Colorado Avalanche fans have a reputation for bringing heat, and now there’s a study backing up what plenty of opposing fan bases already know: they know how to get under people’s skin.
Casino.org put together a Rage-Bait Index that measured how fans try to annoy rivals, and the survey reached more than 4,000 fans across North America. It looked across all four major sports, and Avalanche supporters landed sixth overall.
The index tracked a handful of behaviors designed to needle the other side:
Bragging after beating a rival
Posting memes to mock another team
Celebrating a rival’s loss online or directly in front of opposing fans
Booing opposing fans
Replying to a rival to annoy them
Start an argument with a rival fan
Colorado finished with a 61.3 out of 100, which was enough to lead all Western Conference teams. The five clubs ahead of the Avalanche were all from the Eastern Conference.
That tracks with what you see online, where Avalanche fans are often quick to rub a win in someone else’s face. It doesn’t hurt that the team has been the NHL’s best, either.
The point here isn’t about crossing a line into bad behavior. It’s about the kinds of sharp, pointed reactions that let other fan bases know Avalanche fans aren’t backing off, even when the team has an off night.
And there should be plenty for them to celebrate in 2026-27. Colorado looks like the class of the Western Conference, and with relatively little roster turnover, the team is basically set to run it back.
That matters because last season came painfully close to a return to the Stanley Cup Final. The sweep by the Vegas Golden Knights stung, but Colorado was never blown out in the series. A few different bounces could have changed everything.
That’s the setup for 2026-27: if the Avalanche stay healthy, dominate the regular season, and carry that edge into the postseason, they could be built to navigate the 84-game grind and the Stanley Cup Playoffs one opponent at a time.
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