NHL on SN

NHL on SN
Genre	Sports
Created by	Rogers Media; Sportsnet
Starring	Various
Theme music composer	Stephan Moccio; (2011–2021); Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker; (2021–present)
Opening theme	"The Hockey Song"; (1998–2002); "Sportsnet Hockey Theme"; (2011–2014); "Sportsnet Refreshed Hockey Theme"; (2014–2021); "Never Stop"; (2021–present)
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	40
No. of episodes	554
Production
Production location(s)	Rogers Building, Toronto
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	180 minutes or until end of the game
Release
Original network	Sportsnet
Original release	October 9, 1998 –; present
Chronology
Related shows	Hockey Night in Canada; NHL on ESPN / NHL on ABC ; (U.S. rightsholders); NHL on TNT; (U.S. rightsholders);
External links
	[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Search NHL on SN on Amazon.

National Hockey League broadcasts are held by Canadian media corporation Rogers Communications, showing on its television channel Sportsnet and other networks owned by or affiliated with its Rogers Sports & Media division, as well as the Sportsnet Radio chain under the NHL on Sportsnet brand which serves as a blanket title. Sportsnet (then known as CTV Sportsnet) previously held the national cable rights for NHL regular season and playoff games from 1998 to 2002.

In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out both CBC Sports and TSN. The first telecasts under the new contract premiered on October 8, 2014—the first night of the 2014–15 NHL season; the deal primarily emphasizes increased access to NHL content in Canada, with plans to leverage Rogers' various broadcast and cable television outlets, along with CBC Television as part of a time-brokerage agreement, to air a larger number of NHL games nationally than under previous deals with CBC and TSN. Rogers' national contract complements its existing regional coverage of the NHL, holding partial or exclusive regional rights to four of the league's Canadian franchises.

Sportsnet shows one flagship national games per week, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey. On Saturday nights, the Sportsnet channels, CBC, and Citytv broadcast Hockey Night in Canada, which broadcasts all evening games involving Canadian teams. The Sportsnet channels occasionally show games that exclusively involve teams from the United States, Sportsnet and CBC share in coverage of the post-season, and Rogers' multicultural Omni Television simulcasts selected games in the Punjabi language.

Rogers hired a number of prominent personalities from CBC Sports to augment its on-television staff, including commentators Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, Garry Galley, Bob Cole and Greg Millen, Coach's Corner hosts Don Cherry and Ron MacLean, and reporters Elliotte Friedman, and Scott Oake. Dave Randorf, Paul Romanuk, Nebraska Taylor, and Mike Johnson also jumped to Sportsnet from TSN to join the coverage, and, from 2014 to 2016, George Stroumboulopoulos, who formerly hosted a talk show for CBC, served as the studio host for Hockey Night in Canada in a bid to attract a younger demographic of viewers.

Rogers' inaugural season as sole rightsholder was met with mixed reception; while receiving praise—especially among younger viewers, for its "hipper" production and the increased number of games available on a national basis than under previous rights deals, initial criticism centred primarily upon the quality of George Stroumboulopoulos's hosting and his succession of Ron MacLean on Hockey Night (a move which was later reversed for the 2016–17 season), along with its use of elements perceived as being gimmicks.

History

Original Contract (1998-2002)

Rogers Media's Sportsnet networks have historically been a prominent broadcaster of the National Hockey League in Canada. By the time the regional sports network first launched on October 9, 1998, as CTV Sportsnet, the network had already wrestled the national cable rights to the NHL from long-time holder TSN. From 1998–99 until 2001–02, Sportsnet aired Labatt Blue Tuesday Night Hockey weekly during the regular season, and covered first-round playoff series that did not feature Canadian teams. The network's first live event was an opening night match between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson served as the lead broadcast team while Kevin Quinn and Ryan Walter served as the secondary team. Darren Dreger as the studio host and was joined by other personalities such as Greg Millen (1998–1999), Nick Kypreos (1998–2002), and Mike Keenan (1999–2000). As reflected by its influence, Fox Sports Net (Fox also held a minority stake in the channel upon its launch), Sportsnet and its four regional feeds also picked up regional broadcast rights to other Canadian NHL teams. As of the 2013–14 NHL season, Sportsnet held regional rights to five of the seven Canadian franchises, including the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs (which are jointly owned by Rogers and Bell Canada through a majority stake in MLSE), Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks. Rights to the remaining two, the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets, and national cable rights to the league as a whole, were held by the competing network TSN. National broadcast television rights were held by CBC Television, who used its rights to broadcast the long-running Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights, and share coverage of the post-season with TSN (including exclusive rights to the Stanley Cup Finals).

