The Montreal Canadiens have drawn the largest TV hockey audience in Canada, even more than the Toronto Maple Leafs. But why are the Leafs shown way more?
Here’s the excerpt from Al Strachan’s artcile that mentions the Habs have the largest draw of tv viewers and attendance:
“In Montreal, there is a strong sense that the team is not only part of the community, it is part of the cultural fabric of the province — or of the nation if your thoughts take a separatist bent.
The Canadiens draw more television viewers than any team in the country and their attendance is the highest in the league. In announcing the acquisition of Kovalev, general manager Bob Gainey made it clear that this was very much a public-relations gesture, a move made to thank the fans for their support and to show them the team will try its best to show its gratitude.”
Al Strachan, a Toronto newspaper columnist, says that the Canadiens get the largest TV audience, which shows he is not biased in this article, toward the hometown Leafs.
Then why don’t the Canadiens get shown on CBC? I’m not sure. Some fans think that because Toronto thinks that they are the centre of the universe, they get there games on TV.
Another fan thinks it’s a conflict of interest. The Habs were the team that was shown more 5+ years ago, but since Hockey Night in Canada’s sponsor switched from Molson, the Canadiens main sponsor; to Labatt, a Maple Leafs sponsor, the coverage changed also.
It’s probably a combination, or maybe just that Don Cherry doesn’t what to have to travel 600km to Montreal every weekend, to comment on a team he doesn’t like.
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