Over 70 percent of the Canadian population watched the Stanley Cup Finals

Some insane numbers from Sportsnet Thursday morning only one day after the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched back-to-back Stanley Cups.

According to Sportsnet, the final between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning was the most-watched Cup final in the companies history. Sportsnet took over broadcasting rights in Canada in 2014-15.

On top of that, Sportsnet says over 70% of the Canadian population tuned in to watch the finals via Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports as is reached 26 million across the country.

Some other interesting numbers from Sportsnet:

• This year’s cup finals drew a 51 percent increase in average viewers per game compared to last year.
• Overall, this year’s playoffs drew 73 percent more viewers than last year.
• Over 18 billion minutes were spent watching the playoffs in Canada this year.

All of these numbers are staggering and just go to show how rabid Canada is as a hockey country. It’s interesting, too, for a league like the NHL.

With the revamped divisions and playoff brackets, there’s no denying that having four Canadian teams guaranteed a berth into the playoffs was anything but a success for hockey in Canada, and America. More eyeballs have clearly been sunk onto the playoffs this year and that’s good for the game.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.