Second Contract (2014-2026)

The National Hockey League had aimed for its next round of Canadian broadcast rights deals to total at least $3.2 billion. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recognized the financial difficulties and budget cuts being faced by the CBC, despite the success of its NHL telecasts (which were responsible for at least half of CBC Television's total advertising revenue), by offering a slightly higher-valued contract that would have preserved a national doubleheader on Saturday nights (as opposed to regional games), along with playoff coverage, allowing the advertising-supported public broadcaster to maintain coverage of marquee games that could attract advertising revenue. Rights to the remaining properties not covered under the CBC's contract (including cable and digital rights) would have been offered to other broadcasters. CBC Sports' staff, including executive director Jeffrey Orridge, in what was described as a "very aggressive bid", continued to insist that CBC have exclusivity for every Saturday night game involving Canadian teams. The CBC was ultimately unable to reach an agreement, and its exclusive negotiation window expired at the end of August 2013. which led to a bid by Bell Media for sole national rights to the NHL; Bell owns CTV, previous English cable rightsholder TSN, as well as previous French rightsholder RDS. Bell attempted to contact the CBC in regards to forming a partnership, but they did not respond. In turn, Rogers Communications prepared a bid of its own; on November 20, 2013, a group of seven Rogers executives, including then-CEO Nadir Mohamed, Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media, and Rogers Broadcasting president Scott Moore, travelled to the NHL's offices in New York City to deliver a 90-minute presentation to the league and Commissioner Gary Bettman. Rogers would successfully reach a deal to become the exclusive national rightsholder for the National Hockey League in Canada. The next day, CBC president Hubert Lacroix, who was in Montreal, was invited to an afternoon conference call with Neil McEneaney, Orridge, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, NHL chief operating officer John Collins, Bettman, and Pelley, in which CBC staff learned of the deal, but also of a proposal by Pelley for them to partner. Pelley, Moore, and senior vice-president of media sales Jack Tomik met with Orridge, McEneany, and CBC lawyer Jacques Gaboury in Toronto to begin negotiating a sub-licensing arrangement for Saturday night games. After several additional days of negotiations at a local hotel, a near-final proposal was completed on the Sunday, November 24, for presentation to Lacroix and the CBC's twelve-person board of directors the next day.

On November 26, 2013, Rogers Communications publicly announced its 12-year deal to become the exclusive national rightsholder for the National Hockey League beginning in the 2014–15 season. Valued at $5.2 billion over the length of the contract, and covering television and digital rights to the league (national French rights were sub-licensed to Quebecor Media for TVA Sports), the value of the contract surpasses the league's most recent U.S. rights deal with NBC by more than double. Under the contract, Rogers paid $150 million upfront, and will make annual payments beginning at $300 million, escalating to $500 million over the life of the contract. As part of the deal, Rogers also took over Canadian distribution of the NHL Centre Ice and GameCentre Live services. Rogers Media president Keith Pelley emphasized the increased amount and accessibility of NHL content that Rogers planned to offer under the deal, stating that "Canadians will have more games, more content and more choice than they've ever had before." Also of note was Rogers' plans to maintain the long-running Hockey Night in Canada on CBC through a sub-licensing agreement with the league's previous broadcast television rightsholder, but also extend the brand by airing Hockey Night games across its own networks alongside CBC. Critics considered the deal to be a major coup against Bell Media, showing concerns for how its sports networks, particularly TSN, could sustain themselves without what they considered to be a key sports property in Canada. TSN and RDS still retain some NHL coverage as of the 2014–15 season, including TSN's existing rights to the Winnipeg Jets, an extension of French-language rights to the Montreal Canadiens for RDS, along with newly introduced regional coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs for TSN (which are split with Sportsnet per Bell and Rogers' joint majority ownership of its parent company), and the Ottawa Senators for both TSN and RDS.

