ESPN’s figures for the first two rounds of the playoffs down on last year

Playoff hockey is a religion in Canada. Regular fans continue to tune in to the games, and new fans, who follow it when their team is doing well, are coming on board.

Even if hockey is the most popular sport in Canada, the NHL needs to be popular in the U.S. too!

And according to the figures from ESPN and TNT Sports (the U.S. broadcasting platforms for the series), viewership is down on the previous year. In fact, we’d call it a huge drop.

ESPN’s figures for the first two rounds of the playoffs were down 28% on the first two rounds of 2024.

NHL playoff viewership is down a massive 28% on ESPN platforms, with games averaging just 886,000 viewers.

Stanley Cup playoff games are also down 19% on TNT Sports platforms.

– Front Office Sports (@FOS) May 21, 2025

The games averaged just 886,000 viewers. That’s simply awful for a national channel.

In simple comparison, the Canadiens’ first playoff game averaged 1.22 million viewers on TVA Sports, and we’re talking about a regional channel.

TNT Sports figures were down 19% on last year.

Having five Canadian teams in the playoffs may have slightly affected the American audience, but such a significant drop in numbers must still ring a bell for the NHL. There must be changes to the playoff format.

Many have criticized the divisional format with drafted teams, calling for a return to the format ranking only the top eight teams in order. Returning to this format could avoid redundancy.

We’d like to avoid having to listen to another first-round series between the Kings and Oilers every year.

The NHL could take a cue from the NBA with its play-in format. Instead of having two drafted teams advance directly to the playoffs, there could be four competing in a small tournament to determine who inherits the final two playoff spots.

The solution isn’t 100% clear, but NHL executives need to make changes to entice Americans to watch playoff hockey.

Overtime

– A story to follow on Monday.

It will finally be Gabriel Gervais at 11:00 a.m. Monday.

– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) May 22, 2025

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Oilers PK needs to improve… fast

Five 3rd period goals, including three on Dallas power plays sunk the Oilers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. How can they tweak it? #LetsGoOilers #TexasHockey@rayferraro21 @DarrenDreger discuss in Headlines!

Full pod courtesy… https://t.co/e2lwNHsDMX

– The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast (@rayanddregs) May 22, 2025

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We have signed forward Wojciech Stachowiak to a one-year, entry-level contract.

: https://t.co/w8U8Lk8D Vh pic.twitter.com/yfC7JOlOkS

– Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 22, 2025