It’s been close to two months since we blogged about the NHL or mentioned the Terapeak NHL index (blame the sad-sack Canucks, who failed us once again), but watching the Pittsburgh Penguins salvage their season last night with a win over the Detroit Red Wings reinvigorated us.

This morning, a quick look at the index (its companion widget can be seen below) shows some pretty interesting stats: namely, that the Total Sold Listings leaders in the Eastern and Western Conferences are, respectively, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

Of course we’ve been championing both clubs as top-sellers all season, but it’s funny to see after eight gruelling months and 100+ games played for each side, that the hottest eBay seller in each conference is represented in the Cup Finals as well. (An obvious contributing factor is the success and talent on both squads, plus the fact that both are still playing hockey well into June…)

As for how the rest of the finals will play out, here at Terapeak we’d like to see a good, long series… Because then that’s it for hockey until — gasp — October!

It’s that time of year — Super Bowl time! — and no matter whether you’re rooting for the favored Steelers or upstart Cardinals, both teams are looking good in the wide world of eBay. Check out this trend-line for each team’s Total Sold Listings since Christmas Day:

It’s interesting to see how similar both curves are, especially given the striking differences between the two franchises. Not only do the teams contrast each other in playing style — Pittsburgh being defense-minded, Arizona preferring to air it out — but also in terms of market, you’d be hard-pressed to find two that are more different. For decades Arizona has been the butt of NFL jokes, having relocated multiple times, rarely gracing a national stage. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, with its five Super Bowl victories, has long been one of sport’s most storied franchises — and consistently the second-most popular on eBay.

If you’ve invested as an eBay seller in either team’s playoff run, it’s likely you’ve been well-rewarded by merch-hungry fans. Check out these sales trends for playmakers on both teams — Pittsburgh wild-man Troy Polamalu, and Arizona’s record-setting wideout Larry Fitzgerald:

Finally, take another look at Terapeak’s NFL sales index, which we released last summer. If anyone had said back then that, come January, the Cardinals would be ranked #1 in Total Sales and #4 in Items Sold (ahead of both the Packers and Redskins) — well, let’s just say they’d be laughed off the field.

Enjoy the game!