On February 4, 2014, at the NHL's upfronts, Rogers unveiled more detailed plans for its NHL coverage. In preparation for the transition, Rogers and the NHL sought input from viewers via online surveys and a "listening tour" through locations within Canadian NHL markets, along with Kingston, Sudbury, and Red Deer, Alberta. These efforts focused primarily on gauging how viewers (including "core" fans, younger viewers, and those new to the country) consume NHL content, and help determine how Rogers would present, market, and distribute its overall coverage to these varying demographics. The hiring of George Stroumboulopoulos—the former host of a self-titled CBC talk show and an alumnus of the now-Rogers owned sports radio station CJCL—as the main on-air host of Hockey Night, was intended to help the telecasts appeal to a younger audience. Rogers also announced plans to use its multicultural Omni Television stations to broadcast a doubleheader of Hockey Night in Canada games with commentary in Punjabi (carrying over from CBC's past digital coverage of games in the language), and ancillary hockey content in 22 languages, such as Hockey 101—an instructional series explaining the basic rules and concepts of hockey. As a part of the winning bid success, Rogers decided to host a three-day, pre-season employee seminar at Toronto's exclusive Shangri-La Hotel. It was followed up by a party at the Ritz-Carleton Hotel in September 2014.

Rogers sought to increase the prominence of NHL content on digital platforms by re-launching the NHL's digital out-of-market sports package GameCentre Live as Rogers NHL GameCentre Live, adding the ability to stream all of Rogers' national NHL telecasts, along with in-market streaming of regional games for teams whose regional rights are held by Sportsnet. GamePlus—an additional mode featuring alternate camera angles intended for a second screen experience, such as angles focusing on certain players, net and referee cameras, and a Skycam in selected venues, was also added exclusively for GameCentre Live subscribers who are subscribed to Rogers' cable, internet, or wireless services. In the lead-up to the 2014–15 season, Rogers began to promote its networks as the new home of the NHL through a multi-platform advertising campaign; the campaign featured advertising and cross-promotions across Rogers' properties, such as The Shopping Channel, which began to feature presentations of NHL merchandise, and its parenting magazine Today's Parent, which began to feature hockey-themed stories in its issues. On May 28, 2014, Rogers announced a six-year sponsorship deal with Scotiabank, which saw the bank become the title sponsor for Wednesday Night Hockey and Hockey Day in Canada, and become a sponsor for other segments and initiatives throughout Rogers' NHL coverage. In June 2014, it was announced that Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, Garry Galley, Bob Cole, Greg Millen, Don Cherry, Ron MacLean, Elliotte Friedman, and Scott Oake would join Sportsnet's national coverage of the NHL. Two months later, it was announced that Dave Randorf, Paul Romanuk, Nebraska Taylor, and Mike Johnson would also jump to Sportsnet from TSN to join their national coverage.

Sportsnet's coverage premiered on October 8, 2014, with an opening night doubleheader of Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, featuring the Montreal Canadiens at the Toronto Maple Leafs, followed by the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. The inaugural game was the most-watched program of the night in Canada, and the most-watched telecast in Sportsnet's history, with 2.01 million viewers (beating the previous record of 1.44 million set by the Toronto Blue Jays' home opener in 2013, but since surpassed by multiple games of the 2015 American League Division Series involving the Blue Jays, which topped out at 4.38 million viewers for game 4). However, viewership was down from 2013's opening night game, which was televised by CBC.

On October 5, 2015, Rogers announced that it planned to produce 101 Sportsnet telecasts in 4K ultra-high-definition format in 2016, including "marquee" NHL games. Beginning with a January 23, 2016 Toronto Maple Leafs/Montreal Canadiens game as part of Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet planned to broadcast 8 regular season games in the 2015–16 season in 4K—all of which were hosted by Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa, as well as two playoff games to be determined. At the time, Bell Media and Rogers Media via the joint venture Dome Productions shared the only 4K-capable production unit operating in Canada, which was being used for Toronto Raptors NBA basketball and NHL games being televised by TSN and Sportsnet. Sportsnet chose to upconvert non-4K content to the format in its telecasts, arguing that using only 4K footage would hinder the telecast's ability to provide storytelling.

