Political ads find ice time — and eyeballs — during NHL playoff broadcasts
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OTTAWA — With election day on Monday fast approaching, political parties are looking for their last chance to advertise their cause.
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Luckily for them, they have the opportunity to do so on one of the biggest stages in Canada: the Stanley Cup playoffs. And it also comes at a moment when interest in hockey is peaking.
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This year's Stanley Cup playoffs features five out of the seven Canadian teams, which is the most since 2004. It's also coming on the heels of the Four Nations Faceoff tournament, which saw heightened national attention due to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and rhetoric about Canada.
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On top of that, last year's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers was the most-watched broadcast in Rogers Sportsnet's history.
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'There are only two things that cause people to watch live television in numbers anymore,' said Mitch Heimpel, who was an advisor to former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole campaign and is an avid hockey-watcher. 'One is big live news events and the other is live sports.'
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'There were some echoes in these ads of the 2015 campaign when the Blue Jays were in the playoffs in October, where there were political ads laced throughout commercial breaks,' Heimpel continued.
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The battle of Ontario, which pits the Ottawa Senators against the Toronto Maple Leafs, is particularly crucial for advertising campaigns, as Ontario is home to many of the key battleground ridings parties are looking to win.
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The Conservatives have aimed ads at an older audience, as they try to pry those voters away from Liberal Leader Mark Carney. One of the ads features two older men golfing and discussing why they will be voting for the Conservatives. The video has also gone viral over social media, amassing over 4.6 million views on X.
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We can't afford fore more years.
Vote for Change. Vote Conservative. pic.twitter.com/i68ZbqwFgM
— Conservative Party (@CPC_HQ) April 19, 2025
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'The two guys in that ad are not empathetic characters in a political ad for anybody under the age of 60,' Heimpel said.
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The Liberal have notably excelled in the polls among older generations. According to Nanos' election tracking, 53 per cent of people polled aged 55 and over preferred Carney's Liberals, while only 33 per cent preferred the Conservatives.
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'The polling has demonstrated that the boomers are generally more in play and susceptible to arguments about the United States and Trump's impact on the economy,' Heimpel said. 'Those boomer men who have typically been dialed-in Conservative voters are, for the first time in years, the subject of competition in this election.'
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Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 'We welcome Canadians to come in and invest, to spend their hard-earned Canadian dollars at U.S. businesses,' U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told The Canadian Press in an interview Friday. 'If a Canadian has had a disappointing experience coming into the United States, I'm not denying that it happened, but I'm saying it's an isolated event and it is not a pattern.' In April, Ottawa updated its advice to Canadians travelling to the United States to warn them about the possibility they might be detained if denied entry. 'Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices,' reads the new guidance. 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'Treating people with respect, dignity and fairness is fundamental to our border services officers' relationship with the public and a key part of this is serving all travellers in a non-discriminatory way.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Hoekstra said travel to the U.S. is up to individuals. 'If you decide that you're not going to come down or whatever, that's your decision and you're missing an opportunity. There are great things to see in America,' Hoekstra said. He also noted the case of CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, who recently said she prepared to visit the U.S. last month as if she was 'going to North Korea' — with a 'burner phone' that didn't carry any personal information — only to experience a warm welcome. 'It's like, (let's) get past the rhetoric and let's look at the real experiences that people are having here,' Hoekstra said. 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