go Bills). It wasn't until mid-season last year that most Sabres fans started noticing a shift, and March and April last season were the best 2 months of hockey I have seen with this team in a decade. I will be going to games this year and I am confident that a lot more fans will be showing up this year. I think all true Sabres fans can see that there is something very good developing with this team and the playoffs are coming real soon. Let's Go Buffalo!

Went to a canes playoff game on a whim (game 5 win against NJ) and have been trying to get into hockey ever since. This channel is awesome.Keep it up

I’m a huge hockey fan. I happen to be ride or die for the Wild, but I love getting content for all the teams and you make it so easy. Gives me good ideas of what games to watch, who’s running hot or cold.

I got into hockey at the start of COVID, the other sports got too political and too many negative headlines. I'm happy I found hockey :)

I think my dad and I must be partially Canadian because we’ve been talking Blues hockey almost every other day since I was born in 1990. 😂 wishing everyone luck in the new season (but not too much luck 😅)!

Im an oilers fan and enjoy watching THG. Keep up the good work

My personal experiences on Discord and other places around the internet reflect a lot of what you said in this video. During the offseason the Canadian and asterisked fans are the ones I'm seeing the most. As a Sharks fan there is very little activity around my team and fanbase during the off season.

Sens Fan from Staffordshire, England. The difference between vids every day from THG and a monthly 5 min phone call with my mate who lived in Montreal in the 90’s is VAST…! Eternal thanks to you Shannon!

As a fan of the Dallas Stars for as long as I can remember I appreciate all you do over the summer and talking points that I can keep in mind. Its not easy especially being in South Texas where noone really knows hockey. I do teach others and try to spread the love of the game and a few people I know are looking forward to watching this season. Fan bases all have toxic people but there are good ones as well. Again thank you and glad I subscribed to you when I did. Oh and also from one stars fan to another... Go Stars!!

I’m a Red Wings fan & your videos have been very helpful. I remember when the Wings won the 1997 Stanley Cup Championship I was between 5 & 6 I watched the last game with my dad & boy I was hooked every since. Just watching them flow on the ice with those jerseys capture my attention.

Great video Shannon! I appreciate your insight and all your many videos (as always) and hey! Congrats on over 254k subscribers! You’ve more than earned it, and you more than deserve it. I’ll talk to you again soon.

That is a GORGEOUS Rail Yard Dawgs jersey.

My sports consciousness dates back to 1967 in the Detroit Metro area. I loved and still love any team with Detroit or Michigan in its name. I recall my first trip to Olympia as an 8 year old so I saw a few greats that were still around from glory years and then came the Dead Wings era followed by the 25 year playoff run. The current era, recovering from stretching that playoff era to the extremely optimistic times now, has made being a fan of the Red Wings a great thing. One bonus being in the Detroit area is that we got 3 channels from Canada and had Hockey Night in Canada and it came in clear enough (in black and white) to actually see the puck. The Wings were on UHF so it was very "snowy" at 30 mile road so I could see the flow of the game but not the puck. Thanks to the Detroit Lions I can kinda feel for the Sabres and Leafs fans.

Long Standing Avalanche fan who is -always- happy to hear the thoughts of our Hockey Guy! My #1 source of analysis for Hockey.

I probably watch 3 of your videos per year, but I always come away from the appreciating your deep thought. There aren’t a lot of people doing what you do for any league, let alone hockey.

Even though Shannon demoted Dallas Stars while on air in this video, I just wanted to say that I'm here as a fan of both - this channel and the Dallas Stars. 😁 😀

Grew up right down the road from Roanoke! Glad to see you own a jersey!!!

