If you were born and raised in Michigan, there is a good chance that you are a hockey fan.  Why?  For starters, Michigan has one of the oldest and most successful professional hockey franchises ever in the Detroit Red Wings.  But also because several Michigan colleges and universities also have very successful hockey teams.

Our friends at WalletHub put together a list of 2021's Best Cities for Hockey Fans and Michigan had one of the best showings overall.  The survey ranked the top 73 cities for hockey fans and Detroit took the number 2 spot overall.

5 Best Cities For Hockey Fans

  1. Boston, MA
  2. Detroit, MI
  3. Pittsburgh, PA
  4. New York, NY
  5. St. Louis, MO

Only Detroit made it in to the top 5, but 7 other Michigan cities did make the list.

Michigan Cities Ranked In Best Cities For Hockey Fans

  • Detroit (2)
  • Houghton (26)
  • Ann Arbor (28)
  • East Lansing (33)
  • Big Rapids (34)
  • Sault Ste. Marie (41)
  • Marquette (53)
  • Kalamazoo (69)

You can check out the entire list of cities at WalletHub.com, or take a look at the rankings on the interactive map below.

Source: WalletHub

Some fun facts from the survey include Houghton, MI having the 4th highest college hockey stadium capacity at Michigan Technological University as well as the highest fan engagement at the college level.  And the Detroit Red Wings have the 5th highest average ticket price, despite being one of the worst performing teams as of late.

What's surprising is that Grand Rapids didn't make the list.  The Grand Rapids Griffins have won 2 Calder Cup championships (2012-13 and 2016-17 seasons) and several regular season, division, and conference championships.  The Griffins also averaged higher attendance levels than the league average for over a decade.

Maybe Grand Rapids will make the list next year.

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