Reader here, and in a case of “sorta surprised, sorta not surprised,” it was announced yesterday that a Canadian institution has come to an end.
A sub-licensing agreement between Rogers Sportsnet and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation came to an end when the Carolina Hurricanes raised the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas on June 14th.
With that, comes the end of “Hockey Night in Canada,” which has been bringing NHL Hockey live (and free) to Canadians on CBC every Saturday night since 1952.
“Free” is an important part of that.
Over the years, media rights fees to broadcast live sports have skyrocketed for football, baseball, basketball and much more. Hockey is no different, but with that, it became more difficult for Canada’s public broadcaster to shell out the big bucks needed to bring us NHL hockey.
So now, that means that for Canadians, if you want to watch McDavid, Matthews, McKinnon and the rest of the NHL’s best, you’ll have to pay for it, either through cable or streaming services.
For the CBC, it’s been years since they stopped broadcasting CFL and MLB games. The last Toronto Blue Jays game aired on CBC in 2008, while the final “CFL on CBC” broadcast was the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, when the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 23-19, in the only showdown between the Green and White and Blue and Gold for the CFL championship. (That game also had one of the best halftime shows, by the way, featuring Lenny Kravitz!)
What is CBC going to do with their Saturday nights now?
Well, they plan to launch a new Saturday night prime-time sports show, featuring Canadian athletes competing at home and abroad, at major events, including the Olympics.
Of course, HNIC has been changing over the years, first losing the rights to the iconic “Hockey Night in Canada” theme, which was scooped up by TSN.
Then, in 2019, “Coach’s Corner,” featuring the bombastic Don Cherry and Ron McLean came to an end.
Without those two staples, “Hockey Night in Canada” certainly felt different.
But with the end of HNIC, just think of the history. Beyond Canada’s “unofficial national anthem,” written by Dolores Claman, and “Ron and Don,” there was the classic baby blue blazers, the iconic voices of Foster Hewitt, Rene Lecavalier, Dave Hodge, Bob Cole and Harry Neale and many more, and, of course, countless memorable hockey moments that generations will remember.
We’ll still be able to get our Saturday night hockey fix, but like most things these days, it’s gonna cost a little more!
Comments