The Great Canadian Ratings Report: NHL gets ready to challenge Blue Jays

That old saying about the more things changing the more they stay the some couldn't be more appropriate when it comes to sports television ratings in Canada.

We've seen massive change over the past couple of months as the Toronto Blue Jays have risen from the middle of the pack and replaced the CFL as the summer's most-watched sport while the NFL has started to make serious incursions into CFL territory.

But as the leaves have started to turn (not to be confused with the Leafs), things are getting back to normal. Right up there, along with Jays-mania and the aforementioned football leagues is a hockey game.

That wouldn't be so surprising if it were a regular-season hockey game that was drawing big numbers, but this was a meaningless pre-season match featuring the usual mix of no-names, has-beens and never-weres.

Saturday's game between reasonable facsimiles of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs drew an average audience of 617,000 viewers to Sportsnet -- more than three CFL games that actually meant something, the Sunday afternoon NFL slate and a whole bunch of other regular-season sports events.

So as impressive as the Blue Jays ratings have been since the team went from pretender to contender, odds are they'll be matched -- and eventually surpassed -- by hockey once the games start to mean something.

Regardless, this is all good news for Rogers, which owns the Blue Jays, the channel that broadcasts their games, and almost all of the channels that carry the NHL.

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

1. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 1,870,000
2. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 1,600,000
3. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 1,520,000
4. NFL, Bills-Dolphins/Bears-Seahawks/Niners-Cards, Sunday,CTV: 774,000
5. CFL, Stampeders at Blue Bombers, Friday, TSN: 639.000
6. NHL, Canadiens at Maple Leafs, Saturday, Sportsnet: 617,000
7. CFL, Argonauts at RedBlacks, Saturday, TSN: 510,000
8. NFL, 4 p.m. games, Sunday, CTV: 507,000
9. CFL, Lions at Eskimos, Saturday, TSN: 501,000
10. CFL, Alouettes at Roughriders, Sunday, TSN: 473,000
11. NFL, Broncos at Lions, Sunday, TSN: 422,000 (NBC viewers not measured)
12. NHL, Flames at Canucks, Saturday, Sportsnet: 291,000
13. PGA, Tour Championship final round, Sunday, Global: 240,000
14. Rugby World Cup, Canada vs. Italy, Saturday, TSN: 208,000
15. MLB, Dodgers at Rockies, Sunday, Sportsnet: 179,000
16. NHL, Sabres at Maple Leafs, Friday, Sportsnet 360: 177,000
17. UFC, Barnett vs. Nelson, Saturday, TSN: 170,000
18. PGA, Tour Championship third round, Saturday, Global: 160,000
19. Soccer, Arsenal at Leicester, Saturday, Sportsnet: 130,000
20. Rugby World Cup, Ireland vs. Romania, Sunday, TSN: 124,000
21. MLB, White Sox at Yankees, Sunday, Sportsnet One: 123,000
22. MLS, New York at Whitecaps, Saturday, TSN: 122,000
23. Auto racing, Japanese Grand Prix, Saturday, TSN: 121,000
24. NFL, Steelers at Rams, Sunday, TSN: 119,000
25. MLB, Pirates at Cubs, Friday, Sportsnet: 119,000
26. NHL, Canucks at Flames, Friday, Sportsnet One: 119,000

THREE TO WATCH

We are the (hopeful) Champions: It's a good week for fans of the beautiful game as the next round of the UEFA Champions League playoffs begins. There's  two days of Euro soccer starting with Arsenal and Olympiakos ( 2:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, TSN.)

Steeltown Showdown: As the CFL heads into the stretch, Friday's Calgary-Hamilton game could be a Grey Cup preview --or at least would have been had Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros not gone down with a season-ending knee injury. But it will still be a pivotal game for the Ticats, who will find out soon if backup Jeff Mathews can take them back to the big game ( 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN.)

The end is nigh: The Jays have all but clinched their first division title in 22 years, but there's still that best overall record to shoot for. It could all come down to the weekend series in Tampa Bay, which will be seen live literally by hundreds. The Jays-Rays series starts Friday (7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet.)

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