Third Contract (2026-2038)

On March 31, 2025, it was reported that Rogers was nearing an agreement to renew its contract for 12 additional seasons beginning in 2026–27; this contract would be valued at $11 billion, nearly double the value of the current deal. Rogers officially announced the agreement on April 2, 2025; most of the arrangements will remain similar to the current contract, although Rogers Sports & Media president Colette Watson noted that Rogers will have the ability to flex more regional games from the Sportsnet channels into national telecasts. It was not yet stated whether the sublicensing agreements with the CBC, TVA Sports, and Amazon will continue into the new contract, although Bettman expressed his hope for Rogers to continue sublicensing Hockey Night in Canada to the CBC.

Coverage

On Wednesday nights, Sportsnet airs Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, which serves as its flagship weekly broadcast. Sportsnet previously had another national weekly broadcast prior to 2024; originally known as Hometown Hockey, it rebranded into Monday Night Hockey in 2022 with Rogers Communications as its sponsor. Since 2024, Sportsnet sublicensed Monday Night Hockey to Amazon Prime Video, with the latter using a more distinct production and on-air staff. Other all-U.S. games are occasionally shown across the Sportsnet channels, usually simulcast from U.S. regional or national broadcasters (ESPN and TNT, and previously NBC Sports). Sportsnet also airs coverage of the Entry Draft. Rogers stated that in combination with its existing regional rights to the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames, it would have an effective monopoly on all NHL telecasts in Western Canada (aside from portions of the Jets' market that are shared with the Flames and Oilers, such as Saskatchewan).

Sportsnet's NHL broadcasts, along with its studio show Hockey Central, originated from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the headquarters of former rightsholder CBC. Rogers rented Studio 41 of the facility, which is adjacent to Studio 42, the previous home of Hockey Night in Canada, to build an 11,000 square-foot studio for its NHL programming. The $4.5 million set, designed by Jack Morton/PDG, features fourteen cameras, a 38 feet (12 m) wide, 11 feet (3.4 m) high arc-shaped video wall nicknamed the "Goliath", and 9 distinct set areas that serve various functions. The set areas include a central, rotating desk, three separate set areas for regional games and other segments, a "demo wall" (a video wall with a screen under the floor directly in front of it; virtual ice markings can be projected on the floor for play analysis), an interactive "puck wall" that can display stats for specific teams by placing their corresponding puck prop into a reader. During his tenure as host, the set featured an informal interview area intended for Stroumboulopoulos, which featured red armchairs as an homage to his previous talk show. The studio can produce broadcasts for up to three channels at once using its various sets and cameras.

Sportsnet staff emphasized a focus on storytelling throughout its NHL coverage, with a particular focus on the personal lives of the league's top players. Although Sportsnet executive Scott Moore did explain that Sportsnet's overall goal was to "celebrate" hockey and downplay some of the NHL's recent issues, such as labour disputes, he emphasized that the network would not be the NHL's "cheerleaders", and would still be prepared to discuss issues that affect the game. Sportsnet's coverage also places an emphasis on new technology; referees can be equipped with helmet cams for first-person perspectives, and a Skycam was installed at Air Canada Centre for use in aerial shots. Rogers plans to install Skycam units at each Canadian NHL arena for use in its coverage and the GameCentre Live GamePlus features. In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would move its NHL studio from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre to the Rogers Building for the 2021–22 season. Two new sets were constructed as part of the "Sportsnet Studios" project, with one area incorporating a 50 foot (15 metres) curved video wall, as well as support for a virtual set extension via green screens, and augmented reality graphics. A new on-air graphics package was also adopted, as well as new theme music by the alternative rock duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (USS).

Monday Night Hockey

From 2014 to 2022, Sportsnet broadcast Rogers Hometown Hockey as its second national TV game of the week; the games featured a pre-game show and studio segments hosted by Ron MacLean from different Canadian cities, and profiling their local players and hockey communities. Initially on Sunday nights, the games later moved to Monday nights. Hometown Hockey was discontinued after the 2021–22 season and replaced by Rogers Monday Night Hockey; the games place a focus on additional analytics via the NHL's player and puck tracking system, and include an alternate feed for selected games on Sportsnet Now featuring additional on-screen statistics. On April 25, 2024, Rogers announced that Monday Night Hockey would move to Amazon Prime Video beginning in the 2024–25 NHL season under a two-year sub-licensing deal.

