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 Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
DEVELOPING Canada's GDP rises amid expert fears of rate-hike recession
Canada's GDP rose 0.2 per cent in February, driven by a rebound in transportation and warehousing, which saw the largest recorded month-to-month rise in over a year at 1.4 per cent.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
'Fatalities' reported following wrong-way collision on Highway 401, SIU called in: police
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has been called in following a deadly wrong-way collision on Highway 401 in Whitby on Monday night, say police.
Winner of US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is an immigrant from Laos who has cancer
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III returned to public duties on Tuesday, visiting a cancer treatment charity and beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch's own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.