Carrie Underwood and Each NHL Team's Biggest Celebrity Fan

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While the NBA, NFL and MLB may have larger star-studded audiences, the NHL actually has more celebrity fans than one may realize.

Not all of these celebrities are Canadian either.

Some of these celebrity fans are adopted hockey fans because of their relationships with certain hockey players.

Others are huge fans of their hometown hockey team.

Here's the breakdown of each NHL team's biggest celebrity fan.

Anaheim Ducks: Milo Ventimiglia

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Milo Ventimiglia, of Heroes and Gilmore Girls fame, is from Anaheim and according to Anaheim Magazine, Ventimiglia likes to spend down time supporting his hometown hockey club.

In fact, Ventimiglia got his ex-girlfriend and Heroes co-star, Hayden Panettiere to start supporting the Anaheim Ducks too.

When the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007, the Cup visited the set of Heroes and the two stars were photographed posing with Lord Stanley.

While Panettiere might not necessarily have remained a hockey fan, Ventimiglia will always be a loyal Ducks fan.

Boston Bruins: Denis Leary

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Comedian and star of Rescue Me, Denis Leary is a hockey fan and player, even boasting a backyard rink behind his Connecticut home.

As a native Bostonian, Leary is obviously a Boston Bruins fan and was ecstatic when the team won it all this year, attending all of the Boston home games.

However, Leary is far from a fairweather fan, having supported the team and the Bruins legends through the ups and downs of his lifetime.

Buffalo Sabres: Noureen DeWulf

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Last December, Buffalo Sabres goaltender, Ryan Miller announced his engagement to actress Noureen DeWulf, known best for her roles in The Back-Up Plan and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

The have managed to keep their relationship pretty private, other than admitting that they were dating and then engaged.

However, we have to assume that DeWulf is the Sabres No. 1 fan, cheering on her husband-to-be in net.

Calgary Flames: MacGyver

Richard Dean Anderson's most famous character,"MacGyver," was a hockey player and a huge Calgary Flames fan, as chronicled here.

It's unclear if Anderson himself was a Flames fan outside of his role on MacGyver. However, the multiple Flames hat sightings on the show I think qualifies him as the biggest celebrity fan for Calgary.

Anderson was originally from Minnesota, a huge hockey state, so the hockey fan probably wasn't far off.

 

Photo courtesy of: Photobucket.com

Carolina Hurricanes: Stephen Colbert

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Comedian and host of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert, was raised in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is about four-and-a-half hours from Raleigh, N.C., home of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Colbert doesn't often profess his support for his hometown teams, other than his support of the U.S. at the Olympics, but he did when the 'Canes won the Cup in 2006 (watch the clip here.)

While Colbert may just be a fairweather fan, his recognition of the team's Stanley Cup win on Comedy Central in 2006 was probably the biggest celebrity support the team has received, which makes him their biggest celebrity fan.

Chicago Blackhawks: Vince Vaughn

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Vince Vaughn is a huge Chicago sports fan (see pretty much any of his moves for example).

Vaughn displayed his love for the Chicago Blackhawks alongside Kevin James in The Dilemma, where they attended a couple of Blackhawks games.

For those who might question if Vaughn is another fairweather celebrity hockey fan, he is not. He visited the team for a preseason game in 2009 before they had won the Stanley Cup.

Colorado Avalanche: Trey Parker

Trey Parker is best known as an animator and co-creator of South Park.

Parker is from Denver, home of the Colorado Avalanche and showed his allegiance to his hometown hockey team in an episode of the show.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Erin Andrews

It seems that the Columbus Blue Jackets may have a celebrity fan in sportscaster and TV personality Erin Andrews.

While she covered the Tampa Bay Lightning and apparently had a connection to the Florida Panthers at one point, Andrews donned a Blue Jackets jersey when she visited Nationwide Arena for a game.

Anyone who attends a hockey game wearing a team's jersey should count as a fan.

 

Photo courtesy of: @ErinAndrews

Dallas Stars: Willa Ford

Willa Ford was a long-time fan of the Dallas Stars. She dated Mike Modano for awhile before marrying him in 2007 and is now better known as Mandy Modano.

She even blogged about the team for ESPN.

Despite the fact that Modano no longer plays for the Stars, his wife has to remain the biggest celebrity fan of the team.

 

Photo courtesy of: playerwives.com

Detroit Red Wings: Kid Rock

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The Detroit Red Wings have many celebrity fans, including John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox from Scrubs), Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, actress Kristen Bell and of course, Kid Rock.

It's hard to decide which one is the team's biggest fan, but we'll give the edge to Kid Rock.

The rock star from Detroit has been seen at many games supporting the Wings.

Edmonton Oilers: Todd McFarlane

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Todd McFarlane is primarily a cartoonist and writer, working on various comic books throughout his career, including Spider-Man and Spawn.

McFarlane hails from Calgary, but his loyalty lies in Edmonton.

He co-owned the Edmonton Oilers for awhile and even designed one of the team's third jerseys, although it hasn't been worn in years.

Florida Panthers: Niki Taylor

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Niki Taylor is a former model. Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and spent most of her life in South Florida.

Taylor dated former Florida Panthers player Rob Niedermayer for a time and has performed the ceremonial puck drop at Panthers games.

Taylor may not be a big celebrity, but she is the Panthers' biggest celebrity fan.

Los Angeles Kings: Alyssa Milano

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Actress Alyssa Milano is a well-known sports fan, considering her lines of NFL apparel, MLB apparel and NHL apparel for women.

In an interview with the Montreal Canadiens magazine, Milano said that hockey is her favorite sport behind baseball.

Since Los Angeles is her adopted hometown, Milano is a self-described "big Kings fan," as she told ESPN.

