87% of Avalanche Fans Think Aliens are Real: Which Other NHL Fanbases Believe in Supernatural Beings?
October means two perfect things happening at once: hockey's back, and Halloween's around the corner. If you've ever watched a playoff game, you know hockey players are basically professional superstition practitioners.
They grow beards for months, wear the same gross gear without washing it, eat identical meals before every game, and refuse to say certain words out loud. Sidney Crosby ate the same pre-game peanut butter and jelly sandwich for years. Patrick Roy had full conversations with his goalposts. Players won't step on the team logo in the locker room. The entire sport is built on rituals that would make a medieval priest go, "okay, that's a bit much”.
So we started wondering: if hockey fans are willing to accept that not shaving for two months will somehow help their team win, what else are they buying into? Do they think arenas are haunted? That aliens are real? That shadowy government agencies are hiding proof of extraterrestrial life?
The research team at Free Bets surveyed nearly 1,900 fans across all 32 teams to find out which fanbases believe in the truly unexplainable stuff that can't be blamed on a bad bounce or a missed call.
Turns out, the Florida Panthers raising their second straight Stanley Cup banner might not be the most unbelievable thing that’s happened in hockey.
Key Takeaways:
- Colorado Avalanche fans are the most superstitious in the NHL, with 63.3% believing in at least one or more supernatural phenomena, followed by New Jersey Devils (61.4%) and Calgary Flames (60%).
- Utah Mammoth and Buffalo Sabres fans tie for most skeptical at just 40%.
- Aliens dominate all beliefs, with 75.1% of NHL fans saying we're not alone.
- Over half of Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks fans believe in ghosts, with the Canadiens leading at 57.9%.
- Chicago Blackhawks fans lead the league in government cover-up beliefs, with 33.9% convinced the Feds know aliens exist and are hiding it.
- New York Rangers fans are most likely to have had paranormal experiences at 17.2%, closely followed by Seattle Kraken fans at 15.3%.
Colorado Fans Believe in Everything (Including Their Team)
If you're looking for the NHL's true ‘supernatural supporters’, head to the Rocky Mountains. Colorado Avalanche fans don't just believe in their team's chances at another Cup – they believe in pretty much everything supernatural. With an average belief rate of 63.3% across all paranormal phenomena, they're the most superstitious fanbase in hockey by a significant margin.
Following closely behind in belief in stranger things are New Jersey Devils fans at 61.4% and Calgary Flames supporters at 60%. Rounding out the top five are Montreal Canadiens at 59.1% and a three-way tie between Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets all at 58.3%.
On the flip side, Utah Mammoth and Buffalo Sabres fans tie for the league's biggest skeptics with just 40% as believers, making them 23 percentage points less superstitious than the league's most convinced fanbases. Ottawa Senators fans come in third-least superstitious at 44.4%, followed by Philadelphia Flyers at 45% and Nashville Predators at 46.7%.
For a team like the Sabres, whose fans have endured years of disappointment, you'd think they'd be more willing to believe in supernatural intervention. But apparently, Buffalo fans have seen enough heartbreak to know that no amount of ghostly assistance is going to help their playoff drought.
Aliens Are More Popular Than Your Favorite Player
Let's put this in perspective: 75.1% of NHL fans believe intelligent alien life exists somewhere out there. That's not a fringe belief. That's not a conspiracy theory. That's three-quarters of hockey fans who've looked at the vastness of space and decided, yeah, we're probably not the only ones here.
But Colorado takes it to another level entirely. A staggering 87.7% of Avalanche fans believe in aliens. That's nearly nine out of ten people. At that point, you're not talking about believers and skeptics, you're talking about an overwhelming consensus.
The Chicago Blackhawks aren't far behind at 86.4%, and Vegas Golden Knights fans come in at 86.2%. Both expansion-era Vegas and Original Six Chicago agreeing on something tells you this transcends hockey tradition or market size. Montreal Canadiens fans clock in at 84.2%, while Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils tie at 84.5%.
When asked about alien theories, the responses varied. While the specific percentages weren't broken down in our data, we know that Blackhawks fans lead the league in one particular conspiracy: 33.9% believe the government knows aliens exist and is actively covering it up. That's one in three Blackhawks fans who think the truth is out there, and the Feds are hiding it.
Given some of the bizarre calls we've seen from NHL refs recently (and let's not even talk about Toronto's review room), maybe those aren't officials making the calls. Maybe they're aliens testing human patience one offside review at a time.
What Else is Frozen Deep in the Ice?
Behind aliens, angels are the supernatural phenomenon with the most believers, with belief rates ranging from 39% (Minnesota Wild) to 65.5% (Tampa Bay Lightning). Ghosts and demons also see significant belief across fanbases.
Montreal Canadiens fans are the most likely to think ghosts exist, with 57.9% saying spirits are real. That's fitting for a franchise with so much history – maybe they believe the ghosts of Canadiens legends are still haunting the Bell Centre. Los Angeles Kings fans come in second at 59.6%, followed by San Jose Sharks at 58.6%.
