Least-Watched Stanley Cup Final In Recent Memory? Why Canada's Tuning Out Carolina Vs. Vegas

The hockey has been wild.

Every Stanley Cup final game so far has been a back-and-forth battle. No multi-goal lead is safe. There's been an overtime, a double-overtime and the fastest natural hat trick in Stanley Cup history.

For those reasons, some have already dubbed the final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights one of the greatest ever.

But while viewership in the U.S. has been reaching its highest levels in more than a decade, the numbers tell a different story north of the border, where the lack of Canadian representation between two non-traditional hockey markets has caused many to tune out.

According to Canadian media reporter and columnist Bill Brioux, an estimated 1.3 million fans watched Game 1 on either Sportsnet or CBC. That number dropped to just over 1.1 million for Game 2, while Saturday night's Game 3 brought in more than 1.5 million.

It is a significant drop from the average of 4.2 million fans who watched the 2024 Edmonton-Florida final or the average of 4.39 million who watched last year's rematch.

Indeed, if viewership numbers do not increase for Game 5 and beyond, there is a good chance that this year's Stanley Cup final could be even worse than the Vegas-Florida final in 2023, which had an average viewership of 2.12 million and is considered one of the least-watched in recent history.

Obviously, we all know the reasons why.

Vegas and Carolina are small-market teams with little star power. With the exception of Mitch Marner, which Brioux joked might be causing many Maple Leafs to tune out, this year's final lacks big-name players. There is no Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon or Alex Ovechkin.

"If you asked the average person to name players on either team, they'd have a hard time doing so," Brioux told The Hockey News. "These teams don't have a lot of supporters. For the past several years, you had Edmonton, Florida, Colorado, Tampa Bay — these two teams don't stack up that way."

The biggest factor, of course, is the lack of Canadian representation.

For the first time in three years, there is no Canadian team in this year's final. As much as the NHL wants to believe that hockey fans in Canada will watch any game featuring a stick and a puck, the truth is that not having a Canadian team to cheer for causes fans to tune out. 

One of the most-watched final in terms of Canadian viewers was when the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, which drew 8.76 million average viewers for Game 7.  Two years ago, 7.55 million average viewers watched the Panthers defeat the Oilers in Game 7.

We might have seen those kind of numbers had the Montreal Canadiens advanced to the Stanley Cup final.

In the first round, 3.7 million average viewers watched the Habs against the Tampa Bay Lightning, while more than 4.5 million tuned in for their second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres, as well as the conference final against the Hurricanes.

"The drop off since then has been huge," said Brioux. "If you look at years where there is no Canadian team in the final, this is what happens. The last couple of years, you had Edmonton and Connor McDavid. Now, with the elbows up mentality, you need a Canadian team in the final."

On Sportsnet alone, Brioux recently wrote that "more viewers watched the Toronto Blue Jays battle the Baltimore Orioles (837,000) than watched Game 3 (787,000) in prime time of the Stanley Cup final."

The good news for the NHL, however, is that this year's final — and playoffs, in general — is doing big numbers in the U.S.

Through the first two games, the 2026 Stanley Cup final averaged 4.725 million viewers, up 93 percent from last year.

"For us, I think we're experiencing a particular moment in time," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters prior to the start of the Cup final. "The game has never been better, never been more competitive… I think we're experiencing a moment in time where our players and our game are truly getting the recognition that they deserve, and it's being reflected in engagement by fans; current hockey fans watching even more and sports fans, casual fans coming to give us a look, liking what they see and coming back."

Carolina's thrilling double-overtime win in Game 2 on ABC was the most-viewed Stanley Cup final Game 2 since 2015 (Chicago-Tampa Bay, NBC). It was also ESPN's second most-watched Stanley Cup final Game 2, outdrawing every Game 2 aired on ESPN and ABC, with the exception of 1997.

Viewership for Game 2 was up 88 percent compared to Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup final on TNT/truTV and up 33 percent versus Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup final on ABC.

"The hockey has been great," said Brioux. "Every game has been decided by a goal. We keep hearing the broadcasters tell us that these are the best hockey games they've witnessed. It's like they're almost trying to will people into watching."

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