The NHL Regular season kicks off in less than a month and I for one, am beyond excited. With the day count getting lower and lower I can almost hear the goal horn and players being checked into the glass. Not only are fans excited to see their favorite boys back on the ice, they’re excited to hear their goal song hit when the puck hits the back of the net.
Music is a huge aspect in hockey and can change the momentum of a game instantaneously. When that puck soars through the pipes you, along with 20,000 other fans are jumping out of your seats simultaneously, spilling beer and popcorn as you scream and cheer for your team. That is why it is extremely important for the franchise to have a good goal song. I have taken the goal songs of every NHL team and ranked them from the worst to the best.
27. “Rock and Roll Part 2” by Gary Glitter
As one of the most overplayed and overused songs in sports, it’s hard to believe that two teams are still using it as their goals songs. The Colorado Avalanche and The San Jose Sharks presently play the song in their arenas when goals are scored. For two usually highly ranked teams, it’s something hard to swallow. Fortunately, some other teams that previously used the song caught on and got out of the hole. The Florida Panthers and The Nashville Predators were previous users of Gary’s song.
26. “Hey Hey Hockeytown” by Kid Rock
A song written specifically for the Detroit Red Wings and sung by none other than Kid Rock. Not only is the song extremely cheesy, but it’s not a very good “hell yeah we just scored” song.
25. “Song 2” by Blur
Another overused and overplayed song in the sports industry. It’s an extremely irritating song and gets on your last nerve if you hear it more than once in a week. This is another song that teams share and needs to be shuffled out. The Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, and St. Louis Blues use it when they score.
24. “Le But” by Loco Locass
The Montréal Canadiens goal song and one that includes a lot of former players’ names being thrown around. Not a very popular song unless you’re a Canadien fan, but of course that’s a given.
23. “Booyah” by Showtek, We Are Loud!, and Sonny Wilson
The Philadelphia Flyers goal song that sounds more like something you would hear at a nightclub than celebrating a goal.
22. “Fluxland” by Fluxland
With the Tampa Bay Lightning being another high ranking team, the franchise is to blame for another bad goal song. While being along celebratory lines, the song doesn’t capture the excitement that comes from a hockey goal, so it captures a low place on the list.
21. “Turbulence” by Laidback Luke & Steve Aoki feat. Lil’ John
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the last teams I expected to have a goal song like this, another nightclub classic.
20. “Howl” by The Gaslight Anthem
The New Jersey Devils goal song is a decent song falling into the category of Blink-182 music, however, it’s not a great song for celebrating a goal, although, it does better than others.
19. “Out of Our Heads” by Dropkick Murphys
The Florida Panthers worked some magic adopting this song as their goal song, as their previous goal song was “Rock and Roll Part 2.” It’s nice to see teams shaking it up.
18. “Puck Off” by Pantera
The Dallas Stars have multiple songs they use during a home game for each goal scored, but Pantera’s “Puck Off” is reserved for their first goal of the night and was written by a local artist. It’s a guitar rich song and captures a level of excitement that hockey goals deserve.
17. “When the Saints Come Marchin’ In”
The second part of the St. Louis Blues goal song is a high note after “Song 2” resonates throughout the arena and keeps it classic.
16. “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation
The Boston Bruins originally had the song as their goal song, and then the Pittsburgh Penguins snuck up and took it as theirs as well. The song pumps up a crowd and even though it’s a bit overplayed, its popular in the sports industry and gets the job done.
15. “Slap Shot” by Ray Castoldi
A crowd pumper and a definition goal song, it gets the crowd pumping and makes for a great celebration for the New York Rangers.
14. “Crowd Chant” by Joe Santriani
A guitar rich song that also gets a crowd moving and qualifies with a good celebration, the song belongs to two franchises, the New York Islanders and the Minnesota Wild. Considering it’s being used by two teams, both teams should probably consider switching it up.
13. “Wake Me Up” by Avicii
The Ottawa Senators are almost shooting themselves in the foot with this song, as the lyrics of the song include “wake me up when it’s all over.” However, part of the song is good for pumping up a crowd and it works well with the younger demographic because it’s a popular song of the generation.
12. “Don’t Stop the Party” by Pitbull
Another song that relates with the younger crowd and the title of the song states it all, when your team scores a goal, the party never stops.
11. “Power Ride 2010” by Fred Coury
A solid song choice by the LA Kings, the song is powerful and loud, two things hockey fans love. It also has a chant within it that the crowd can easily get behind.
10. “The Wicker Man” by Iron Maiden
The Washington Captials made a great decision on adopting classic rock music and incorporating it into their game. The arena goes insane when the Capitals score and the song and roar of the crowd resonate throughout the arena like thunder.
9. “Righteous Smoke” by Monster Truck
The Calgary Flames did a great job in choosing a song that worked with their team name. The song mentions lyrics about being on fire, which is perfect for the Flames. With a bass drum that pounds in the chests of fans, Monster Truck gave fans a treasure goal song.
8. “Bro Hymn” by Pennywise
With a likeness to Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400” and Green Day, Pennywise produced a song that a crowd could get involved in with a chorus of “Ohhs” and a good guitar portion. The Anaheim Ducks have a good song for being a highly ranked team and other teams should take some pointers.
7. “Howlin’ For You” by The Black Keys
With a marketing trick like the Calgary Flames, the Arizona Coyotes picked a song that relates to the franchise name. Not only are the Black Keys a great musical group, the song starts off with a drum beat much like “Rock and Roll Part 2” that grabs fans’ attention.
6. “The Whip” by Locksley
Yet another overused sports industry song, but the beauty of this one is that even if you hate the song, if you hear it playing, you can’t help but sing along to it. It gets the crowd engaged and promotes a great goal celebration in the arena. The San Jose Sharks use it as the second part of their goal song as well as the Columbus Blue Jackets.
5. “For Those About to Rock” by AC/DC
The Columbus Blue Jackets use this as the first part of their goal song before transferring into “The Whip.” However, in my opinion, the goal song would be better if it stuck to AC/DC in whole. It’s a great rock and roll song and pumps up a crowd by itself.
4. “I Like It, I Love It” by Tim McGraw
It’s very obvious where this goal song comes from. The Nashville Predators originally used “Rock and Roll Part 2” as their goal song before jumping off the bandwagon and switching it up with a personalized version of Tim McGraw’s song, who happens to be a fan of the team. However, the clip is rather short during the goal song and it transitions to “Gold on the Ceiling” by The Black Keys.
3. “Gold on the Ceiling” by The Black Keys
A song used not only by the Nashville Predators, but also by the Vancouver Canucks. Not always floating in high ranks, the Canucks fight back with an amazing choice in goal song and have the ability to pump up their crowd with the magic that is The Black Keys.
2. “Hell Yeah” by Rev Theory
Originally a song I knew from the popular TV show, “Blue Mountain State,” the Winnipeg Jets adopted the song as their goal song and made a great decision in doing so. The song figuratively screams, “Hell yeah, we just scored” and literally screams, “Hell yeah.”
1. “Chelsea Dagger” by the Fratellis
The Chicago Blackhawks hit the goal song right on the nose. “Chelsea Dagger” is the greatest crowd pumper that the NHL has seen. 20,000 fans simultaneously jumping up and dancing in their spots when the horn sounds and the dagger hits. Every hockey fan that isn’t a Chicago fan hates the song and dread the moment they hear it sound in the United Center. It is not only ranked number one by myself, but was also ranked the best goal song by “Sports Illustrated.”
