It is playoff season, or at least it is nearly playoff season, and that means one thing above all else: the bandwagon is open for boarding, and everyone has opinions about who is allowed to get on it.
Every year without fail, the discourse emerges. Lifelong fans clutching their decades of suffering like a badge of honor, eyeing the newcomers with suspicion. And every year, I find myself thinking, is this actually a coherent position? Is bandwagoning ethically wrong, or is it just a thing we decided to be annoyed about? I cannot help but take this seriously. Let’s discuss.
First of All, What Even Is a Fan?
Here’s the thing nobody wants to admit: fandom exists on a spectrum, and almost everyone is a bandwagon fan of something. You didn’t choose your hometown team through deep philosophical deliberation at age four. Geography, family, a jersey you thought looked cool…these are the actual origins of most people’s fandom. The idea that suffering through bad seasons is what makes fandom legitimate is a constructed mythology.
So before we get too precious about it, let’s acknowledge that the moral high ground here is a lot murkier than die-hards like to pretend.
The Case For Bandwagoning (Yes, Really)
New fans are good for hockey. Full stop. The sport has spent years trying to grow its audience, expand into non-traditional markets, and get people to care about the playoffs who wouldn’t otherwise tune in. A casual fan who picks a team to root for in April and watches sixteen games they otherwise wouldn’t have watched is, objectively, a good outcome for the sport.
There’s also something genuinely fun about choosing a team for the playoffs when you don’t have a dog in the fight. It gives you a stake. It makes the games matter. And frankly, if you’re going to watch anyway, isn’t it more enjoyable to care about who wins?
So Who Do You Pick?
This is where it gets interesting, because right now the options are genuinely compelling in very different ways. I’ll give you your options, ranked loosely from “completely defensible” to “okay but you have to own it.”
The Favorite: Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are the class of the NHL this season, the first team to clinch a playoff spot, and absolutely nobody’s idea of a surprise. They are very good. They know they are very good. Rooting for Colorado is the hockey equivalent of picking the 1 seed in March Madness: you’ll probably be right, but you will not be interesting at parties. Boring choice.
The Sentimental Favorite: Buffalo Sabres
Sitting first in the Atlantic, heading into the playoffs for the first time in fourteen years and carrying more narrative weight than any team in the league right now. The Sabres are the pick for people who feel things. An entire generation of fans in Buffalo has never seen their team in a playoff game. Choosing Buffalo isn’t really bandwagoning in the pejorative sense. It’s recognizing a genuinely emotional moment in the sport and wanting to be part of it.
The “I Like Good Hockey” Pick: Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes leading the Metropolitan Division, and somehow still underrated in the national conversation. They play an gritty and relentless style of hockey, their fanbase has completely transformed over the last several years from a punchline into one of the most energetic buildings in the league, and if you haven’t watched them play this season you are genuinely missing out. Bandwagoning Carolina is actually a great choice if you don’t mind watching a grind. Nobody will fault you for this one.
The Nostalgia Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins
Look, I know. I know. But the Penguins are back in the playoff picture in the Metropolitan, and there is apparently no killing this franchise. Sidney Crosby continues to exist and be excellent at hockey in a way that borders on unsettling for a man his age. If you grew up watching hockey in the Crosby-Malkin era and feel a little tug of something when you see that jersey, that’s valid. This is more muscle memory than bandwagoning.
The “I like Those Guys I See on Twitter” Pick: San Jose Sharks
The Sharks, a team that spent the better part of recent memory being genuinely unwatchable, are somehow still alive in the Pacific conversation. They just beat Anaheim last night to keep things interesting, and they have another game tonight. If they sneak into the playoffs, it would be one of the better stories of the year. This is the bandwagon for people who want to feel something and are okay with the possibility that it all falls apart. High risk, high reward. I respect everyone on this wagon enormously.
The Personally Endorsed Pick: Minnesota Wild
Full transparency: I am a Wild fan, so I am constitutionally incapable of being objective here. But the Wild are a genuinely fun team to watch, they are very much in the playoff picture, and I think they are underappreciated outside of Minnesota in a way that is frankly rude. If you are looking for a team to adopt and you want to be welcomed by a fanbase that is both passionate and, relative to the rest of the NHL, remarkably civil, come to Minnesota. We have room. We have been waiting a long time to be obnoxious about being good and we would love the company.
Is Any of This Actually Unethical?
Okay, fine, let’s actually answer the question I posed at the top.
No. Bandwagoning is not unethical. It is not a moral failing. It is not a betrayal of sport or fandom or anything else. It is a person choosing to engage with something they find exciting, and the only people who find that threatening are people whose fandom identity is built around exclusivity rather than community.
The one thing I will say is this: be honest about it. There is something a little grating about a bandwagon fan who suddenly has the hottest of takes on a team they discovered three weeks ago, delivered with the authority of someone who has held season tickets for a decade. Enthusiasm is great. Manufactured expertise is a bit much.
Come for the playoffs. Stay for the sport. Pick your team. The bandwagon has room.
Just maybe don’t lecture the actual fans about their own team. That’s the only rule.
Who are you rooting for this postseason? Drop it in the comments — bandwagon or not, no judgment here. (Except for the Stars fans. I’m kidding. Mostly.)
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