For CBC, the numbers were huge for a first round playoff matchup. Game 7 between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks drew an average of 3.82 million viewers throughout the broadcast, hitting a peak of 5.08 million at one point.

The only first round game to exceed this on CBC since 2000 was the 2004 game 6 matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators which reached an average of 3.9 million.

On Versus, the numbers were comparatively strong for their network too. From Puck the Media:

That telecast drew an average of 1.135 million viewers in the late night slot, and is the second most-watched VERSUS first round broadcast this year, and in network history for the Conference Quarterfinal. It was down a little over 2% from the network’s Game 6 broadcast on Sunday night, which set an all-time Round 1 record for VERSUS. The network averaged 763,000 viewers over seven telecasts for the instant classic series.

PTM further notes, “If you added in CSN viewers, total would be 1.6-1.7M viewers.”

All in all, a good night for hockey television coverage… though in absolute numbers, CBC certainly had the windfall.