Maple Leafs (22%), Jets (19%), Oilers (16%) seen as Canada’s best chance to end 32-year losing streak

April 25, 2025 – It was easy for Canada to come together for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, with the maple leaf firmly emblazoned on their team’s chest and a bubbling resentment against the stars and stripes on the other end of the ice.

It’s a whole other game, however, to have Flames flans cheering for the Oilers or Habs fans cheering for the Leafs. After 32 years without a Canadian Stanley Cup winner and with national unity rising, we may be inching toward that place.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds an increase in the number of Canadian hockey fans who want “any” Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup, not just their own. Seven-in-10 (71%) now say they will cheer for this, representing a seven-point increase over the past year and a 14-point increase since 2016.

That’s not to say that Canadians don’t have preferences.

Canada has five representatives in the Stanley Cup Playoffs – Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Among those teams, the Maple Leafs and Canadiens share the most support, chosen as the preferred team by three-in-10. One-in-five (18%) are cheering for the Oilers, 15 per cent for the Jets, and six per cent for the Senators in Canada’s capital.

Who they’re cheering for does not necessarily represent Canadians’ best bet to break the Stanley Cup drought. On this question both the Leafs and Jets are chosen by one-in-five, while fewer think the Oilers (16%) or Canadiens (14%) will raise Lord Stanley’s mug first. Notably, just two per cent of Canadians say no Canadian team will ever win the Cup again – this proportion peaked at 5 per cent in 2021.

More Key Findings:

Commissioner Gary Bettman, also seated with Gretzky during that same game in Washington, D.C., has a 14 per cent favourability, with a 43 per cent unfavourable overall. Among diehard hockey fans his favourability rises (27%), but so does his unfavourability (70%).

 

INDEX

The Hockey Fan landscape
Two-in-five excited about this year’s playoffs
Canadians rally in hopes of ending 32-year curse
Canada’s team(s)
Who Canadians say will actually break the Stanley Cup drought
The “Great Once” no longer revered, Sid the Kid takes the mantle as hockey hero
NHL Commissioner viewed negatively

 

The Hockey Fan landscape

The NHL landed on a ratings hit when it paused its season in February for the 4 Nations Face-Off, a short international tournament which replaced the league’s annual all-star game. It was the first best-on-best hockey tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and more than 10 million Canadians watched the final which Canada won in overtime over the United States. That makes it the most watched hockey game since the 2010 Winter Olympics.

But the sport is still mired in scandal overall, as a group of hockey players including former NHLers take the stand in a sexual assault trial coinciding with the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Related:

The proportion of Canadians who describe themselves as diehard fans has declined from 2019, but at least seven-in-10 say they have some interest in hockey:

Two-in-five excited about this year’s playoffs

This year’s NHL playoffs features five of the seven Canadian teams, the most since 2017. Two-in-five (38%) Canadians describe themselves as excited to watch the postseason, while one-third (32%) say they’re not as enthused.

Excitement is highest in Manitoba (56%), where the Winnipeg Jets will hope to make a deep run after securing the President’s Trophy as the league’s top regular season team. Those in B.C. are least thrilled with this year’s edition of the playoffs after the Canucks failed to qualify:

Canadians rally in hopes of ending 32-year curse

Canadian teams’ lack of success in pursuing the Stanley Cup has provided fertile ground for advertisers during the playoffs, and also perhaps a reason to watch for fans whose team failed to make the postseason. Over the past decade, a majority say they generally want Canada’s teams to succeed. And that majority has grown over time, with 71 per cent now saying they are cheering for the Leafs, Oilers, Senators and Canadiens to succeed because they are Canadian:

The bitter pill of cheering for a potential rival lifting the Stanley Cup is apparently more difficult to swallow for those who are diehard fans of the NHL. But still a majority (60%) say they want Canada’s teams to succeed during the NHL playoffs. Casual fans are more likely to want a Canadian team to lift the Stanley Cup:

At least seven-in-10 fans of Canadian teams say they want the other Canadian teams to succeed. Those who cheer for none of the Canadian teams are less likely to say that’s the case.

At least one-in-12 Oilers fans (9%), Canadiens fans (11%) and Leafs fans (8%) say they don’t cheer for other Canadian teams because they consider them rivals, the most among Canadian team fanbases:

Canada’s team(s)

As two of the Original Six NHL franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens are two of the most popular teams historically and currently apparently. Both are the most popular options when it comes to which teams’ hockey fans would most want to see lift the Cup. The Oilers (18%), Jets (15%) and Senators (6%) trail in popularity.

Even in Ontario, the Senators are not very popular. More in that province want to see Montreal win (13%) than Ottawa (10%).

 

The Jets (96%) are the overwhelming favourite in Manitoba, while the Canadiens (81%) are also very popular in their own province. Two-thirds (67%) in Alberta would like to see the Oilers win, while the Leafs are slightly less popular than that in their home province of Ontario:

Who Canadians say will actually break the Stanley Cup drought

With the benefit of its population advantage the Toronto Maple Leafs are often the top choice to break this multi-generational curse. That said, though low in population, the results the Winnipeg Jets generated in the regular season are clearly respected. Finishing with the best record in the NHL, the Jets are close to the Leafs this year as the team chosen to win Canada’s first Stanley Cup in more than three decades:

The “Great Once” no longer revered, Sid the Kid takes the mantle as hockey hero

Wayne Gretzky has been a fixture in Canadian conversations since the 1970’s. The son of Walter was a phenom and a national hero, and despite being passed for first in career goals by Alex Ovechkin earlier this month, still has more career assists than any other NHL player in history has points. Gretzky’s friendship with U.S. President Donald Trump has become a source of controversy in this country after Trump ramped up threats to annex Canada and implemented tariffs on this country. Gretzky has lived in the United States since 1988, but many have called on him to stand up for his country of birth. Amid this, 45 per cent of Canadians have a negative view of Gretzky, nearly same number as have a positive one (47%). In 2011, a Harris-Decima poll found only one-in-16 Canadians had an unfavourable view of the Great One, ranking him as the country’s most positively viewed athlete.

Notably, he placed above Sidney Crosby in that poll but now trails well behind. Crosby is viewed positively by 80 per cent and negatively by just three per cent. Crosby recently led Canada to a thrilling Four Nations Tournament victory over the United States, and scored among the most famous goals in hockey history, winning the gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics:

NHL Commissioner viewed negatively

The tenure of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman began in February 1993 and has run in parallel with Canadian teams’ ill fortunes. Bettman has overseen significant growth as the NHL has expanded into non-traditional U.S. markets and added multiple franchises. Franchise values have increased exponentially during this period. Bettman has also presided over three lockouts, including the complete cancellation of the 2004–05 season, and faced criticism for his handling of player safety issues, particularly concussions. More recently Bettman introduced a largely unpopular playoff format – one that has seen the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings now meet four consecutive years.

For fans, the negatives evidently outweigh the positives. Among die hard fans, views are approximately three times as likely to be negative (70%) than positive (27%):

METHODOLOGY:

The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from April 21 – 24 2025, among a randomized sample of 1,607 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to region, gender, age, household income, and education, based on the Canadian census. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI. Detailed tables are found at the end of this release.

For detailed results by age, gender, region, education, and other demographics, click here.

For detailed results by level of hockey fandom, click here. 

For PDF of full release, click here.

For questionnaire, click here. 

MEDIA CONTACTS: 

Dave Korzinski, Research Director: 250.899.0821 dave.korzinski@angusreid.org

Jon Roe, Research Associate: 825.437.1147 jon.roe@angusreid.org