The 2025 Eastern Conference final had all the ingredients to be a blockbuster. The fact that the Florida Panthers are on a mission to win the Stanley Cup in back-to-back years means they will fight hard for the puck for as long as it takes. And when you are taking on the team that dispatched Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals in 5 games, you better bring your A-game.
Not just that, though. The Carolina Hurricanes had enough motivation that promised an electric final. After all, they wanted to avenge the 2023 ECF sweep. “It’s definitely in the back of your mind and you want to get them back,” was Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal‘s adamant stance. Everything pointed towards an intense series, and yet, it all turned out to be a bit anticlimactic. And guess what? The Canes were not the only losers here. TNT and truTV have also taken quite a hit, it seems. Here’s the story.
Braylon Breeze, the co-host of The Frozen Focus, is known for bringing TV-related statistics to his fans. And this time, his tweet on May 31 had a startling finding about the 2025 ECF: “The complete Panthers-Hurricanes series averaged 1.408 million viewers across TNT and truTV — the least-watched non-COVID-era ECF since at least the Versus era.”
That means the Panthers vs. Hurricanes series had the least viewership since 2005, when Versus took over from ESPN as the NHL’s cable partner in the United States. In fact, in 2011, Versus would be rebranded as NBC Sports after a merger. But that’s just a little bit of history. The main point is how the viewership of ECF dived in 2025. Breeze’s tweet had more info on the drop in numbers: “Viewership was down 33% from Panthers-Rangers last year (2.1M) and 13% from Panthers-Hurricanes in 2023 (1.6M).”
The complete Panthers-Hurricanes series averaged 1.408 million viewers across TNT and truTV — the least-watched non-COVID-era ECF since at least the Versus era.
Viewership was down 33% from Panthers-Rangers last year (2.1M) and 13% from Panthers-Hurricanes in 2023 (1.6M).
— Braylon Breeze (@Braylon_Breeze) May 30, 2025
That’s not good news. Not good for TNT, not good for truTV, and not good for the NHL either. But how did it happen? Well, it probably has something to do with the lack of competition. It didn’t help that the Panthers started the series on road ice with a 5-2 victory over the Canes. Then, the 2024 Stanley Cup Champions won the 2nd game 5-0, meaning a 2-0 lead in the series, and they were about to play the next 2 games on home ice.
Many fans probably thought the series would be over in 4 games, and the majority of ones not turning up to watch the games could have been neutrals on Carolina’s side. Sometimes, neutrals can also be put off by a one-sided series. Well, the message the NHL will take from it is probably the gulf in quality between the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division.
Well, the gulf is definitely there. After all, one division has had the ECF winner for the last 6 seasons, and the team from Florida is chasing historic Stanley Cup glory.
Florida Panthers eye history as Stanley Cup final promises fireworks
Do you know how dominant Florida has been in the Stanley Cup finals lately? And we are not talking about just the Florida Panthers. From 2020 to 2022, it was the Tampa Bay Lightning playing 3 consecutive Stanley Cup finals and winning back-to-back in 2020 and 2021. And now, the Panthers have the same chance. They won their first-ever Stanley Cup last season, and they can make it 2 in 2025.
Credits – X / @flapanthers
We won’t make a prediction here, but we can say the finals viewership won’t be taking a dive. Because the Panthers have a familiar foe in the Edmonton Oilers. How familiar? Well, how about being the same finalists two years in a row? Yep, the Panthers will have to beat the Western Conference Champions again if they want to taste the Stanley Cup glory.
As for the Oilers, it’s a chance to rewrite history. Chance for Connor McDavid to add a Stanley Cup to his name. He is already an icon of the game, but this time, he will want that Stanley Cup ring to put him in the same pantheon as Sidney Crosby and fellow Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky. More so because they will not want to lose the Stanley Cup to the same team in back-to-back years. As for the excitement and the pendulum swing, in 2024, the series went all the way to Game 7.
Will it be the same in 2025? Who do you think will win the 2025 Stanley Cup? Let us know your thoughts!
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