From the Cup archives: Canadians were on Leafs bandwagon during ’93 run

It has been 25 years since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. Leading up to the anniversary on June 9, we’ll be tracking the Habs’ route to victory with articles from the Montreal Gazette archives.

MAY 29, 1993

Original headline: Leafs huge favourites in Stanley Cup poll; But Quebecers love Canadiens

OTTAWA — If the Toronto Maple Leafs meet the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final, the big loser might be national unity.

In Quebec, Habs fans outnumber Leaf boosters by a whopping 7-1 margin, a new poll shows. But outside Quebec, there are four times more Toronto supporters than those backing Montreal.

“I think Canadians — outside Quebec, of course — are just in love with the idea of the Hogtown underdogs,” said John Wright, research analyst with the Angus Reid Group, which conducted the poll.

“I think that may explain why so many people, even in the West, are rooting for the Leafs. In Quebec, well, it’s natural that people should be intensely loyal to their Canadiens.”

The Leafs must win the seventh game of their Campbell Conference final against Los Angeles tonight to advance to the finals Tuesday (editor’s note: June 1, 1993) with Montreal.

If they do, 80 per cent of Quebecers are hoping the long-suffering Leafs will lose to their provincial favourites. Just 12 per cent want Toronto to keep Montreal from capturing its National Hockey League record 24th championship.

But outside Quebec, especially in Ontario and Alberta, 69 per cent of respondents are pushing for Toronto to win its first Stanley Cup in 26 years. Seventeen per cent like the Canadiens.

Overall, 54 per cent of Canadians favour the Leafs and 33 per cent the Habs.

Only 13 per cent had no preference.

Not surprisingly, support for the Leafs is highest in Ontario at 77 per cent. But three-quarters of Albertans and 60 per cent of B.C. residents say they are Toronto fans.

Outside Quebec, support for the Leafs is lowest in Atlantic Canada, where half of respondents say they are looking for a Toronto victory and one-third are rooting for Montreal.

The telephone poll of 1,501 adults, conducted May 18 to 20, is considered accurate within 2.5 percentage points 19 times in 20. The margins of error are larger for regional breakdowns.

JOHN KENNEY A majority of Canadians outside of Quebec were rooting for the Leafs to beat the Habs before the 1993 Cup contenders were decided, according to an Angus Reid poll that was reported on May 29, 1993.