I really appreciate the positivity towards AZ from this channel... too often it's "they have no fans" and "lol move the team to Houston/Quebec" and us fans that say anything contrary to that just get dismissed and bullied. On r/hockey I noticed it's mostly Toronto and Pittsburgh flairs that especially have ire against us for some reason. A couple of notes as a Coyotes fan and AZ resident: Many of us, myself included, are from families that moved out here in the 70s/80s, so we end up with multiple hockey teams to root for (I for one have the Blues as my second team 'cause my family is from... you guessed it, St. Louis). So generally we appear as fairweather fans based on our attendance, especially since we don't feel like watching our team get dunked on while half the stadium is roaring for the visiting team (since not all people that move out here take on the Yotes as their primary or even second team), especially when we can stay home and watch our second team do something actually good on TV. Also, our stadium being in Tempe really will be a major boost to our attendance issues. Glendale is, for a lack of a better term, a trash city and away from most of the hockey fans in the greater Phoenix area. People have tried saying "well [insert Canadian team] fans will drive 2-3 hours every game to see their team play!", but that argument just doesn't really have merit. You can be a fan of a sport, a huge fan, and not revolve your life around it. There's no questioning that hockey is a massive deal to people in Canada, moreso than anywhere in the States, but even fans of fairly large hockey markets like St. Louis, Philly, and even the Rangers won't drive 2-3 hours to watch those teams when they are bad, even when they are good many times. The fact of the matter is, now the Coyotes are less than an hour away from a majority of their fanbase. This is massive for the organization, and with Bill Armstrong making smart moves and playing the long game, I truly believe this organization is finally turning a new leaf to a brighter future for hockey in the desert. Ask any Coyotes fan, and we will all say that the team being "kicked out" of the Glendale arena is the best thing to happen to the team since we initially moved to AZ. Anyway, that turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated but yeah I just really appreciate the positive attitude towards us. Many of us don't speak up online because we know we're just gonna get the same recycled arguments and a million downvotes (or whatever the equivalent is on said platform), but there are quite a few of us and things are only looking brighter.

Yoooo that's awesome to see you wearing our local teams hockey jersey halfway across the continent. Love from star city

Honestly being a lifelong Islander fan is rough, but we are extremely devoted at all times even when they are awful. We still love this team and it’s honestly a lot to do with the area and the sports market as a whole. Considering most isles fans also root for the jets and Mets, they are extremely devoted to their area of New York sports. For me being a Yankees fan throws it off but still I love my isles and jets, definitely lot of older fans from the cup era but still a lot of younger fans who got their fandom passed down to them. Even my girlfriend who knew nothing about hockey until we started dating is completely devoted to the isles. We love our team

I love the Rail Yard Dogs shoutout! I lived in Roanoke for 2 years and went to maybe 5 games and it’s a great time despite being a lower tier of hockey, and the fans were wild. I’m there just enjoying some tier 4 hockey, and there were two ladies behind the bench heckling a player. I was laughing so hard. I didn’t know anybody would really care enough. All those hockey players have day jobs lol.

First time seeing your channel. Great analogy. Sabres fan here from way back in the beginning. Hopefully, finally this year may be different.

Caniac here. I love the objective and thorough analysis on this channel. Your hockey knowledge is impressive.

Something I remember when interacting with fans in other cities is that every ship has its rats. Some ships might appear to be overrun with rats, but I've yet to see one that's all rats or even a majority. It's just that rats on some ships are extra aggressive & extra loud.

Love the show. I am a Devils fan from New Jersey. Being surrounded by Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers fans, I know something about obnoxious fans. But boy, Bruins fans are something special.

I'm a habs fan that really appreciates your reliability, passion and work ethic. Cheers!

Glad to be one of your few Preds fans that watch the channel! I wish hockey was more popular down here, I hear a bunch of stories from friends about Canada and the northeast US. Edit: Nice Rail Yard Dawgs jersey, I'm an Ice Bears fan myself.

"Colorado Avalanche have won the Stanley cup" *hits like* "Oh now I can go about my day!"

Appreciate the SPHL shoutout! We love our teams down here, and the league is a ton of fun!

Islanders fan here. Thank you again for another great video.!

