Biggest celebrity fans for all 16 Stanley Cup playoff teams
In honor of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, we’ve identified a starting lineup of celebrity fans for all 16 NHL teams in the postseason.
Here is how they stack up.
Atlantic Division
The roster: Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Conor McGregor, Bill Burr
This is easily the funniest collection of celebrity fans, which is no surprise given Boston’s legendary stand-up scene.
Carell is one of the better hockey players on this list. The Massachusetts native played at several levels and confirmed his rooting interests during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Speaking of “The Office,” Krasinski enlisted David Denman (who played Roy on the show) to troll co-star Jenna Fischer in a video from Game 7 of that year.
Massachusetts native Burr tweets about the Bruins regularly.
Congratulations to the Boston Bruins! 65-12-5!!!! Incredible season! Unfortunately, I missed most of it watching gecko’s garage. #BillyBandwagon #GoBruins!
— Bill Burr (@billburr) April 14, 2023
McGregor, one of the most famous MMA fighters, visited the Bruins locker room and dropped the puck at a game in 2019. That’s good enough, at the least, to be the enforcer on this squad.
The roster: Justin Bieber, Drake, Will Arnett, Mike Myers, Chris Hadfield
The Leafs have no shortage of celebrity fans. They also have the high-end edge on this list, with Bieber and Drake, two of the most famous human beings on the planet. Bieber has released tributes to the Leafs. Drake was once visited by Mats Sundin at one of his concerts in Stockholm.
Myers is one of the longest celebrity Leafs fans, naming characters in “Austin Powers” after former Leafs Doug Gilmour and Nikolai Borschevsky. “The Love Guru” includes the Leafs in the plot of the film.
Toronto native Arnett also makes the starting five because he’s hilarious and “Arrested Development” still rules.
Finally, we have astronaut Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space. He also dropped the puck at a Leafs game from space, perhaps the biggest flex in recorded history.
The roster: Dick Vitale, Hulk Hogan, Charles Barkley, Stephen King
One commonality among Lightning celeb fans is their positive reactions to Lightning coach Jon Cooper. Cooper has been shouted out by Barkley and Dickie V.
We’re not sure how King became a Lightning fan, but he flew his flag in a reply to actor Kim Coates’ tweet. As for the Hulkster, he’s been an icon on the Tampa sports scene for quite a while and displays his Lightning fandom proudly.
Metropolitan Division
The roster: Stephen Colbert, Petey Pablo, John Isner, Evander Holyfield
Former heavyweight boxing champion Holyfield makes the list because of this incredible Storm Surge:
North Carolina, come on and raise up! Pablo has to be included, thanks to his anthem being the goal song.
Tennis pro Isner makes the list as a fan and as one-time tennis coach for Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen. And Isner knows about multiple overtime sporting events, having participated in an 11-hour match at Wimbledon.
Colbert is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. Not only did he celebrate on “The Daily Show” when the Canes last won the Cup in 2006, but he had Canes emergency goalie David Ayres make an appearance on “The Late Show.”
The roster: Kevin Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Warburton, Edge, Jay Weinberg
Smith is a natural fit since he regularly fashions hockey jerseys and loves to rep his Devils (including a Devils section at his Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash comic store in Red Bank, New Jersey, a must visit).
Wrestler Edge is an interesting one — he certainly reps his Leafs, having grown up outside of Toronto. However, he fell in love with the game, and goaltenders in particular, watching Chico Resch play for the Devils. He’s attended games repping the red, black and white, so he definitely makes the cut.
Warburton will forever be connected with “Puddy” from “Seinfeld” (“gotta support the team!”). It would be a miss if we don’t get Puddy drinking from the Stanley Cup if Jersey wins. O’Neal was born in Newark and certainly doesn’t hide his love for the Devils. Weinberg of Slipknot rounds out the list, bringing the head-nodding, heart-pounding beats.
The roster: Margot Robbie, Liam Neeson, Tim Robbins, Eli Manning
The Rangers also have no shortage of celebrity fans — my personal favorites are Rick Moranis and Michael J. Fox — but the ones listed above are regulars to MSG and often seen on the JumboTron cheering the team. Liam Neeson even reenacted his famous scene from “Taken” for the team.
East wild cards
The roster: Kevin Connolly, Ralph Macchio, Chloë Grace Moretz, Billy Joel
Connolly has done plenty with the Isles, from making a pick at the NHL draft to making an ESPN 30 for 30 film on John Spano’s infamous efforts to buy the team. He was the easiest pick on this list.
Long Island native Macchio — star of “Karate Kid” and “Cobra Kai” — has been spotted at Isles games and had an Isles bobblehead in his honor.
Fellow screen star Chloë Grace Moretz is also frequently spotted at games rocking an Isles jersey. She also trolled Caps fans on social media.
Open net never works caps..
— Chloë Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) April 16, 2015
Despite his famed sellout streak at Madison Square Garden, Joel is a Long Island native and has been around for the team’s big moments, including the announcement of UBS Arena and postseason games at the Coliseum. He also has had a bobblehead night dedicated to him.
