25 Active NHL Players on Instagram

NHL Hockey is gaining popularity in the US despite the most recent players strike.  The game has opened up with the advent of the change in checking rules and fans are responding.  Did you know that you can follow some of the games biggest stars on Instagram?  It is a fun way to get a behind the scenes glimpse into the National Hockey League.

Unfortunately, NHL players do not share as many photos with fans as some of the stars of other sports like the NBA and NFL, however, you will still find interesting photos from guys like Sidney Crosby, Dustin Brown, Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos.  

Hopefully, other NHL players catch on soon and see the engagement they can have with fans by sharing photos on IG.   You can also find several most NHL teams on Instagram  sharing photos with fans.  If you ever wondered what it was like to be a star NHL player, well now you can get that inside glimpse. 

NHL Logo is courtesy of Fathead, you can order it and all NHL Fatheads here. 


NHL Players from the Eastern Conference

Sidney Crosby from @officialcrosby feed

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) may be the most popular player in the NHL and quite possibly the best player in the league.  He is an amazing passer and adept skater that can create space for himself right through the heart of the defense.  He is relatively new to IG but has shared more than more than most of the slow to share NHLers.
@officialcrosby
25 photos 22,000 followers  

Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) is one of the few NHL goalkeepers on Instagram. He is the goalie for the NY Rangers and had the 4th best Save Percent in the NHL in the 2012-2013 season at .934.
@hank30nyr
38 photos 74,000 followers

Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) is the Captain of the Washington Capitals and one of the top scorers in the NHL. In fact, he finished the 2012-13 season 3rd in overall points. Ovi is also dating Maria Kirilenko, a Russian Tennis star who also won a bronze medal in Doubles, which doubles the fun in following him on IG.
@ovi_caps8
12 photos 6,500 followers  

******************************
 My Review of EA Sports NHL 14

******************************






Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning) is a Center for the Lightning and a major offensive power in the league.  For the second straight year, Stamkos finished with the second most points in the league and finished second in total goals.  In 2011-2012, he led the NHL in goals. He is not yet sharing a lot of photos but he is such a great player it is fun to follow him.
@officialstevenstamkos
9 photos 4,500 followers

Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals) is a Center for the Washington Capitals. He is a dynamic young player and a deadly passer.  He finished 3rd in total assists during the 2012-2013 season.  Niklas understands Instagram and shares photos from his life as well as from the Ice.
@nicklas_backstrom19
37 photos 2,700 follower

Evengi Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) is a Russian Center for the Pittsburgh Penguins and one of the top players in the league.  He was injured for part of the most recent season and missed 1/3 of the teams games, yet he still finished 64th in total points!  While he is not yet prolific sharer, he has gotten started with about 20 photos shared.
@malkin71_
18 photos 8,500 followers

Tyler Seguin (Boston Bruins) is one of the bright young stars in the NHL and the future face of the Boston franchise. At only 21, he will be a mainstay for the Bruins for years to come.  He scored 32 points during 2012-2013, ranking him 66th in the league.  He has not started sharing many photos yet but hopefully will start soon.
@tseguin92
5 photos 25,000 followers 

Alex competing for TeamUSA from @agally94 feed

Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal Canadiens) was the 3rd pick in the 2012 draft. At 18, he will be one of the younger players in the NHL.  He played in all 48 games for the Canadiens this 2012-2013 year and scored 27 points.  Also as one would expect, the younger players are more active sharers on IG and he has many photos to scroll through.
@agally94
150 photos 14,500 followers

Brad Richards (New York Rangers) is a Center with the New York Rangers. While formerly a top player for the franchise, this past year was a struggle.  However, he still scored 27 points in 46 games and still has a few years to contribute.  It is unclear if those contributions will be with the Rangers though.
@brichards_1991
100 photos 24,000 followers

Joffrey Lupul (Toronto Maple Leafs) is a Left Winger in his 10th season in the NHL. He hails from Saskatchewan, Canada. He has sat out much of the start of the 2013 season with an arm injury, but remains one of the best of the Leafs when he is healthy
@jlupul
29 photos 17,000 follower

Scottie Upshall (Florida Panthers) is an NHL journeyman having been with 5 teams over 9 years. He is a fairly active IG user sharing nearly 70 photos.
@supshall9
127 photos 4,500 followers

Wojtek Wolski (Washington Capitals) is a Polish born NHL player journeyman. Wolski is in his 8th season with his 5th NHL team, the Washington Capitals. One of the fun things about Wolski is he likes music and posts photos from many different concerts.
@Wojtekwolski86
170 photos 3,700 followers

