The Universal Cynic

The NHL has just released their holiday numbers for merchandise sales, and the Rangers took home top prize. The Blueshirts were the favourite of online holiday shoppers during the month of December. However, Buffalo experienced the highest increase of team sales on NHL.com for the third consecutive month compared to last year, with an increase of 214%.

The rest of the league isn't faring badly either. Edmonton's merch sales are up 128% from last year, and Carolina's have increased 117%. Other increases that were notable in December: Atlanta (75%), Washington (61%), Pittsburgh (59%), New York Rangers (54%), Anaheim (54%), Montreal (47%), Minnesota (36%), Florida (35%) and San Jose (35%).

However, don't assume that these were solely jersey purchases. DVDs were in high demand on NHL.com. The two top-selling items were distinctively retro: The Philadelphia Flyers 10 Greatest Games DVD set and NHL's Greatest Moments.

Meanwhile, here are your top-selling player jerseys on shop.nhl.com for December '06:

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Henrik Lundqvist
3. Jaromir Jagr
4. Joe Sakic
5. Alexander Ovechkin
6. Brendan Shanahan
7. Peter Forsberg
8. Mike Modano
9. Martin Brodeur
10. Vincent Lacavalier
11. Ilya Kovalchuk
12. Rick DiPietro
13. Patrice Bergeron
14. Simon Gagne
15. Nicklas Lidstrom
16. Henrik Zetterberg
17. Joe Thornton
18. Mats Sundin
19. Zdeno Chara
20. Markus Naslund
21. Paul Kariya