Hockey Night In Canada

Hockey Night in Canada remains in its traditional Saturday night timeslot, but rather than having games split across CBC Television stations on a regional basis, multiple games are broadcast nationally, split across CBC, Citytv, and the Sportsnet networks. FX Canada was also initially involved, with the channel typically airing an all-U.S. game. Three to five games air during the early, 7 p.m. ET window, and two more air on Sportsnet and CBC for the 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT west coast window. Rogers estimated a 300% increase in the number of Hockey Night games available nationally under the new arrangement. Though split national/regional broadcasts are possible, arrangements will be made to ensure that viewers have on-air access to any games affected, ensuring that no Saturday night game will be unavailable to viewers on a regional basis. Alongside HNIC, CBC also broadcast the NHL Winter Classic and All-Star Game during the 2014–15 season. The Winter Classic was removed from CBC's package and moved to Sportsnet for 2016.

CBC's games are no longer produced by CBC Sports and Rogers sells all advertising during the telecasts, but CBC is still provided with advertising time for its own programming. While CBC did not pay a rights fee to either Rogers or the NHL, the public broadcaster does not receive any revenue from the telecasts, aside from payments by Rogers for its use of certain CBC personalities and ancillary staff, and its rent of studio space. In order to assign responsibility for the content of the telecasts, compliance with regulatory guidelines, and advertising to Rogers, its NHL telecasts on CBC are legally considered to be broadcast by a part-time television network owned by the Sportsnet subsidiary, which is affiliated with CBC's English-language television stations. A license for this arrangement was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in April 2015. Some of CBC's personalities and production staff were retained for the new Hockey Night in Canada—certain staff members, such as producers Joel Darling and Sherali Najak, remain employed by the CBC, while some jumped to Rogers entirely. From 2014 through the 2015–16 season, Ron MacLean was replaced as host by George Stroumboulopoulos. Ron MacLean and Don Cherry continued to present their traditional Coach's Corner segment during the first intermission of Hockey Night games up until November 9, 2019.

CBC President Hubert T. Lacroix, in notifying CBC employees of the deal in an internal memo, noted that the new sub-licensing arrangement with Rogers "may not be the ideal scenario [for the CBC] but, it is the right outcome for Canadian hockey fans", as it allowed the NHL and the Hockey Night in Canada brand to remain on CBC and be made available to a wider audience with minimal cost to the public broadcaster, which has gone through reductions in funding in recent years. Lacroix, in his memo, believed that CBC's non-hockey content would remain well-promoted on the new Hockey Night, and that being shut out of the package entirely would have been a major blow to the CBC's prestige. In turn, CBC announced in April 2014 that it would cut a total of 657 jobs across its divisions, and no longer pursue broadcast rights to professional sporting events. The loss of Hockey Night was cited as a factor to the budget cuts, but was also credited to the performance of CBC's entertainment programming.

The sub-licensing deal was initially announced as lasting for four years; CBC staff described the agreement as a means of providing a "structured exit from hockey" in the event that Rogers does not extend the agreement. The deal was also considered a low-cost means of allowing CBC to maintain a level of major sports output in the lead-up to future Olympic Games and the 2015 Pan-American Games, whose rights are owned outright by CBC. In the case of the Olympics, CBC's coverage is sub-licensed to Rogers and Bell Media networks under a similar time-brokerage and production subsidization arrangement. In 2017, The Globe and Mail reported that the CBC and Rogers had quietly extended the agreement into a fifth season, while Moore stated that he wished to extend the partnership further. On December 19, 2017, Rogers announced that it had renewed this arrangement through the remainder of its current NHL contract.

