A new poll from the Association for Canadian Studies and conducted by Leger reveals just 30.6 per cent of Canadians follow hockey more closely than any other sport.

The poll also shows other sports – mostly basketball and soccer – are closing in hockey’s heels as the favourite sport amongst Canucks.

“In Canada … hockey is our national sport, and one would think, ‘Hey, the majority of us are very tuned into hockey,’ and sorry, but it’s not the majority of us, and it hasn’t been the majority of use for a fair bit of time,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies. “The options in terms of all the possibilities of watching various sports out there have made things far more competitive for hockey than they would’ve been in a previous period.”

Jedwab added, “Hockey is continually challenged by the need to reach out to people from around the world that are coming to Canada, and for whom hockey is not the dominant sport.”

Full results from the new pool are available here.