Hearing you talk about arenas made me wonder if you have a vid on them.... ??? Love the content and takes! As a Redwings/ Rangers/ Wild fan... "rabble rabble rabble!!"

Hyped for Johnny Hockey to be in the Union Blue! I have my Opening Night tickets are ready to go!

Shannon, you should run a pole to see how the fan bases are represented on your channel. Would be very interested to see a breakdown of all 32 teams and the level of support they have from channel viewers.

As a Bolts fan I watch you cause you've got a way of putting in a non-bias a objective way and the effort and knowledge of the game is clearly there Sure it feels nice to hear that we won the cup in 2020 and 2021 but that's more of a bonus.

I just discovered your channel. It's great, keep up the good work! Let's go Rangers!

WOOOOOOO GO SENS GO Love the videos!

It’s good as an Arizona fan to hear my team talked about. Honestly I hope Tempe will be a long time home for us

Dawg, I'm a Floridan here watching your content all off-season. Dynasty incoming ⚡⚡⚡ (I went to a ghetto high school, that's why I say dawg.)

Grew up and played hockey for 16 years in Detroit. Grew up during the greatest run as a fan. I have lived in California, Illinois, Alabama and now Missouri. I attend at least 1 Detroit game in Detroit every year. I also try to attend at least 1 game ( outside of Alabama ) that was playing the team closest to me. I live, breath and bleed hockey. Close enough to being Canadian without being Canadian! Whitewater raft quite a bit on the Ottawa, Ontario River so there is that and love the hockey hall of fame in Toronto but yea. I love your videos and catch as much as I can. Keep bringing them and I will keep watching. You bring true prospective to the entire league and your commentary and dedication are phenomenal sir! Very much appreciated for your time taken to speak about all things hockey.

As a Flyers fan since around 1992, I'd love to see THG take a closer look at the state of the team's rebuild/retool under Torts this season. I know we're off to a good start after just 2 games, but it would be interesting to see your take.

Let’s go Red Wings! Love the videos hockey guy, they help me get through the offseason!

As a Colorado fan that is an accurate description. I watch a video and hear Avs are champs and I go about my day.

I am a Vegas fan and I am still here for every upload!

As a Lightning fan I love your videos!

On the whole, I find the Habs fans to be the most self-absorbed...in Canada. Hence why so many loved the comment from Kucherov in the post cup win interview. Was so right on.

Lifelong Wingnut. I started cheering for Detroit when we were basically known as the Deadwings then we got a little better lost to NJ in the finals then the Colorado series the 4 Stanley Cups and now we are rebuilding. I just feel so blessed because between college and pro sport in Michigan (I have lived here in Wyoming for 29 years now) I have seen my teams winning titles. Also, thank you so much,Shannon, you are destination KZfaq for me personally. I look forward to seeing you every day because you give so much information and you’re just fun to watch

Bolts fan since the Thunderdome days. Love this channel, and I respect the viewers and commenters of this channel.

VGK fan here, I agree completely about the gatekeeping. I’m pretty active in online communities and sometimes it’s not very welcoming for newcomers or people with limited knowledge about the sport. It’s also frustrating to be labeled as a clueless noob just because you cheer for a certain team.

Buffalo Fans seem more optimistically hopeful this year because of their youth movement and improving performances late last season. But they're grounded enough that they don't consider Buffalo some elite contender. They're just enthusiastic at maybe thinking this year's team is a bubble team placing around 7-10 in the conference. They're mostly over the Eichel thing. Though there's still quite a few fans rooting against LV. Heck a lot of fans from most teams hate LV at this point.

I just watched your SPHL video and I chuckled when you asked someone to hook you up with a Railyard Dawgs jersey. Very awesome

You are spot on about Coyote fans! I live in the Midwest US and was kicking around the idea of going to see them play in the new arena. Then someone told me what the tickets were running and I’m having second thoughts about making the trip. Might have to watch when they visit Minnesota.