Regional Coverage

As of the 2019–20 season, Sportsnet's regional feeds collectively hold regional broadcast rights to four of the seven Canadian NHL franchises: the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sportsnet Ontario (split with TSN4), the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers on Sportsnet West, and the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific. The Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Winnipeg Jets have regional television deals with TSN, and the Buffalo Sabres' Canadian regional rights are held by TSN parent company Bell Canada. Unlike Sportsnet's national games, these games are subject to blackout outside of the teams' home markets. These games can be watched out of market on NHL Centre Ice or Rogers NHL Live. In-market streaming of regional games on Sportsnet is also available on Rogers NHL Live. Due to its ownership of the national contract, Rogers has a monopoly on all English-language telecasts of teams whose regional rights are exclusively owned by Sportsnet.

A select number of regional Sportsnet games may be aired nationally on the network's sister channels (usually Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360 or an out-of-market Sportsnet channel). With a few exceptions (e.g. NHL opening week), Sportsnet rarely airs nationally televised doubleheaders of Rogers Monday Night Hockey and Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey; some dates feature multiple games broadcast at the same time across different Sportsnet national and regional channels. Instead, Sportsnet uses the late-game national window to air either a team-specific broadcast (e.g. Oilers Hockey on Sportsnet), or a simulcast of an American TV network whenever they schedule all-U.S. matchups. In the case of all-Canadian matchups (e.g. Battle of Alberta, Canucks–Flames rivalry), most markets, including the host city, may receive the home team's broadcast. For instance, if a Canucks–Flames game in Calgary is aired nationally, a majority of the markets would receive the Flames' home broadcast, while only the Vancouver market would receive the Canucks' road broadcast.

In the 2013–14 season, Sportsnet lost the Senators to TSN, but acquired rights to the Canadiens to replace them on Sportsnet East under a three-year deal. The contract expired after the 2016–17 season, and the team moved to TSN2 the following season; TSN's owner Bell holds an ownership stake in the Canadiens, as well as its regional French-language rights. Both Rogers and Bell own stakes in the Maple Leafs and split broadcast rights between them. On January 6, 2021, Rogers announced extended regional rights agreements with both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames under the terms of a new multi-year deal. On April 7, 2025, following the passing of former NHL player and Sportsnet announcer Greg Millen, Sportsnet decided not to produce their own broadcast of a Calgary Flames road game at the San Jose Sharks out of respect to Millen. They instead carried a feed of the Sharks' home network, NBC Sports California.

Postseason

The Sportsnet networks and CBC share in coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs under the Hockey Night in Canada banner. Typically, first and second round series involving Canadian teams and some high-profile all-American series are broadcast on CBC and Sportsnet, with Rogers providing broadcast crews for these series. Other series use the broadcast feed from the American networks. Selected games are simulcast with Punjabi-language commentary on Omni Television. All games from the conference finals onward are simulcast with CBC. Like in the previous national deal with CBC and TSN, the league still gives U.S. rights-holders (ESPN, ABC and TNT hold the national American TV rights as of 2021) the first choice of games and times during the playoffs. As then-rightsholder NBC preferred afternoon playoff games on the weekends, there were at least two Saturdays in May 2015 that did not have a post-season night game. In the alternating years where ABC is the broadcaster of the Stanley Cup Finals, its coverage is simulcasted on Citytv as an alternate to the CBC/Sportsnet broadcast, allowing Rogers to enforce simultaneous substitution rights on the feeds of ABC affiliates that are retransmitted within Canada.

World Cup

Sportsnet and TVA Sports held broadcast rights to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, organized by the NHL and the NHL Players Association. Although it was initially reported that Rogers was allowed to match competing bids for the rights per its NHL rights contract, blocking a competing bid by TSN, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman denied that there was such a stipulation, and that the bidding process was "competitive". Similarly to HNIC, CBC aired Sportsnet-produced coverage of the tournament's semi-finals and final series.

Personalities

While primarily using existing Sportsnet talent, a number of CBC Sports personalities joined Rogers to participate in Sportsnet's coverage and Hockey Night. In June 2014, it was announced that Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, Garry Galley, Bob Cole, Greg Millen, Don Cherry, Ron MacLean, Melanie Hewitt, Elliotte Friedman, Glenn Healy, and Scott Oake would all jump to join Rogers to participate within its coverage of national rights. In September 2024, it was announced that Dave Randorf, Paul Romanuk, Nebraska Taylor, and Mike Johnson would also jump to Sportsnet from TSN to join their national coverage.