Minnesota Wild: Anonymous Fan

After scouring the Internet, I didn't come across any celebrity Minnesota Wild hockey fan (please tell me if you know of one in the comments).

So I went with the most famous Wild fan, who became a bit of a celebrity after almost getting into a fight with Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks.

Montreal Canadiens: Viggo Mortensen

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Viggo Mortensen, of the Lord of the Rings among other movies, is a huge Montreal Canadiens fan and has been since he was a young kid.

He's such a fan of the Habs that he even wore a Canadiens shirt underneath his armor while filming LOTR.

Mortensen was a huge fan of Guy Lafleur and even introduced Lafleur at a Habs home game.

Nashville Predators: Carrie Underwood

The Nashville Predators have had their fair share of country star fans with Dierks Bentley and Taylor Swift among them.

They've also have their fair share of celebrity WAGs, including American Idol country singer alumni Kellie Pickler (who dated Jordin Tootoo for a short time) and most recently, Carrie Underwood.

Underwood's husband Mike Fisher was traded to the Predators from the Ottawa Senators this past season, and Underwood had to be thrilled that her husband came to her hometown.

Of course, we saw that she isn't thrilled when he fights.

New Jersey Devils: Kevin Smith

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Kevin Smith, perhaps known best as Silent Bob, is a huge hockey fan.

More importantly, he is a huge New Jersey Devils fan, despite appearing at the 2011 NHL Awards in a Boston Bruins sweater.

Smith might be the most vocal supporter of the Devils, interviewed here about his team and even blogging for NHL.com during the playoffs.

New York Islanders: Christie Brinkley

Former supermodel Christie Brinkley is a big New York Islanders supporter, often attending games with her children.

After being noticed at games (who wouldn't notice Christie Brinkley?), Brinkley was asked and began to do promotional videos for the team.

The team may have its fair share of struggles, including most recently trying to get a new arena built, but with a supermodel fan like Brinkley, things can't be so bad.

New York Rangers: Tim Robbins

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Actor Tim Robbins played a baseball player in Bull Durham, but in reality, he's a huge hockey fan and supporter of the New York Rangers.

In fact, Robbins has said he's the biggest Rangers fan and owns every highlight video available from their 1994 Cup run.

He can frequently be seen attending Rangers games.

Ottawa Senators: Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry, best known as Chandler from Friends, was born in Massachusetts but raised in Ottawa by his Canadian mother.

Like a good Canadian, Perry is an avid hockey fan and supports his hometown team, the Ottawa Senators.

He can often be seen at Senators games.

Philadelphia Flyers: David Boreanaz

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David Boreanaz, of Bones and Angel fame, is from Philadelphia and is a huge Philadelphia Flyers fan.

He also became close with members of the team, including captain Mike Richards, who loaned the Boreanaz family the use of his box during the 2011 playoffs.

As could have been expected, Boreanaz was not happy with the Richards trade and took to Twitter to share his opinion.

Phoenix Coyotes: Alice Cooper

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It may seem like the Phoenix Coyotes don't have very many fans, but they have at least one big fan, who also happens to be a celebrity: rocker Alice Cooper.

Cooper is often seen outside on the golf courses around Phoenix but goes inside to watch Coyotes games too.

NHL.com even interviewed him about his love for the 'Yotes.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Michael Keaton

Actor Michael Keaton is from a small town in Pennsylvania and is a fan of his hometown hockey team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Keaton showed up at the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 to support his home team and again in 2009.

He also attended Penguins' playoff games back in 1991, as show in the video.

San Jose Sharks: Neil Young

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Musician Neil Young was born in Toronto and as such, is a loyal hockey fan.

However, instead of supporting his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, now that he lives in California, Young is a supporter of the San Jose Sharks. In fact, he is a season ticket holder and attends games with his son.

St. Louis Blues: Jon Hamm

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Mad Men's Jon Hamm hails from St. Louis, and as a native of the city, he supports his city teams, specifically the St. Louis Blues.

Hamm is such a strong Blues fan, that he appeared in a promotional video for the team, proving his loyalty to the team throughout the years.

That's a strong celebrity endorsement for St. Louis.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Hulk Hogan

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Famed wrestler Hulk Hogan currently resides in Tampa, Florida and can sometimes be seen at Tampa Bay Lightning games.

Hogan has started the Lightning games with, "Let's play hockey!" occasionally as well.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Mike Myers

Mike Myers is from Ontario and is obviously an avid hockey fan and fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

His love of the Leafs can be seen in his movie The Love Guru.

Myers has also been featured on Leafs TV, showcasing his love of the team.

Vancouver Canucks: William Shatner

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The Vancouver Canucks path to the Stanley Cup Finals this past season brought out many Vancouver celebrities to the games, including Kim Cattrall, Michael Buble and William Shatner.

We decided Shatner should be considered the Canucks biggest celebrity fan.

After all, he's probably been a Canucks fan the longest, and he's the most famous.

Washington Capitals: Pat Sajak

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While one might think that Pat Sajak, host of Wheel of Fortune, would be a New York or Los Angeles fan, he is actually a Washington Capitals fan.

Sajak grew up a Chicago Blackhawks fan, but when he moved to the area, he began attending Caps games. Now, he's even a season ticket holder.

Winnipeg Jets: Yet to Be Determined

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When the new Winnipeg Jets were still in Atlanta, Atlanta-based rapper Lil' Jon was the biggest Atlanta Thrashers fan.

Now that the Thrashers franchise has moved to Winnipeg, I don't think it's far-fetched to suggest that the rapper won't really be much of a fan anymore.

However, it will probably be only a matter of time before the stars come out to celebrate the return of the Jets to Manitoba.