NHL Playoff Ratings Drop in Canada

Mathew Galvao

Professor Zimdars

Advanced Mass Comm

8 May 2016

NHL Playoff Ratings Drop in Canada

The 2016 NHL playoffs features no Canadian teams for the first time in 46 years. Each of Canada’s seven NHL clubs failed to make the playoffs. It something that came as a shock to most hockey fans knowing just how important hockey is north of the U.S. border. Most of the shock comes from the Canadian teams having a very rich history with Stanley Cup championships highlighting most of their playoff history. Hockey is their national sport and it means a lot like baseball is to Americans. According to the CBCA Complete they explain that hockey is a sport that is close to most Canadians, "The relationship between spectacle and national identity has traditionally eluded Canadian scholarship like a puck sliding by players on a shift change." (http://search.proquest.com/cbcacomplete/docview/921516910/F60E72A12F2C4DD8PQ/3?accountid=40663). Not having a Canadian team in the postseason this season did come as a huge disappointment for Canadian hockey fans all over. For the American clubs it’s an opportunity to showcase how far this country has come in the sport of hockey, and how talented the American NHL clubs really are. American teams have won each Stanley cup championship since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens captured the Cup over the LA Kings. American hockey has grown into something great and the league is seeing just how much the sport has taken off in the United States. But the question is, is Canada watching? According to an article written in globalnews.ca by Andrew Russell, the rating for the NHL playoffs dropped 61% through the first few days of the first round of the playoffs. “With no Canadian teams in the NHL Playoffs ratings in the Great White North have dropped dramatically – roughly 61 per cent.” (http://globalnews.ca/news/2665926/nhl-playoff-ratings-drop-61-per-cent-in-canada/). A 61% drop off is something not many people expected when the playoffs kicked off. Canada is a county people associate with the love for hockey and how successful they have been in the NHL and in world tournaments such as the Olympics. This definitely comes to somewhat of a surprise because most people believe that Canada drives the sport of hockey which they do, but it is surprising when you’re looking at a country like Canada it’s just different if there not viewing the NHL playoffs even if there are not not any Canadian teams that are represented. An article on thehockeynews.com broke down the ratings and determined that only 1 in 69 Canadians were viewing the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. “...what does it mean when just one in every 69 Canadians is regularly tuning into NHL games at the most crucial time of the year? Even with no Canadian teams, that’s a low number.” (http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/playoff-tv-ratings-down-a-shocking-61-percent-in-canada/). These ratings are really unheard of when looking at hockey games and viewership in Canada.

There is, however, an ongoing rivalry between the United States and Canada when it comes to the sport of hockey and this could very well have something to do with the fact that the ratings are down in Canada. The rivalry goes back decades and all of the memorable Olympic games between the two countries, the most recent being the overtime game in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal on Ryan Miller. The rivalry is well between the United states and Canada and the NHL playoff ratings in Canada may be just part of what this rivalry is all about.

There seems to be a few different possibilities as to why this could happen and why the ratings of this first round are so low through the first round. The biggest and most logical reason seems to be that there are no Canadian teams in the postseason this year. As mentioned prior this is the first season that this has happened in over 40 years. Could it be true that Canadians really aren’t that interested in watching the playoffs. This definitely is a good reason. The fan bases in Canada are very passionate about their hockey and teams that they certainly could be avoiding the postseason all together. According to an article written on nhl.com by Dave Stubbs, he mentioned that Canada would be tested with their hockey loyalty now that no Canadian teams were in the Cup playoffs. “None of the seven clubs will carry that banner into the playoffs this season. That will test the strength of Canadian fans' devotion to the game when there isn't a "local" team to support.” The Canadian market has been tested and it seems that it hasn't responded to well to the lack of Canadian teams in the playoffs with the drop in ratings. It seems that this is the main reason that Canadians haven’t tuned in this season. They are a pretty loyal bunch to their teams and country. (https://www.nhl.com/news/no-canadian-nhl-teams-in-stanley-cup-playoffs/c-279984346).

All in all the Canadian viewership of the first round of the playoffs and it is definitely something that was very unexpected to most people. It's something to look into as the years go by and Canadian teams make their way into the playoffs in future years. It'll be interesting to see if ratings in Canada go up.

Works Cited

Campbell, Ken. "Playoff TV Ratings down a ‘shocking’ 61 Percent in Canada." The Hockey News. N.p., 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/playoff-tv-ratings-down-a-shocking-61-percent-in-canada/>. 

 Russell, Andrew. "NHL Playoff Ratings Drop 61 per Cent in Canada."Global News NHL Playoff Ratings Drop 61 per Cent in Canada. N.p., 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://globalnews.ca/news/2665926/nhl-playoff-ratings-drop-61-per-cent-in-canada/>. 

Stubbs, Dave. "Woe Canada. No Playoffs This Year North of Border."NHL.com. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 09 May 2016. 

Zuurbier, Peter. "Hockey and Spectacle: Critical Reflections on Canadian Culture." CBCA Complete [ProQuest]. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2016. <http://search.proquest.com/cbcacomplete/docview/921516910/F60E72A12F2C4DD8PQ/3?accountid=40663>.