OTTAWA — The list of teams that have made the Stanley Cup playoffs has been posted, and you know what that means — another two months of hockey.
Workers will unite over the water cooler to discuss why that team won and that one lost, whether it's the goalie making the difference or the offence, whether Sid the Kid can pull another one out of his hat and what it all means for next year.
But employers take heart: all that endless hockey talk is apparently good for workplace morale and might just improve productivity to boot, according to a survey of more than 300 managers conducted by an independent research firm for OfficeTeam, a staffing services firm.
Canadians are still buzzing from Canada's hockey victories in Vancouver in February at the Winter Olympic Games, said Avalee Prehogan who, as a senior regional vice-president of OfficeTeam, is responsible for an area that encompasses the home cities of a number of National Hockey League franchises.
"Hockey is the No. 1 sport in Canada and there's always a lot of hype around playoff season. But this year, especially coming off of the Olympics and winning the men's gold and women's, it created a huge interest and it was huge bonding of Canadians," said Prehogan.
Prehogan, an Ottawa Senators fan, said workers in her company's various offices get into the spirit by decorating their cubicles for the playoffs and wearing their teams' jerseys.
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