NHL Is Seeing Some Of Its Best Stanley Cup Playoff Ratings Ever

If you're reading this, there's a good chance we've had similar nighttime routines over the last month and a half or so.

Basically, you finish up with work, then park yourself on your preferred piece of living room real estate and flip on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I can tell because the NHL is having some of the best Stanley Cup Playoff ratings through the first two rounds ever.

According to the Associated Press, the NHL is averaging 1.16 million viewers through the first two rounds which is a 9 percent jump over last year.

That's some great news for the NHL, especially when you consider that the NBA Playoffs (which air on the same networks) are down 11 percent this year.

The first round averaged 934,000 viewers in the US which made it the second-most watched ever.

Game 7 between the Maple Leafs and Bruins was the NHL's most-watched first-round playoff game in more than a decade. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Game 7 of the Bruins-Maple Leafs first-round series — an overtime thriller — drew 3.22 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched first-round game since 2012.

This is great to hear for the NHL, and I think it makes a lot of sense. There have been some great storylines through the first two rounds and these playoffs feel pretty wide open. With the four teams left in the playoffs — the Rangers, Panthers, Oilers, and Stars — I think you could make a compelling case for why any of those teams could go on to win the Cup.

Sure, the Rangers are favored, but they didn't come in as favorites. The Hurricanes did. Even several of the teams that are out at this point came into the postseason looking fully capable of going all the way.

That makes it way more interesting and that could be why more people are tuning in.

These are also impressive numbers when you consider that the overwhelming majority of the games have aired on cable between ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Only a handful have been on network TV, and the league will likely be happy that it's ESPN's year to broadcast the Stanley Cup Final so some games will be on ABC.