Leafs or Oilers? Hockey fans split on which team will end Canada's Stanley Cup drought
The end of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) regular season is just days away and four Canadian teams have punched their ticket for the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks each have a chance to not only win the Stanley Cup, but also put the nation’s more than three-decade NHL championship drought to an end.
However, opinion among Canadian hockey fans appears to be split as to which team represents the best chance to bring the Cup home.
A new survey of 1,615 Canadian adults by the Angus Reid Institute shows that one in five respondents believe either Toronto (21 per cent) or Edmonton (20 per cent) will take the trophy. Fourteen per cent of those surveyed think Vancouver will end the drought and five per cent think Winnipeg will get it done.
Asked which team respondents would “like” to see win the cup, an overwhelming 42 per cent voted for the Leafs, which the poll notes is largely influenced by Ontario’s larger population, 23 per cent voted for Vancouver, 22 per cent voted for Edmonton and 13 per cent voted for Winnipeg.
The last time a Canadian team won hockey’s biggest prize was back in 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens hoisted the cup. Since then, five of Canada’s seven hockey clubs have come close, but all failed to reach the top.
It’s no surprise then that the percentage of hockey fans in this country who don’t care which Canadian team wins the Cup is growing.
“For many Canadians, the team to win has evidently become less important than the act of winning,” the institute said in a news release issued Monday. “In 2016, 57 per cent of Canadians said they didn’t care which team ended the drought…Now, nearing two-thirds (64%) say they’ll cheer for any team that calls Canada home.”
Toronto heads into the playoffs 46-24-10 behind Auston Matthews’ league-leading 69 goals. Edmonton is 48-25-6, led by former Leaf Zach Hyman’s 53 goals.
The schedule for this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs has not yet been released.
Methodology
The online survey was conducted from April 9 to 11 among a randomized sample of 1,615 Canadian adults. The institute says a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Oilers dominate special teams to eliminate Kings in 5 games
The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings played a tight-checking series at even strength. But the special teams matchup was lopsided - and that's why it ended in five games.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.