Twitter, in general, can often be viewed as a sort of portal into the very worst thoughts that humanity has to offer. The veil of anonymity afforded to ‘faceless egg’ accounts can drum up the sort of content that would make even Don Rickles cringe.
Luckily we’ve machete’d through the thick jungle of the online world and found 50 NHL related twitter accounts that actually add to the online hockey experience.
To avoid the risk of inciting a riot among worthwhile fans that cleverly tweet along with every piece of news and are worth following, this year’s list focuses heavily on players, teams, and members of hockey organizations. Rest assured: If the list was best twitter hockey fan accounts you would have definitely made it. Your tweets are good!
Some other notes: Beat reporters were avoided. We do recommend following the beat writers for your favourite team, though. Make sure to tweet them your suggestions for line combinations and also play amateur editor of their columns. They love that. Also, the list is in no particular order.
On to the list:
Section 1 – The Goaltenders
Roberto Luongo (@strombone1)
Followers: 562K
Get him out of the way early, because he’s the player that acts like you like to imagine your favourite player would act online.
Eddie Lack (@EddieLack)
Followers: 118K
If you follow Luongo, you should also follow Lack to make sure you get your daily dose of adorable.
Brian Elliott (@KidElls1)
Followers: 69K
If you change the game by inventing the on-ice selfie, you make the list. It’s not complicated.
Ben Scrivens (@Ben_Scrivens)
Followers: 77K
Thoughtful and poignant, Scrivens rarely talks hockey on his account. He’s been very outspoken on issues for mental health awareness and equal rights.
Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist30)
Followers: 528K
Aside from getting insights from a legendary goaltender, following Henrik you also get access to high fashion.
Dustin Tokarski (@DustinTokarski)
Followers: 47K
Are you a fan of the word dece? Because Tokarski loves the word dece. All of his tweets say dece, his profile picture says dece, his bio says dece. His account is dece.
Section 2 – The Team Accounts
Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs)
Followers: 1M
The Maple Leafs no longer sit idly by and allows people to lob cheap jokes in their direction. Whether you’re a fan or not, the team account is worth a follow to ensure you catch a view of somebody getting owned.
LA Kings (@LAKings)
Followers: 678K
The originators of ridiculous, the LA Kings team account continues to set the tone for fun online. They tweet like people talk!
Dallas Stars (@DallasStars)
Followers: 265K
Growing in popularity thanks to some in-game scoreboard gags, the Stars account understands one fundamental thing about covering a team on twitter: It’s supposed to be fun.
Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL)
Followers: 237K
The Jackets hold on to the adorable title of the NHL team account little brother. Who can forget the year we all fell in love with #Lumbus
Bailey (@BaileyLAKings)
Followers: 42K
The Kings mascot does everything you could ask for from an animal on twitter. Punny jokes, good pictures, and a blood feud with CM Punk.
CM Punk (@CMPunk)
Followers: 2.4M
WWE superstar turned UFC fighter, Punk is probably the most visible celebrity hockey fan on the internet.
Section 3 – The Retirees
Jeremy Roenick (@Jeremy_Roenick)
Followers: 248K
There’s only one Jeremy Roenick. Anybody that ends a statement with “Again I’m right in my analysis” earns a spot.
Mike Johnson (@mike_p_johnson)
Followers: 45K
A former player turned analyst, Johnson impresses in the booth and online with thoughtful and rational takes. Yes, you can do that.
Colby Armstrong (@armdog)
Followers: 178K
A good mix of current analysis and stories from a veteran road warrior.
Wayne Gretzky (@OfficialGretzky)
Followers: 101K
The de facto worldwide ambassador of the game, The Great One doesn’t even mind when you spell his name wrong in public.
Section 4- The NWHL
NWHL (@NWHL_)
Followers: 10K
The National Women’s Hockey League has figured out the key to twitter success: gifs of animals.
Natalie Spooner (@NatSpooner5)
Followers: 21K
Gold medallist, Amazing Race contestant, pro hockey player.
Jenny Scrivens (@JenScrivs)
Followers: 10K
Take everything written about Ben Scrivens and apply it here with an extra dose of heartwarming history being made in the process.
Hilary Knight (@Hilary_Knight)
Followers: 54K
2x Olympic Silver Medalist, 5x World Champion, 2x National Champion. A champion of champions. Successful at success.
Megan Bozek (@Meganebozek)
Followers: 6K
One of the most exciting young players in the NWHL.
Section 5 – Off-ice intelligence
Kyle Dubas (@KyleDubas)
Followers: 26K
The assistant GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs stands as one of the public faces of new wave hockey thought. Also a huge wrestling fan.
Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC)
Followers: 251K
If you’re a huge hockey fan and you’re not following Elliotte Friedman I’m not sure you’re doing it right. Tireless, with the best weekly column in hockey in 30 Thoughts.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/649588892212043777
Patrick Burke (@BurkieNHL)
Followers: 24K
A worthwhile follow for his incredible effort with the You Can Play team and now the Director of NHL Player Safety, Burke is a must-have for the jokes about his family above all.
https://twitter.com/BurkieNHL/status/648555014911315969
Sportlogiq (@Sportlogiq)
Followers: 1.9K
Developing cutting edge ways to track and analyze data, Sportlogiq is emerging as leaders in new ways to think about the game.
General Fanager (@generalfanager)
Followers: 18K
The leading candidate to replace the legendary CapGeek, General Fanager does all the hard work figuring out the NHL salary cap puzzle so you don’t have to.
https://twitter.com/generalfanager/status/646045399392911360
Dobber (@dobberhockey)
Followers: 13K
The kings of fantasy hockey advice, Dobber is the place to go to get a leg up on draft competition.
NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety)
Followers: 71K
Who got suspended and why? NHL Player Safety has the answer. Yes, they did see the hit you’re talking about.
Allan Walsh (@walsha)
Followers: 35K
A sports agent and lawyer, Walsh reveals peeks at the parts of the business of the game that fans rarely if ever get access to.
Section 6 – The millennials
Regular Sean Monahan (@Monahan20) and Boring Sean Monahan (@BoringMonahan)
Followers: 32K (regular) 58K (boring)
Regular Sean Monahan is actually kind of fun.
https://twitter.com/Monahan20/status/648252372938919936
Boring Sean Monahan is a totally different kind of fun.
Brendan Gallagher (@BGALLY17) and Alex Galchenyuk (@AGally94)
Followers: 177K (BGally) 166K (AGally)
If you follow one Gally, follow the other. The bromance is undeniable.
Brandon Prust (@BrandonPrust8)
Followers: 256K
Prusty is a pest to play against on the ice and he’s not afraid to keep that same smack talk going online.
https://twitter.com/BrandonPrust8/status/643502142574211072
Nazem Kadri (@43_kadri)
Followers: 187K
The Maple Leafs young centre is a life-long Ontario native living the dream in Blue and White.
Sam Gagner (@89SGagner)
Followers: 91K
The Philadelphia Flyers forward is on great terms with one of the Blue Jays most popular players.
Evander Kane (@evanderkane_9)
Followers: 181K
Evander’s selfie game is on point, and he encourages multi-platform social following. Above all, you don’t want to be the last to find out when he’s on his money phone again.
Curtis Lazar (@CurtisLazar95)
Followers: 36K
Do you really need a blurb about why you should follow the guy that ate a cheeseburger off the ice?
Logan Couture (@Logancouture)
Followers: 203K
The lifelong Bills and Blue Jays fan has grown accustomed to suffering. Lucky, because he can’t seem to shake this video:
Section 7 – The All-Stars
Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul)
Followers: 312K
The Maple Leafs forward has had his share of the back-and-forths that come along with being a high profile sports figure in Toronto. Despite swearing off twitter at one point, he couldn’t help but come back when Blue Jays fever took hold.
P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1)
Followers: 670K
P.K. Subban is an unparalleled beacon of personality in the sports world. His fashion sense can’t be matched, either.
Taylor Hall (@Hallsy04)
Followers: 368K
On the night the Oilers won the draft lottery Hall had no hesitation in giving out his own scouting report.
Erik Karlsson (@ErikKarlsson65)
Followers: 186K
Not only is Karlsson an elite defenceman, he also maintains his own tumblr page and makes a great cup of coffee. He’s the best intern we’ve ever had.
Kevin Shattenkirk (@Shattdeuces)
Followers: 96K
I’ll be honest: I’m not even sure his twitter account is any good. But it’ll be a cold day at the equator before somebody with the handle ‘shattdeuces’ is left off this list.
Bobby Ryan (@b_ryan9)
Followers: 240K
Ryan appears to be having a lot of fun with his account. He’ll go back and forth with fans and opposing players alike.
https://twitter.com/b_ryan9/status/628959999021051904
Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr)
Followers: 166K
Jagr doesn’t tweet much, but that doesn’t stop me from saying you should follow Jagr on twitter. You should also follow Jagr in every way imaginable. You should be trying to be Jaromir Jagr.
Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8)
Followers: 1.4M
Ovechkin is Russia’s gift to the world. His smile and personality are undeniable and infectious. That salt-and-pepper hair is perfection.
Section 8 – The One and Only
Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerCBC)
Followers: 606K
How many 81-year-olds do you know with high profile twitter accounts capable of swaying an all-star voting system? Famously tweeting by calling an office assistant on the phone, Grapes’ takes on anything under the sun are can’t miss content. Long live the numbered lists.