Get great NHL Jerseys for all your favorite players from the unbeatable selection at Fansedge.com

NHL Players on Instagram from the Western Conference

Paul Bissonnette (Phoenix Coyotes) is only a role player on the Phoenix Coyotes but he is the most active NHL Instagram user.  He is a must follow for NHL fans with hundreds of photos shared. And note all his followers - if you share photos people will come.
@biznasty
750 photos 82,000 followers

Brad Richardson (Los Angeles Kings) was one of the Centers that anchored 2011-2012 Stanley Cup Champion Kings. Brad has shared lots of behind the scenes photos including several with The Cup.
@brichardson15
64 photos 1,700 followers 

Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings) is a Captain and Left Wing of the LA Kings.  He is a big hitter who also scored 29 points during the 2012-2013 season.  He has shared some great behind the scenes photos on IG including several with the Cup He is a must follow for any true NHL fan.

Artistic shot from Dustin Brown on @dlo23

@dlo23
24 photos 5,700 followers 

Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues) is a Right Winger for the St Louis Blues in his first year in the NHL after spending five seasons playing in the Russion professional league.
@tara9191
81 photos 5,100 followers

Jordin Tootoo (Detroit Red Wings) is a right winger who spent 8 years with the Nashville Predators before moving over to the Red Wings this past season.  Jordin is a very active NHL IG user with over 200photos shared.
@kudluk22
200 photos 10,700 followers 

Andrew Shaw (Chicago Blackhawks) is a 21 year old 3rd line player for the Blackhawks.  You won't find any of the well known 1st or 2nd line Blackhawks on Instagram but you will find some of the very talented 3rd and 4th line players. One of the most exciting young players on the team, Andrew Shaw has played both Center and wing this year. He plays with reckless abandon and just as comfortable dispatching a hit than he is shooting or passing.
@shawz65
30 photos 5,300 followers 

Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers) is a Left Winger for the Oilers in his third season in the NHL. He is one of the leading scorers for the Oilers and one of a batch of new young NHL stars.
@taylorhall04
26 photos 26,000 followers   

Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix Coyotes) is a Left Winger in his 5th season with the Coyotes. Boedker is originally from Denmark and is having a breakout year in this strike shortened 2013 season.
@mboedker
60 photos 2,500 followers  

Bryan Bickell (Chicago Blackhawks) is firmly entrenched as the Left Wing on the 3rd line for the Blackhawks. He is a big hitter but also has a nose for the net and ends up with many timely and important goals. I don't think there is a deeper team in the 2013 NHL than the Blackhawks and their 3rd line is every bit as good as many other teams first lines. Bickell played in all 48 of the Blackhawks regular season games.
@bbickell
44 photos 4,100 followers

David Perron (St Louis Blues) is a Left Wing for the St Louis Blues in his 6th NHL season. He is a consistent scoring threat for the Blues.
@dp_57
4 photos 2,200 followers


NHL Team Accounts 
Most of the NHL teams are on Instagram and you can do a quick search by team name to find the official account. I am not going to link all of these team pages, but I will give you the handle here in case you want to copy and paste it to quickly find it on IG.

Anaheim Ducks @anaheimducks
Boston Bruins @nhlbruins
Buffalo Sabres @buffalosabres
Carolina Hurricanes @nhlcanes
Calgary Flames @nhlflames
Chicago Blackhawks @nhlblackhawks
Colorado Avalanche @coloradoavalanche
Columbus Blue Jackets @officialcolumbusbluejackets
Dallas Stars @officialdallasstars
Detroit Red Wings @detroitredwings
Edmonton Oilers @edmontonoilers
Florida Panthers @flapanthers
LA Kings @lakingshockey
Minnesota Wild @minnesotawild
Montreal Canadiens @canadiensmtl
Nashville Predators @prednhl
New Jersey Devils @nhldevilspr
New York Islanders @ny_islanders
New York Rangers @nyrangers
Ottawa Senators @ottawa_senators
Philadelphia Flyers @philadelphiaflyers
Phoenix Coyotes @phoenixcoyotes
Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins
San Jose Sharks @sanjosesharksofficial
St. Louis Blues @stlouisblues
Tampa Bay Lightning @tblightning
Toronto MapleLeafs @torontomapleleafs
Vancouver Canucks @canucks
Washington Capitals @washingtoncaps
Winnipeg Jets @nhljets