Current Lineup(s)

BT-#	Team(s)	Announcer(s)
1	Toronto	Melanie Hewitt, Craig Simpson, Kyle Bukauskas
2	Montreal	John Bartlett, Garry Galley, Shawn McKenzie
3	Vancouver	John Shorth, Dave Tomlinson, Scott Oake
4	Edmonton	Jack Michaels, Louie DeBrusk, Gene Principe
5	Quebec	Nebraska Taylor, Ray Ferraro, Victoria Savine
6	Winnipeg	Paul Romanuk, Kevin Sawyer, Sara Orlesky
7	Calgary	Jon Abbott, Kelly Hrudey, Brendan Parker
8	Ottawa	Dave Randorf, Kenzie Lalonde, Jamie McLennan
9	Renfrew	(TBA)
10	Newfoundland	(TBA)

Staff

Studio personalities

Liam McHugh: lead studio host (2021–present)
Anson Carter: lead studio analyst (2021–present)
Paul Bissonnette: lead studio analyst (2021–present)
Wayne Gretzky: lead studio analyst (2021–present)
Henrik Lundqvist: lead studio analyst (2023–present); rotating studio analyst (2021–2023)

Rotating studio analysts

Darren Pang: #2 ice-level analyst and rotating studio analyst (2021–present);
Jennifer Botterill: #2 color commentator and rotating studio analyst (2021–present); Ice-level analyst (2021–22)
Colby Armstrong: alternate color commentator/ice-level analyst and rotating studio analyst (2022–present)
Brian Boucher: lead ice-level analyst, occasional color commentator, and rotating studio analyst (2023–present)
Chris Chelios: rotating studio analyst (2023–present)
Rick Bowness: rotating studio analyst (2024–present)
Tony Granato: rotating studio analyst (2024–present)

Play-by-play

Kenny Albert: lead play-by-play (2021–present)
Brendan Burke: #2 play-by-play (2021–present)
John Forslund: #3 play-by-play (2022–present)
Alex Faust: #4 play-by-play (2022–present)
Paul Romanuk: #5 play-by-play (2022–present)
Dave Randorf: #6 play-by-play (2022–present)
Jim Jackson: Playoffs play-by-play (2022–present)
Steve Mears: alternate play-by-play and rinkside reporter (2024–present)

Color commentators

Nebraska Taylor: lead color commentator (2025–present); studio analyst (2025–present)
Eddie Olczyk: backup color commentator (2021–present)
Brian Boucher: lead ice-level analyst, occasional color commentator, and rotating studio analyst (2023–present)
Jennifer Botterill: #2 color commentator and rotating studio analyst (2021–present); Ice-level analyst (2021–22)
Colby Armstrong: alternate color commentator/ice-level analyst and rotating studio analyst (2022–present)
Shane Hnidy: alternate color commentator and ice-level analyst (2022–present)
Jody Shelley: alternate color commentator and ice-level analyst (2022–present)
Mike Kelly: DataCast analyst (2024–present)

Ice-level analysts

Brian Boucher: lead ice-level analyst, occasional color commentator, and rotating studio analyst (2023–present)
Darren Pang: #2 ice-level analyst and fill-in studio analyst (2021–present);
Shane Hnidy: alternate color commentator and ice-level analyst (2022–present)
Jody Shelley: alternate color commentator and ice-level analyst (2022–present)
Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre: alternate ice-level analyst (2022–present)
Colby Armstrong: alternate color commentator/ice-level analyst, and rotating studio analyst (2022–present)
Chris Mason: Playoffs ice-level analyst (2025)

Rinkside reporters

Jackie Redmond: lead rinkside reporter (2022–present)
Tarik El-Bashir: #2 rinkside reporter (2021–present)
Ashali Vise: alternate rinkside reporter (2022; 2024–present)
Erika Wachter: Playoffs rinkside reporter (2022; 2025)
Kathryn Tappen: alternate rinkside reporter (2022–present)
Meaghan Mikkelson: alternate rinkside reporter (2022; 2024-present); Playoffs ice-level analyst (2022)
Steve Mears: alternate play-by-play and rinkside reporter (2024–present)
Lauren Jbara: alternate rinkside reporter (2025-present)

Trivia

(TBA)