The NHL preseason is in full swing and the Maple Leafs regular-season home opener is set for Oct. 11. So OntarioBets.com, as part of our Ontario sports betting coverage, used Google Trends to see which Ontario cities are searching for information about the Toronto Maple Leafs for this upcoming season. The search frame was from Aug. 29 to Sept. 28. We weighed search interest in the Leafs compared to other topics.
Cities With Most Excitement For Maple Leafs’ Season
Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Odds
The home of Ontario sportsbook apps also is the spot where you’ll find a Stanley Cup contender for the 2023-24 season.
No doubt about it, hockey is a national sporting obsession in Canada. And though the nation’s capital boasts the Ottawa Senators, rooting interest throughout Ontario – and indeed a fair bit of the country – still leans toward the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto has made the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons and last year marked the first time since 2004 that the Maple Leafs won a postseason series. They eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning, which had won the previous three Eastern Conference titles and two Stanley Cups, in six games.
Caesars Ontario Sportsbook has the Leafs at +900 odds for this season’s Stanley Cup, which would be the franchise’s first since 1967. That makes the Leafs tied for the second team on the board, behind only the Carolina Hurricanes (+750). The Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers were also at +900 as of Thursday afternoon.
Towns Large And Small Full Of Anticipation
When we measured each Ontario city’s anticipation for the Maple Leafs season, we came up with Wellesley at the top with 100 points in search interest, compared to other topics on Google Trends. Wellsley is a small town about 140 km west of Scotiabank Arena, where the Maple Leafs play. Incidentally, Toronto’s regular-season opener is against archrival Montreal; NorthStar Bets Ontario Sportsbook has the Leafs as a -305 Moneyline favorite.
In second place on our list was Jarvis, a small town about 125 km southwest of Toronto. In third place was Sundridge, a town even farther afield from the big city. Folks there would have to drive about 290 km, roughly three hours depending on traffic, to see the Leafs in person. In fact, Sundridge is closer to Ontario’s border with Quebec than it is to Toronto.
But no matter of they live in the big city or small towns, Canada’s most populated province will be watching with great anticipation when the Maple Leafs start their season. Follow us here at OntarioBets.com for more hockey news and reviews of the best Ontario casino apps available.