Interestingly, Minnesota Wild fans buck the trend entirely. While most teams' top three beliefs are aliens, angels, and either ghosts or demons, Wild fans have a unique supernatural profile: aliens at 72.9%, witches/warlocks at 45.8%, and angels at just 39%. That's right, Minnesota fans are more likely to believe in witches than they are in angels.
The more obscure beliefs get less traction, as you'd expect. Reptilian humanoids, vampires, and werewolves all see single-digit or low double-digit belief rates across most fanbases.
Are Reptilian Humanoids Running the NHL?
Here’s a cold-blooded twist: 13.7% of NHL fans believe in reptilian humanoids, better known as lizard people. You read that right. Roughly one in seven hockey fans thinks shape-shifting reptiles are walking among us – maybe working in world governments, corporate boardrooms, or (depending on who you ask) the NHL’s front office.
In the late ’90s, British author David Icke helped cement a wild idea: shape-shifting, blood-drinking reptilians from Alpha Draconis have blended into society by posing as humans. Fans of the theory say these covert “lizard overlords” sit in elite seats, presidents, tycoons, maybe a general manager or two, nudging the world toward their agenda.
Leading the league in reptilian belief are Buffalo Sabres (24.1%) and New York Islanders (22.4%) fans – that’s about one in four Sabres supporters who think their boss, their neighbor, or possibly their left winger might secretly be a cold-blooded creature in disguise. New York Rangers (20.7%), Winnipeg Jets (19.3%), and Vancouver Canucks (19.3%) round out the top five.
For these fans, after years of bizarre bounces, phantom penalty calls, and playoff heartbreaks that defy logic, maybe believing someone – or something – is pulling the strings from the shadows is a way to make sense of it all. After all, if lizard people really are running the NHL, at least it explains why the puck sometimes seems to have a mind of its own.
Believers Who Don’t Always Drop the Gloves
While belief is high, action is rare. Only about 1 in 10 NHL fans have ever tried to engage with the supernatural through a psychic, a medium, or a ouija board.
Interestingly, fans of the Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Montreal Canadiens show the widest “belief-action gap” in the league. Kraken fans, for instance, have a 31-point difference between believing in the supernatural and actually doing anything about it, proving they’d rather battle ghosts on the forecheck than call one up at home.
Meanwhile, Mammoth and Bruins fans rank among the most action-oriented. Maybe desert nights and Original Six legacies make people a little more curious about what’s beyond the boards.
Division Rivalries: Even the Supernatural Takes Sides
Looking at overall supernatural belief rates (averaged across all phenomena from aliens to ghosts to demons), the Rocky Mountain region dominates. The Colorado Avalanche lead the entire NHL at 63.3%, with the Calgary Flames not far behind at 60%.
In the Atlantic Division, the Devils lead at 61.4%, followed by the Maple Leafs and Bruins tied at 58.3%. The Panthers come in at 51.7%, Lightning at 53.3%, and Canadiens at 59.1%. Meanwhile, the Senators (44.4%), Sabres (40%), and Flyers (45%) round out the bottom of the division – and the league.
The Metropolitan Division shows an interesting variety. Devils fans lead their division significantly, while fans of the Blue Jackets sit at 50%, Hurricanes at 51.4%, and Penguins at 55%. The Rangers and Islanders both check in at the division average around 48-50%.
Out West, the Central Division features the Avalanche's league-leading 63.3%, but also includes some of the league's most skeptical fans. Fans of the Jets sit at 58.3%, Wild at 56%, Stars at 55%, Blues at 53.3%, and Predators bring up the rear at just 46.7%.
The Pacific Division is all over the map. The Flames lead at 60%, but the division also includes the league's two most skeptical fanbases: the Mammoth at 40% and the Ducks at 56.3%. Vegas sits at 48%, Seattle at 53.3%, and the Kings, Sharks, Oilers, and Canucks all hover in the 47-57% range.
What Does All This Mean for Hockey Season?
As we head deeper into October and Halloween approaches with the NHL season just getting started, it's clear that hockey fans aren't just superstitious about their game-day rituals. They genuinely think there's something else out there, whether it's aliens watching from above, ghosts haunting historic arenas, or demons making goalies let in soft goals at crucial moments.
The season opened on October 7 with the Panthers raising their second straight championship banner, Gabriel Landeskog playing his first regular-season game since 2022 for the Avalanche, and all 32 teams gearing up for another run at Lord Stanley. With the Olympics coming in February and outdoor games planned in Florida, this season promises plenty of memorable moments.
So this Halloween, when you're watching your team and something inexplicable happens on the ice, a puck that takes a weird bounce, a goalie interference call that makes no sense, a playoff collapse that defies all logic, remember: it might not just be bad coaching or questionable officiating. According to a significant chunk of NHL fans, there could be forces at work that we can't see, can't explain, and definitely can't challenge with a coach's challenge.
So before you go dropping your gloves with the guy on the bar stool next to you over who really deserved that penalty shot, take a breath and remember this: the forces at play in hockey might stretch far beyond the blue line. And if that’s the case, you might want to save your energy for the intergalactic rematch.
Methodology
This survey was conducted in September 2025 and included 1,854 NHL fans across the United States and Canada, with an average age of 38. Fans of each team appeared between 57 and 59 times in the survey sample, ensuring representation across all 32 NHL fanbases.
Fair Use
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