NHL goal songs by team, and what youth rinks can learn.

The short answer.

NHL goal songs are short, loud and start on the hook: "Song 2" in Ottawa, "Chelsea Dagger" in Chicago, "Kernkraft 400" in Boston. Some teams use one song for every goal, others play each scorer's own song, and the Oilers have a new one this season. Below: 14 teams we could confirm from a credible source, what NHL game-presentation staff say about choosing music, what players listen to, and what all of it means for the music at a youth rink.

Canadian teams' goal songs.

Checked 21 Oct 2026. Each card links the source it came from, with that source's date. Goal songs change often, so where a source is a few years old we say so.

US teams' goal songs.

We left out teams whose current song we couldn't confirm from a credible source this season. The Buffalo Sabres, like the Jets, play each scorer's own song after the horn (CBC / The Canadian Press, 27 Oct 2022; Ottawa Senators (NHL.com), 22 Dec 2025).

How NHL arenas pick their music.

Alan Cross, the broadcaster MLSE hired to rework the music at Leafs games, described the job as "anywhere from 60-80 moments within a game during which the DJ needs to play something appropriate for the situation." His team kept about 500 songs in a spreadsheet, sorted by situation, and judged each one on "era, energy, genre, key, subject matter, and even the image and reputation of the artist" (Global News (Alan Cross), 28 Apr 2019).

• Every moment has its own kind of song. A slow build before the game, hype songs at stoppages, a different set for a home penalty, and post-game music that matches the result.
• After the other team scores, offer hope. "The crowd always sags following an opposition goal, so it's important that the music following offer hope," Cross wrote, suggesting mid-tempo, major-key songs.
• Start on the hook. "With only a second or two to react, you can't have the DJ fumbling to fast-forward to the chorus." Clips are cued up in advance.
• The order after a goal buys time. In Winnipeg the horn, the team song and a jet sound come first, which "provides just enough time for the in-house DJ to locate the player's song," said Kyle Balharry, the Jets' senior director of game presentation. "In hockey, it happens so fast" (CBC / The Canadian Press, 27 Oct 2022).
• Read the room. Calgary's organist, Warren Tse, plays between whistles and is "constantly gauging fans' emotions" (CBC Calgary, 26 Oct 2022). Seattle's music director changed the mix after year one to avoid "audio fatigue" (Seattle Kraken (NHL.com), 16 Oct 2024).

What the players listen to.

Most NHL dressing-room DJs are chosen by seniority, a Canadian Press survey of teams found. "We don't want the young guys getting their hands on it," joked Bryan Little, then with the Jets. Connor Carrick said of a teammate's playlist: "The beats per minute on his songs are a little higher, so it gets you going pre-game" (CBC / The Canadian Press, 3 Oct 2017).

• Toronto: Scott Laughton loves The Tragically Hip on game-day mornings, and William Nylander said of pre-game music, "I think maybe it gets you more focused" (The Hockey News, 12 Apr 2025).
• Pittsburgh: former teammate Joe Vitale says that when he played "Dog Days Are Over" during a 16-game winning streak, Sidney Crosby told the same story about the song before every game (TribLive, 28 May 2019).
• Montreal: for the 2025 home opener Nick Suzuki walked out to Coldplay's "Fix You" and Cole Caufield to Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" (Noovo Info, 15 Oct 2025).
• Edmonton: Connor McDavid's summer anthem is "anything Morgan Wallen" (NHL.com, 13 Sep 2025), and the Oilers' dressing room has used "La Bamba" as a win song for several seasons (Daily Hive, 6 Jun 2025).
• Seattle: Brandon Montour became the team DJ because "nobody else was doing it" (Seattle Kraken (NHL.com), 3 Mar 2025).
• Women's hockey: the 2022 US Olympic team published its playlist, with "Chelsea Dagger" and "You Make My Dreams" as goal songs and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" for wins (The Players' Tribune, 9 Feb 2022). In the PWHL, Minnesota's Liz Schepers said "we have a couple girls that rotate through aux duties" (PWHL, 29 Feb 2024).

Win songs tend to be born by accident. The 2019 Blues heard "Gloria" at a bar, won the next day and kept it (The Associated Press (via WTOP), 14 May 2019). The Jets once celebrated wins with "My Heart Will Go On" (CBC / The Canadian Press, 14 Dec 2017).

