The Great Canadian Ratings Report: Hockey's No. 1 and everything else fights for second place

Canadians tend to get their backs up, and their hackles raised, when American athletes imply that we are a nation of puckheads, interested only in toothless athletes chasing a piece of frozen rubber while attempting to maim each other.

One of the reasons this tends to bother us is that it's basically true. Sure, we can get excited about football, baseball, curling and soccer. But when it comes down to it, nothing turns our cranks like hockey. And not just the NHL version.

Yes, the NHL is in its usual spot dominating the television landscape. The Stanley Cup playoffs, always a big draw, are attracting even larger audiences than normal thanks to the presence of more Canadian teams. Those numbers will drop should the Montreal Canadiens flame out, but they will still dwarf the rest of the field.

But it's not just the glamour events that turn Canadians on. Take the world hockey championship, a European-based event that usually manages to get itself ignored by Canadians obsessed with the NHL, or the Toronto Blue Jays.

Thanks in part to the presence of Sidney Crosby and an undefeated record, Team Canada is drawing some surprisingly big audiences. Sunday's doubleheader, featuring Canada in one game, averaged 541,000 viewers on TSN. Saturday's Canada-France game averaged 464,000 viewers with a live broadcast and repeat. Amazingly, 183,000 viewers rose at 6 a.m. ET to watch something less than a marquee matchup.

Even games not involving Canada have done relatively well, with a Friday afternoon game averaging 150,000 viewers. Guess people just have to get their hockey fix somehow.

TSN bumped up coverage this year and it's paid off. According to TSN, Canadians have watched 2.8 times more world championship coverage -- up 177 per cent from last year.

That's not to say there isn't interest in other sports. The Blue Jays continue to draw well despite a disappointing start and a wild-and-crazy finish put Sunday's PGA tournament into the top 10.

And things are looking up for the MLS. Toronto FC's home opener on Sunday averaged 193,000 viewers, the team's largest audience since the season opener.

Maybe the MLS needs to have more openers.

Here are the most-watched English-language sports events from the past weekend, according to Numeris overnight ratings:

1. NHL, Lightning at Canadiens, Saturday, CBC: 3,370,000

2. NHL, Rangers at Capitals, Sunday, CBC: 1,580,000

3. NHL, Ducks at Flames, Friday, Sportsnet: 1,400,000

4. NHL, Capitals at Rangers, Friday, CBC: 1,300,000

5. NHL, Flames at Ducks, Sunday, CBC: 1,260,000

6. MLB, Red Sox at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet One: 607,000

7. Hockey world championship, Canada-Switzerland/Russia-Slovakia, Sunday, TSN: 541,000

8. PGA, Players Championship final round, Sunday, Global: 538,000

9. MLB, Red Sox at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 495,000

10. MLB, Red Sox at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet One: 471,000

11. Hockey world championship, France vs. Canada, Saturday, TSN: 464,000

12. PGA, Players Championship third round, Saturday, Global: 271,000

13. MLS, Houston at Toronto FC, Sunday, TSN: 193,000

14. Auto racing, F1 Spanish Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 183,000

15. Auto racing, NASCAR Spongebob 400, Saturday, TSN: 174,000

16. NBA, Cavaliers at Bulls, Friday, TSN: 164,000

17. Hockey world championship, US-Denmark/Germany-Latvia, Friday, TSN: 150,000

18. Hockey world championship, Slovakia-U.S., Sunday, TSN: 128,000

19. Soccer, W. Brom-Newcastle/Tottenham-Stoke, Saturday, TSN: 121,000

20. NBA, Warriors at Grizzlies, Saturday, TSN: 102,000

21. Soccer, Manchester United at Crystal Palace, Saturday, Sportsnet: 92,000

THREE TO WATCH

Drafty night: It doesn't quite have the same hype as its NFL brother, but the CFL draft does have its appeal to lovers of the game. And besides, the CFL version will always have its Simpsons moment, something the NFL can't say. Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, TSN.

All the marbles: Break out the cliches. It's Game 7 as the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers face off at Madison Square Garden. The winner moves on to the Stanley Cup semifinals while the loser wears the "choke" tage. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m ET, CBC.

World view: It's dwarfed by the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the world hockey championship occasionally turns on Canadian fans -- especially if Team Canada is in the final. That looks like a good possibility this year. The final goes Sunday, 2:30 p.m ET, TSN.