The roster: Ariana Grande, Josh Gad, Lexi Thompson, Tua Tagovailoa
Grande has one of the best celebrity hockey origin stories. Well before she became a megastar, she rode the Zamboni as a kid at a Panthers game. She also has the dubious honor of being the first person struck by a puck in the stands at the Panthers arena. Her fandom didn’t waver, though.
Star of the stage and screen — and, importantly for a sport played on ice, the voice of “Olaf” in the “Frozen” movies — Gad is a South Florida native and counts the Panthers among his favorite teams.
One of the team’s newer celeb fans is Miami Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa, who celebrated his birthday with the Panthers. Sticking in the realm of athletes, LPGA tour member Thompson has also attended Panthers games.
Central Division
The roster: John Elway, Larry Walker, Trey Parker
We’ve got some great former Colorado athletes on this list, including Broncos legend Elway, who has golfed with Avs GM Joe Sakic and wished the team well on social media. Baseball Hall of Famer and Rockies legend Walker once served as the Avs’ honorary emergency goaltender.
Perhaps the most passionate celebrity Avs fan is “South Park” co-creator Parker, who has featured the Avs in the series.
The roster: Pantera
Members of the group Pantera might be some of the best celebrity fans of any NHL team — their goal song, specifically written for the Stars, has endured for decades. The team also partied with Pantera after the 1999 Stanley Cup win.
The roster: Richard Dean Anderson, the Hanson brothers, Prince, Nick Swardson
We start with the original “MacGyver” himself, Anderson. MacGyver can solve any problem, with seemingly any objects at his disposal; that sounds like a useful trait in a hockey player. Anderson is also renowned as a ringer in celebrity hockey games.
Next up are the Hanson brothers, from the greatest hockey movie of all time, “Slap Shot.” The Carlson brothers, who portrayed Steve and Jeff Hanson, are from Minnesota, while the third brother, David Hanson, is from Cumberland, Wisconsin.
Prince makes the list posthumously, as he deserves to be on any rundown of famous Minnesotans.
Another famous Minnesotan is comedian Swardson, who has been vociferous on social media about his fandom.
Pacific Division
The roster: Bryce Harper, Lil’ Jon, Wayne Newton, Gordon Ramsay, Daniel Negreanu
There’s no shortage of celebrities in Vegas. But it starts with Philadelphia Phillies star Harper, a Vegas native and huge Golden Knights fan.
Then there’s Lil’ Jon, who has served as hype man at T-Mobile Arena, as has Newton. The pair even performed a collaboration for the Golden Knights, which is the most random but most Vegas thing in recent memory:
Ramsay has joined Lil’ Jon at VGK games, donning the Golden Knights threads, so we’ll include him here too.
Then there is Toronto native Negreanu, one of the greatest poker players and a Golden Knights season-ticket holder. He is a die-hard hockey fan and been vocal about having a team in Vegas long before the Golden Knights arrived.
The roster: Jordan Buhat, Brett Kissel, Todd McFarlane, Kurt Browning, Kevin Smith
Buhat is an actor on the show “Grown-ish,” a spinoff of the show “Black-ish.” He is an Edmonton native and a die-hard Oilers fan.
Famed comic book writer McFarlane, who worked on “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “Spawn,” among many other projects, once owned part of the Oilers, despite being a Calgary native.
Country singer and Alberta native Kissel had a famous moment when a faulty mic turned into a memorable anthem rendition by a packed house of Oilers fans.
We’ll also include Browning, who was one of Canada’s more prominent figure skaters. He was an honorary captain when the NHL appointed celebrity captaincies in 1991.
The roster: Taylor Swift, Will Ferrell, Snoop Dogg, Zac Efron, Channing Tatum
Of course, L.A. is going to have the most star power. Swift alone would have dominated this whole thing, but add Ferrell, perhaps the most vocal of the bunch, along with Snoop, who hilariously has done Kings commentary, Tatum, who’s been sighted at games, and Efron, and you have a starting five fit for Hollywood.
West wild cards
The roster: Chris Jericho, Doc Walker, Fred Penner, Neil Young, Burton Cummings
The obvious choice here is Jericho, who grew up in Winnipeg. His father, Ted Irvine, played in the NHL mostly for the Rangers, later skating for the Kings during their first three seasons in the NHL. Jericho is an avid Jets fan and this video of him doing hockey highlights (including his dad fighting Bobby Orr) is definitely worth a watch.
The Jets celebrity fan group includes people whom Canadians would know pretty well:
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Country music group Walker, who once wrote a parody song cutting up the Nashville Predators
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Children’s show star Penner, who every Canadian who grew up in the 1980s knows extremely well
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Singer and Winnipeg native Cummings
The legendary Young has deep roots in Winnipeg, particularly early in his career, which definitely qualifies him for this group … as does this video of him welcoming the Jets back to Winnipeg.
The roster: Sue Bird, Macklemore, Marshawn Lynch, Rainn Wilson
A strong group for the young Kraken. They’ve got Bird, one of the best athletes of her generation; Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute on “The Office,” and rapper Macklemore and Seahawks legend Lynch, who are both part-owners of the team.
