Seven-in-10 say they’ll cheer for any Canadian team to break 33-year Stanley Cup drought
April 17, 2026 – The puck drops on Saturday for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and Canadians will have less representation this year than they’ve had since 2021. Just three of the seven teams north of the border will compete to end Canada’s 33-year Cup cold streak.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians divided in both their allegiance and their faith, but largely united in their desire to see a Canadian team finally hoist the cup.
Asked which team they would prefer to see win the cup, nearly half of hockey fans say Montreal (46%), while one-in-three say Edmonton (34%). Notably, in the west, 55 per cent choose the Oilers, and in the east, 55 per cent choose the Habs. Overall, 15 per cent are cheering for the Ottawa Senators.
So, which is more likely, the Oilers returning to the finals for the third year in a row and taking the final step, the Senators winning the cup as a long shot, or the Canadiens breaking the streak that has endured since their last championship in 1993?
Hockey fans are nearly equally likely to say that Montreal (31%) or Edmonton (27%) represent Canada’s best hope to be the next Canadian team to win the cup. The Senators trail the Maple Leafs (8%) and the Canucks (5%), representing the fifth choice (4%).
Whoever it is, most Canadian hockey fans will rejoice if the day ever comes. Seven-in-10 (72%) say they’ll cheer for any of Canada’s teams. This is a significant increase compared to 2016 (57%) and 2024 64%).
INDEX
- Fewer teams, but similar excitement from hockey fans for playoffs
- Seven-in-10 fans will be cheering for any Canadian team
- Canadiens and Oilers viewed as Canada’s best chance
- East-west divide on allegiance
Fewer teams, but similar excitement from hockey fans for playoffs
Canadians were disappointed in both the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments during February’s Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, leaving Canada’s hockey glory dependent on an unreliable proposition: a Canadian-based team actually winning the Stanley Cup.
Three teams – the Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens – will compete to break a Stanley Cup drought that has now endured for 33 years. The Oilers will try to return to the final for the third year in a row, having lost to the Florida Panthers in each of the past two seasons. The good news for the Oilers, if they do come out of the west, is that the Panthers failed to qualify for the playoffs this year. Montreal, the team that last won the Stanley Cup in 1993, will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in a rematch of one of the oddest Stanley Cup finals in league history, when the two faced off in an all-eastern conference matchup, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in 2021 that prompted the league to create an all-Canadian division. In the nation’s capital, the Senators will try to get back to the finals for the first time since 2007.
Despite losing a couple of teams, Canadian hockey fans are close to equally likely to say they’re excited about the playoffs. It turns out, playoff hockey is still playoff hockey.
The centre of the Canadian hockey universe will evidently be Quebec, at least as long as the Canadiens are alive. Half of Quebec residents (49%) say they’re excited for the playoffs, nine points higher than second place Alberta (40%):
Seven-in-10 fans will be cheering for any Canadian team
As the years have slogged on without a Stanley Cup victory in Canada, the people who live here have evidently become less picky about which team they want to break the curse. Compared to 2016, the proportion of those saying they will cheer for any of Canada’s teams has risen from 54 per cent to 72 per cent. This is the second year in a row wherein that trend has now held:
Canadiens and Oilers viewed as Canada’s best chance
Since the Angus Reid Institute began tracking this issue in 2016, the team to hold Canadians’ faith has shifted to from year to year. The Montreal Canadiens are top choice this year, with 31 per cent of hockey fans saying they’re Canada’s best chance. This is a slight advantage over Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers, chosen by 27 per cent. Last year, four teams shared Canada’s hope, whereas this year, it is largely concentrated between Edmonton and Montreal:
The team that has the best chance to end Canada’s hockey misery is different depending on where a person is in the country. In the east, two-in-five say Montreal offers the most hope (38%) while in the west, the same number say this of the Oilers (39%).
East-west divide on allegiance
So, who is Canada’s team? With respect to the Ottawa Senators, it isn’t them. Most of the country is divided between the Oilers and the Canadiens. Largely due to a population advantage in the east, the Habs are the favourite, chosen by 46 per cent, while one-in-three choose the Oilers (34%). Notably, in the east, 55 per cent say Montreal is their team this spring, while the identical number in the west say this of the Oilers:
For detailed results by age, gender, region, education, and other demographics, click here.
For PDF of full release, click here.