Despite the Detroit Red Wings missing the playoffs for the first time in over two decades, Detroit is still the best hockey city in America, according to a report from WalletHub.
This is the second straight year we've been named the best hockey city in America.
Hockeytown beat out Boston, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, St. Louis, New York and Chicago, which ranked seventh in the WalletHub study.
The Red Wings haven't won a Stanley Cup since 2008 and 2017 marked the first year Detroit missed the playoffs since 1990. It was the longest-active playoff streak in all of professional sports. The team also celebrated its final season at the historic Joe Louis Arena with the final game on April 9. They begin playing at Little Caesars Arena this fall.
Michigan is also well-represented in the study with eight cities represented in the top 72.
Houghton comes in at No. 23, followed by Ann Arbor at No. 24, Big Rapids at No. 31, Sault Ste. Marie at No. 41, East Lansing at No. 46, Marquette at No. 51 and Kalamazoo at No. 71.
Houghton also ranked tied for first for highest college hockey fan engagement, No. 5 for best-performing Men's NCAA Division 1 team with the Michigan Tech Huskies and No. 4 for the highest college hockey stadium capacity.
Detroit came in at No. 5 for highest NHL fan engagement while Ann Arbor ranked fourth for highest college hockey fan engagement.
WalletHub looked at 19 different metrics for the study and only used cities with at least one college or professional ice hockey team.
To read more about the study, click here.
