Sorry to Break it to You Red Wings Fans, But You’re Obnoxious

Detroit Red Wings fans are among the most obnoxious in the NHL.

That isn’t our opinion here at Detroit Hockey Now. Not at all. In fact, we love and appreciate everyone who appreciates the winged wheel.

It’s NHL fans around the league who aren’t feeling that same level of love.

A poll commissioned by gambling website Action Network found that 5.93% of fans around the league thought that Red Wings supporters were the most annoying and obnoxious in the NHL.

A survey conducted by Research Without Barriers (RWB) between May 15-23rd was polling 2,090 die-hard USA and Canadian NHL fans on subjects that were including the most obnoxious fan base.

CLASSLESS BRUINS FANS THROWING STUFF AT PLAYERS AND TRYING TO STEAL STICKS pic.twitter.com/5qJ74KkoWB

— SensNation (@SensNation_) April 18, 2017

It was Detroit’s Atlantic Division rivals the Boston Bruins who took the title as most annoying fans. The survey found that 10.48% of all voters went with the Bruins as their top choice. Other teams polling worse than the Red Wings included the Toronto Maple Leafs (9.38%), Philadelphia Flyers (8.78%) and New York Rangers (6.56%).

Red Wings Fans Don’t Like Themselves

Another element to the poll was to determine which fan bases are the most self loathing. Again, the Red Wings were finishing high on this list.

Evidently, some of you folks don’t like each other. Or perhaps it simply comes down to the fact that Detroit supporters are savvy enough to recognize the shortcomings of their team and are willing to give an honest assessment of the club’s potential.

Whatever the case, Detroit fans finished seventh overall in the self-loathing category. A total of 13% of the team’s fans were calling their own supporters the most obnoxious.

Boston, Anaheim and Philadelphia each tied for top spot in this category at 21%. Surprisingly, reigning NHL champion Florida Panthers were next at 18%. Apparently, playing in the Stanley Cup final every spring gets on the nerves of a fan base.

Detroit Fans Don’t Kid About Sid

The Tkachuk family, Brad Marchand and Alex Ovechkin were dominating a poll as to which NHL player is the most annoying. As he was surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals mark, Ovi was also getting on the nerves of many NHL fans. Seven different fan bases found him to be the league’s most annoying player.

"Seth, he's a quieter man than Brad but… we all are."

Paul Maurice on Panthers additions Seth Jones and Brad Marchand.😅 pic.twitter.com/2GlyL0Dgpw

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 4, 2025

That led him to draw a leading 8.1% of the vote. Four groups of fans found that Marchand was the player who most got under their skin. Three groups of fans went with Matthew Tkachuk and another three with his brother Brady.

For Red Wings fans, though, it was an old annoyance that continued to be the player drawing their ire. Detroit supporters went for Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby as the most annoying NHL player. Those who love the Red Wings were among six fan bases that chose Crosby in this category.

A sad indictment as to how far the Wings have fallen within the NHL consciousness is that no team’s fanbase was the least bit annoyed by any Detroit player.