Stanley Cup game 7 final delivers record TV ratings

The Boston Bruins weren’t the only winners on Wednesday night. Figures released this afternoon show CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada shattered its own record set two nights earlier in the 2011 Stanley Cup final, drawing an average audience of 8.76 million viewers to the game 7 telecast.

That makes the game the most-watched NHL game in Hockey Night in Canada history and the second-highest watched game in CBC sports history finishing slightly behind the 2002 Men’s Olympic Gold Medal game between Canada and the U.S., which drew 8.96 million viewers. The game 6 audience for the Canucks and Bruins attracted an average of 6.6 million viewers.

According to CBC, Wednesday’s audience peaked at 11.2 million hockey fans. That occurred late in the second period, just as the Bruins took a 3-0 lead en route to their 4-0 victory to clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1972. Overall, CBC says 18.45 million tuned in to some portion of Wednesday’s telecast.