Golden Expectations For Canada's Olympic Hockey Teams

Toronto, ON - The stereotype of the soft-spoken and cautious Canadian takes a solid body-check when it comes to talking about our national hockey teams. A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest News Service/Global News shows that most Canadians are anticipating gold medal finishes for our men's and women's hockey teams. Canadians are less exuberant when it comes to expectations for the entire Canadian Olympic team in Turin. Only about one-in-four Canadians think Canada`s athletes will win more medals than in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Canadians expect Canada's Men's Olympic Hockey Team will win a gold medal later this month at the 2006 Winter Olympic in Turin. Two-in-ten (22%) Canadians think the men will bring home a silver medal, while 6% are forecasting bronze. A meager 2% of Canadians predict that the men will fail to win a medal at all.

• Quebecers are the least optimistic about the men's chances for gold (46% expect a gold medal).

Canadians are even more bullish about the prospects of Canada's Women's Olympic Hockey Team. Three-quarters (76%) think the Canadian women will be the wearing gold after the championship game. Twelve percent of Canadians say the women will win a silver medal and 6% say bronze. Only 2% of Canadians think the women will win no medal at all.

• As with the men's hockey team, Quebecers are the least optimistic about Canada's chances for gold (67% expect a gold medal).
• Men (80%) are slightly more likely than women (73%) to forecast gold for the women's team.

Canadians are somewhat less optimistic when it comes to predicting results for the entire Canadian Olympic Team. Only about one-in-four (23%) Canadians expect the current Olympic Team to win more medals than the 17 won by Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Canadians' views stand in contrast to those of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), which has been confidently projecting an improved overall medal count for the Canadian Team in these Olympics.

While Canadians don't match the enthusiasm of the COC, they shouldn't be described as pessimistic either. Half (54%) expect the Canadian Team to win about the same number of medals as in Salt Lake City. Only two-in-ten (20%) expect fewer medals than the Canadian Team won four years ago.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid telephone poll conducted between February 14th and February 16th, 2006. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population of Canada been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900
[email protected]

Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 300 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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