Three Canadian teams remain in the second round of the NHL playoffs with the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Edmonton Oilers still in the fight for Lord Stanley’s Cup. It seems that the majority of Flames fans have no problem with the Jets making a cup run, but the Leafs and Oilers can begin to tread in troubled waters.
With that in mind, we wanted to know how many Flames fans have an interest in rooting for either the Oilers or the Leafs? We asked, you answered.
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One, the other, both, or neither
We presented the below poll to our readers:
Oilers
Less than 10% of respondents are cheering for the Oilers this postseason. With ~5% of votes for the Oilers alone and ~4% for both the Leafs and Oilers, not many Flames fans want to see their biggest rival win it all. Although it would be great to see a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup, provincial rivalries are hard to overcome, especially the Battle of Alberta.
The Oilers have had to put up a plethora of goals to make it this far in the postseason, as goaltending and defensive woes have plagued the team once again. Despite their glaring weaknesses, the Oilers do have another strong chance at a Cup finals appearance, which Flames fans won’t be too happy about.
Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs collected roughly 30% of the votes this week. Add on the 4% rooting for both teams, and the Leafs have over a third of the voting fans’ support. Although the Flames and Leafs have a historic rivalry together, it’s far from the intensity of the Battle of Alberta.
The Leafs’ competition this round is also of interest to Flames fans. Calgary holds the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. The earlier the Panthers exit the playoffs, the better the selection is for Calgary. It makes sense why the Flames fans would be on the Leafs bandwagon, for business purposes only, for some.
Neither
Over half of the respondents support neither the Oilers nor the Leafs in the 2025 NHL Playoffs. True to form, roughly 60% of fans who voted couldn’t put their differences with these franchises aside in the name of bringing the Cup back to Canada. In all honesty, I can see how.
The Leafs are the centre of the hockey world, and the media coverage on the team at a national level is enough to make fans of other Canadian teams gag. They have a collection of incredible talent and are always falling short in the playoffs. In a roundabout way, their playoff woes keep the balance in the hockey world.
The Oilers, on the other hand, are the number one biggest rival of the Flames without question, geographically, historically, and recently. To make matters worse, they also had the greatest player of all time in Wayne Gretzky and what could be the second-greatest player of all time in Connor McDavid. Everyone gets hung up on a decade-long rebuild, but frankly, Calgary wants a bit of that luck to come our way.
The Jets are cool, though.
Canadian teams looking strong
Whether your rooting interests align or not, Canadian teams have an incredible showing in round two, with 3/8 remaining teams residing north of the border. The Jets and Oilers have the potential to face off in the Western Conference Finals, while the Maple Leafs remain the only hope in the Eastern Conference.
The Leafs have the opportunity to end the league’s longest Stanley Cup drought at 58 years to capture their franchise’s 14th championship. The Oilers almost completed the impossible last year, falling just short of a four-game comeback down 3–0 to the Florida Panthers. If the Oilers make an appearance in back-to-back seasons, they’ll be on the hunt for their franchise’s sixth cup and first since 1990. The Jets, however, will be in search of their franchise’s first Stanley Cup, the first or second time around. Winnipeg has also never made a finals appearance.
One Canadian team in the finals again would be amazing. An all-Canadian finals would be the first since 1988–89 when the Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens to capture their only Stanley Cup.
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