The popularity of the Abbotsford Canucks online continues to grow year-over-year – at least, that’s according to Google Trends data.
Google Trends search term data examined by the Abbotsford News shows that the month of April saw the two biggest spikes ever in the history of the ‘Abbotsford Canucks’ search term and activity was more steady overall throughout 2022-23 than in the previous year.
The searchability of a topic is scored on a scale of 0 to 100. During two important weeks in the franchise’s season – home playoff games against the Bakersfield Condors on April 16 to 22 and Calgary Wranglers on April 30 to May 6 – searched reached a score of 98 and 100, respectively.
The data shows that searches dropped significantly after the Wranglers eliminated the Canucks on May 6.
The week of Dec. 4 to 10 also had significant interest, as it reached a relative spike of 40. The December spike coincided with the visit to Abbotsford of the Laval Rocket.
The data shows it is not just Canadians interested in the team: there was interest in the search term in Latvia, especially when you look over the last year.
Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs hails from that country and has become a star – both for his play in North America and with the Latvian national team. Latvia was the second highest country searching for the team, with Sweden, the United States and United Kingdom rounding out the top five.
Riga, Latvia was the lone Latvian city to be ranked by Google. American hot spots included Washington State, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona and California.
Within B.C. the top 10 cities over the past year consist of:
- Abbotsford
- Mission
- Chilliwack
- Langley Township
- Langley City
- Maple Ridge
- White Rock
- Pitt Meadows
- Delta
- Belcarra
Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, West Kelowna and Port Moody sit outside the top ten.
The most searched related topics along with the term are: Abbotsford Canucks (topic), Vancouver Canucks, Abbotsford, American Hockey League and National Hockey League. Prospect Aatu Räty is the highest ranked player on that list and sits at 24th. The Abbotsford News ranks 20th on that list.
The most searched related queries include: Vancouver Canucks, Canucks schedule, Abbotsford Canucks schedule, NHL and the Abbotsford News.
Looking at some @GoogleTrends data for a #Canucks story I'm hoping to post today. Interesting that in April and May people were searching for the @abbycanucks almost as much as the @Canucks – that's huge! pic.twitter.com/fj7HxT4fqz
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) July 14, 2023
While it’s only been two years since the Abbotsford Canucks came to fruition, the data suggests that the team’s popularity is closing the gap when compared to other major sports teams in the Lower Mainland, including the Vancouver Canucks who spent the majority of the calendar year on top, as well as BC Lions who held first or second place for much of the summer and fall.
Here's a better visualization of that chart – pic.twitter.com/g9aXntXju7
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) July 15, 2023
Comparing the Abbotsford Canucks with other teams such as the Vancouver Bandits, Vancouver Football Club, Vancouver Warriors and Vancouver Giants sees Abbotsford rank neck and neck at the top with VFC for much of the year. The Vancouver Giants ranked first for the weeks of Oct. 9 to 15, Nov. 2o to 26 and Dec. 25 to 31. The Vancouver Warriors peaked in second place from Dec. 11 to 17. The Vancouver Bandits ranked second for much of May and June.
Here are the numbers compared to other local teams like @WHLGiants, @vancitybandits, @nllwarriors and @vanfootballclub. Lots of interest in VFC – pic.twitter.com/ENdrI51UGN
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) July 14, 2023
Last year The News also looked at social media numbers of those top five teams. Here are those updated numbers and the amount they have increased since:
Facebook Likes/Followers:
Vancouver Canucks – 932K (+.3 per cent)
Vancouver Whitecaps – 276K (+.1 per cent)
BC Lions – 157K (+.3 per cent)
Vancouver Canadians – 21K (+8.8 per cent)
Abbotsford Canucks – 7,300 (+99 per cent)
Instagram Followers
Vancouver Canucks – 582K (+4.5 per cent)
Vancouver Whitecaps – 165K (+6.5 per cent)
BC Lions – 62.3K (+11.6 per cent)
Vancouver Canadians – 25.2K (+21.7 per cent)
Abbotsford Canucks – 23.5K (+35.8 per cent)
Twitter Followers
Vancouver Canucks – 1.1 million (+10 per cent)
Vancouver Whitecaps – 331.5K (-9.8 per cent)
BC Lions – 129.8K (+1.8 per cent)
Vancouver Canadians – 29K (+2.8 per cent)
Abbotsford Canucks – 17K (+63.5 per cent)
Abbotsford saw significant increases in all forms of social media over the past calendar year. Instagram numbers for all the teams were also up significantly. Abbotsford in two years has also nearly caught the Vancouver Canadians in Instagram followers.
RELATED: CHARTS: How popular did the Abbotsford Canucks become after one year?