What Twitter told us about the first half of the 2017/2018 NHL season

The first half of the 2017/2018 @NHL season is now on ice and once again, hockey fans across the planet took to Twitter to talk about the league’s top teams and talent.

The Teams

The league’s first-year franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights), have owned the @NHL conversation in recent months. They enter the #NHLAllStar break as the league’s most-mentioned team this season with 1.4x more mentons than the second ranked squad, the Pittsburgh Penguins (@pengunis).

The @GoldenKnights have also seen a massive growth in their Twitter audience. Since Opening Night, they have gained more than 100,000 new Twitter followers; an increase of 55% in less than four months. They are one of only seven @NHL teams to have gained upwards of 100,000 new followers this season.

North of the border, the surprising Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) have more points than any other Canadian @NHL team but it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) who won on Twitter during the season’s first half amongst Canadian teams.

These were the 10 most-mentioned team accounts on Twitter during the first half of the 2017/2018 @NHL season.

1. Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights)
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (@Penguins)
3. New York Rangers (@NYRangers)
4. Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs)
5. Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks)
6. Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL)
7. Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins)
8. Los Angeles Kings (@LAKings)
9. New Jersey Devils (@njdevils)
10. Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning)

The Talent

Nikita Kucherov (@86Kucherov) is the league’s leading scorer at the #NHLAllStar break but he wasn’t able to break the Top 10 list of the most-mentioned @NHL players so far this season (he ranked 23rd if you’re keeping track).

These were the 10 most-mentioned @NHL players on Twitter during the first half of the 2017/2018 season.

1. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
3. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
5. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
6. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
7. Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins
8. Matt Duchene, Ottawa Senators
9. Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
10. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators

In terms of audience growth, the Nashville Predators defenceman P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) has gained more than 73,000 new followers this season, the most of any player in the league. Here are the five @NHL players who have gained the most new followers since the season began on October 4th:

1. P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators (@PKSubban1)
2. Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils (@hallsy)
3. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (@cmcdavid97)
4. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (@HLundqvist30)
5. Matt Duchene, Ottawa Senators (@Matt9Duchene)

Keep tabs on Twitter during the second half of the @NHL season for the latest game highlights, trade rumours and player reactions as the road to the #StanleyCup begins.