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Adam Rittenberg
Art Briles has been hired as the next coach at Eastern New Mexico, a Division II program, as he makes his return to college football after nearly a decade.
Briles, 69, has not worked at a college program since being fired as Baylor’s head coach in 2016 following a review of the university’s handling of sexual assault allegations made against several football players. He since has had stints coaching for Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League and at Mount Vernon High School in Texas from 2019 to 2020.
“I am excited to welcome Art to Eastern New Mexico University,” Eastern New Mexico athletic director Kevin Fite said in a statement Monday. “He is an excellent coach, and I look forward to the future of Greyhound football.”
In 2022, Grambling State attempted to hire Briles as offensive coordinator, but following a backlash, he told the school just four days later that he would not pursue the role, saying he didn’t want to be a distraction to the team. A similar situation occurred in 2017 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, who tried to hire Briles but then pulled their offer on the same day amid backlash.
Fite served as associate athletic director for compliance and eligibility at Houston when Briles served as the school’s head coach. Briles, who built his reputation as an offensive innovator at Texas high schools before entering the college ranks, went 99-65 as the coach at Baylor and Houston with three conference titles. He led Baylor to 10 or more wins in four of his final five seasons there.
Several months after his firing from Baylor, Briles, in an interview with ESPN, apologized for what happened under his watch of the program.
“I understand that I made some mistakes, and for that I’m sorry,” he said then. “But I’m not trying to plead for people’s sympathy. I’m just stating that, ‘Hey, I made some mistakes. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I’m going to learn. I’m going to do better.'”
In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Briles was not negligent in a case involving a female Baylor student who reported being physically assaulted by one of the school’s football players in 2014. Briles, who led Baylor’s program from 2008 to 2015, received a $15.1 million settlement from Baylor, which fired him with eight years remaining on his contract.
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Andrea Adelson
Florida State coach Mike Norvell will return for a seventh season with the Seminoles, pledging to make needed structural changes within the program to enhance performance, the school announced Sunday.
Questions that had been mounting about Norvell’s job security reached a boiling point after a 21-11 loss to NC State on Friday night that dropped the Seminoles to 5-6. They need a win at Florida on Saturday to reach bowl eligibility.
Over the past two years, Florida State is 7-16 (3-13 in ACC play) and winless on the road. Norvell, however, did win an ACC title in 2023 and has maintained his optimism for the future.
In a statement, university president Richard McCullough said he, athletic director Michael Alford and board of trustees chairman Peter Collins were in “complete agreement that changes are needed for our program to improve.”
“Coach Norvell embraces our support in that process and agrees that success must be achieved. He continues to demonstrate an unwavering belief in this program’s future, and so do we,” McCullough said. “This decision reflects a unified commitment to competing in the rapidly evolving landscape of college football, while maintaining continuity within the program.”
Sources said more resources would be placed into recruiting and the roster, and changes would be made to the personnel department to allow Norvell the best chance to succeed.
Had Florida State moved on from Norvell, the school would have owed him about $54 million in buyout money. All told, Florida State would have owed about $72 million to Norvell and his staff.
In six seasons with the Seminoles, Norvell is 38-33 with only two winning seasons. Despite its record this year, Florida State has made strides over 2024, when it finished 2-10 — the worst program mark since 1974.
Florida State has gone from among the worst offenses in the country — ranking No. 132 in the nation last year — to one of the best, ranking No. 8 this year and outgaining opponents in 10 games.
“The driving motivation behind this is to make certain that we are doing everything properly to obtain and retain elite players, add critical pieces, and sustain long-term success,” Norvell said in a statement Sunday. “I love Florida State, and I am fully committed to this program, and our shared goals.”
The Seminoles opened the year with an emphatic 31-17 victory over Alabama in which the fans stormed the field, a win that perhaps reset expectations for where the program was.
A 3-0 start quickly unraveled on the road at Virginia, where Florida State lost 46-38 in double-overtime. Another embarrassing road loss to Stanford in October forced Alford to issue a statement saying he would do a full program evaluation after the season.
“Hell no, we haven’t,” Norvell said when asked whether his team has met expectations after Friday’s loss to NC State. “We’re not even close to living up to expectations. No, we have not lived up to expectations. We’re a fully capable football team, and that’s not good enough, and that’s not been good enough for the six losses we have, and it’s extremely frustrating.”
The high point under Norvell came in 2023, when the Seminoles celebrated a 13-0 record and ACC championship.
Despite going undefeated and winning a conference championship, the College Football Playoff selection committee left the Seminoles out of the four-team playoff, in large part because quarterback Jordan Travis was lost for the season with a broken leg.
Since then, Florida State has struggled. Norvell admitted the CFP snub had a much deeper impact on his program than he initially realized, but with a young core of players set to return — including freshman standouts Mandrell and Darryll Desir, Ousmane Kromah, Jayvan Boggs and Micahi Danzy — there is a belief the program can build momentum for next season.
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