What the research says.

A 2020 review of 139 studies, led by Peter Terry with Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University, found that music improved mood, physical performance and how hard effort felt. Performance effects were bigger in exercise than in sport, and bigger with fast music than slow (Psychological Bulletin (Terry, Karageorghis and others), 2020). A later study found fast, loud music before a simple, physical task gave athletes the most energy and grip strength (Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports (Karageorghis and others), 2018). And young tennis players picked music on purpose to change how they felt before a match, with lyrics and personal associations mattering as much as tempo (Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (Bishop, Karageorghis and Loizou), 2007).

So music won't win a game. But fast music before puck drop and a song a player chose for themselves both do something real.

The songs NHL teams dropped.

• The artist matters, not only the song. San Jose and Nashville both dropped Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2" after the artist's criminal conviction. "Being associated with someone like that was just wrong," said the Predators' president (Nashville Scene, 22 Sep 2014; Fox Sports, 26 Aug 2015).
• A clean clip isn't enough if people know the original. The Leafs pulled a Kid Cudi remix after about a game, over a lyric in the original song that the arena clip didn't even include (TSN / The Canadian Press, 16 Oct 2023).
• Even a great song wears out. After five years, the Canadian Press wrote that "the Toronto Maple Leafs and Hall & Oates are out of touch" (TSN / The Canadian Press, 12 Oct 2023).
• Not every popular request fits the moment. The Penguins turned down a 30,000-signature petition for a Mac Miller goal song and put it in the game-night mix instead (TribLive, 14 Sep 2018).

How this shapes the Sideline DJ library.

A youth rink has the same moments as an NHL arena and none of the staff. Here's how what the NHL does shows up in Sideline DJ.

Five of the NHL goal songs above are goal songs in the library today: "Song 2", "Chelsea Dagger", "Kernkraft 400", "T.N.T." and "Party Hard" (U13 and up only). The Jets' "Gonna Celebrate" plays after a win. Songs written for one team, like "Striking Oil", "Puck Off" or "Let's Go Kraken!", belong to that team's rink, so they aren't in it. A youth team wants its own song, not someone else's chant.

See every song by moment in hockey songs for every moment of the game, or the best goal songs for youth sports.

Questions people ask.

What is the Edmonton Oilers goal song?

For the 2026-27 season the Oilers play "Striking Oil", written for the team by the Edmonton rock band Royal Tusk. It debuted at the home opener in October 2026 (Daily Hive, 1 Oct 2026).

What is the Toronto Maple Leafs goal song?

The Leafs brought in a new goal horn at the 2026-27 home opener and had not announced this season's goal song when we checked on 21 Oct 2026. Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams" was the goal song for five seasons until October 2023.

What is the Vancouver Canucks goal song?

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, the Canucks goal song since December 2021 (The Hockey News, 26 Dec 2025).

What is the Chicago Blackhawks goal song?

"Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis, used since 2008. It is in the Sideline DJ library as a goal song.

Do NHL players pick their own goal songs?

On some teams, yes. The Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabres play each scorer's own song, and Montreal players chose their own walk-out songs for the 2025 home opener. Other teams, like Ottawa, Vancouver and Chicago, use one team song for every goal.

Who picks the music in an NHL dressing room?

Usually a veteran. A Canadian Press survey of NHL teams found most dressing-room DJs are chosen by seniority, and players describe pre-game music with a high tempo that "gets you going".

Does music actually help athletes perform?

Research says it helps, modestly. A 2020 review of 139 studies in Psychological Bulletin found music improved mood, physical performance and perceived effort, with faster music helping more. The effect in sport is smaller than in exercise, so music won't win a game on its own.

Can a youth team use NHL goal songs?

Many NHL goal songs are well-known tracks, like "Song 2", "Chelsea Dagger" and "Kernkraft 400", and those three are in Sideline DJ's clean library. Songs written for one team, like the Oilers' or the Stars', belong to that team's rink. Always play the clean edit at a youth game.

Sideline DJ isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the NHL, the PWHL or any team. Team names belong to their owners and are used only to say which song each team plays. Song facts were checked on 21 Oct 2026 against the linked sources.