Top Canadian TV draws, Olympic and otherwise

It’s become almost legend that when Paul Henderson scored his epic goal against the Soviets in 1972, 18 million Canadians were glued to their TVs. It’s also a myth. The real number of viewers was around 4.3 million, which is paltry compared to the number of people that broadcasters claim tuned in for these events:

1. Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game, Feb. 28, 2010: 16.7 million

2. London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, Jul. 27, 2012: 16.6 million

3. IIHF world junior championship gold medal game  Jan. 5, 2011: 14.2 million

4. Vancouver Olympics opening ceremony, Feb. 12, 2010: 13.3 million

5. William and Kate’s royal wedding, April 29, 2011: 12 million

6. Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game, Feb. 28, 2002: 10.3 million

7. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs—Boston vs. Vancouver, June 15, 2011: 8.6 million

8. Super Bowl XLVI New York Giants vs. New England Patriots, Feb. 5, 2012: 8.2 million

Have you ever wondered which cities have the most bars, smokers, absentee workers and people searching for love? What about how Canada compares to the world in terms of the size of its military, the size of our houses and the number of cars we own? The nswers to all those questions, and many more, can be found in the first ever Maclean’s Book of Lists.

Buy your copy of the Maclean’s Book of Lists at the newsstand or order online now.