''TSN Hockey'' (formerly the ''NHL on TSN'' and ''The NHL Tonight on TSN'') is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
.
After holding the Canadian national cable rights to the NHL from 1985 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2014, it was announced in November 2013 that TSN and Bell Media had lost these rights to
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
and
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
as part of an exclusive, twelve-year media rights deal that took effect in the
2014–15 NHL season
The 2014–15 NHL season was the 98th season of operation (97th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Los Angeles Kings became the first team to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season since the C ...
. In August 2014, following its loss of national NHL rights, TSN split its singular national feed into four
regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
channels (itself an imitation of the structure of Sportsnet), allowing the network to air its regional NHL games on the main TSN feeds, still subject to blackout, rather than on part-time channels. With these changes, TSN will only broadcast regional NHL games for the foreseeable future; however, its regional coverage expanded in the 2014 season—while losing the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
to Sportsnet, TSN added regional coverage of the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
and
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
, alongside its existing rights to Winnipeg Jets games.
The ''TSN Hockey'' name is used primarily as a blanket title for TSN's regional NHL coverage, and national segments featuring its analysts, and not used as the on-air title of the broadcasts themselves, which are branded as ''Leafs on TSN'', ''Sens on TSN'', ''Jets on TSN'', and ''Habs on TSN'' respectively.
Regional broadcasts
Toronto Maple Leafs
TSN began airing Toronto Maple Leafs games regionally, presented by
Molson
The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.
Molson Coors maintains some of its Can ...
as ''
Molson Canadian
Molson Canadian is a brand of 5% abv lager beer (4% in Ireland) brewed by Molson Brewing, the Canadian division of Molson Coors Brewing Company. The beer was introduced in 1959.
Awards
Molson Canadian has won several beer industry awards, inclu ...
Leafs Hockey'', in the 1998–99 season, when they first lost the national contract. The package was originally for 30 games, but reduced to 17 once TSN re-acquired the national rights in 2002. Ten of those games were ones that TSN acquired from the NHL to air nationally. The other seven, TSN acquired from the Maple Leafs as regional games. However, TSN eventually came to an agreement with the other five Canadian clubs to air these games nationally. Originally
Joe Bowen
Joe Bowen (born April 5, 1951) is a Canadian sportscaster. He is known as "The Voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs", having broadcast over 3,000 Leaf games.
Early life, career, and family
Bowen was born and raised in Sudbury. His father died in 19 ...
and
Harry Neale
Harold Watson Neale (born March 9, 1937) is a Canadian retired NCAA, NHL and WHA coach and general manager, and ice hockey broadcaster.
Coaching career
Following his playing career, Neale got his head coaching start at Hill Park Secondary Schoo ...
called the regional Leafs telecasts in the booth, with
Glenn Healy
Glenn Healy (born August 23, 1962) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender who played for 15 years in the National Hockey League. Prior to that, he was a member of the Western Michigan University hockey team, and 1985 graduate of the school. H ...
serving as "''Inside the Glass''" reporter from
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
to 2006–07 season, when their deal expired, and from the 2007–08 season through 2013–14, every Maple Leafs game on TSN was broadcast as a national ''NHL on TSN'' game.
Beginning in the 2014–15 season, owing to
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
's ownership stake in the Leafs' owner,
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
and the loss of TSN's national cable rights, TSN began to air 26 regional games per season, split with
Sportsnet Ontario
Sportsnet Ontario (formerly known as CTV Sportsnet Ontario and Rogers Sportsnet Ontario) is a Canadian regional sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media serving most of all Ontario. It is one of four Sportsnet regional feeds.
It ...
, and aired by
TSN4
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by commu ...
.
Ottawa Senators
On January 29, 2014, the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
announced a new, 12-year regional broadcasting deal with Bell Media that took effect in the 2014–15 season;
TSN5
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by commu ...
began to air regional Ottawa Senators games beginning in the 2014–15 season. The deal also included an extension of Bell's radio rights with
CFGO
CFGO is a commercial AM radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, broadcasting on 1200 kHz. It is owned by Bell Media and broadcasts a sports radio format, using the brand name '' TSN 1200 Ottawa''. The radio studios and offices are in the Bell Me ...
, and French-language regional television rights for
Réseau des sports
Réseau des sports (RDS), is a Canadian French language specialty channel oriented towards sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. (Bell Media 80% and ESPN 20%). Its full ...
.
Winnipeg Jets
Upon their return to the city, TSN began broadcasting regional
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...
games beginning in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, under a 10-year media rights deal with Bell Media that also included radio rights for co-owned
CFRW
CFRW (1290 AM) is a radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Owned by Bell Media, it is co-located with its sister stations CKMM-FM and CFWM-FM on 1445 Pembina Highway. Its transmitter is located near Oak Bluff along Road 54 off McGillivra ...
. Winnipeg Jets games not televised nationally by the NHL's national broadcast partners are broadcast by
TSN3
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by commu ...
, and are available in Manitoba,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
,
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, and parts of
Northwestern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...
.
Regional Jets games were previously carried by TSN Jets, a part-time multiplex channel of TSN exclusive to the Jets' market. The TSN Jets channel was a subscription-based premium service, costing $9.95
CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
per-month during the NHL season, but was available on a free preview basis for the start of the inaugural season. Despite the fee, representatives from both MTS and
Shaw Cable
Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...
stated that "thousands" of their customers had subscribed to the Jets channel. On August 18, 2014, TSN officially confirmed that the TSN Jets feed would be discontinued, and that regional Jets games would be moved to the new TSN3 channel for the 2014–15 season.
Montreal Canadiens
TSN has occasionally held regional, English-language rights to the Canadiens. Its most recent deal ran from
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
through
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. They were broadcast on a part-time TSN feed available to digital television services in the Canadiens home market, with
Dave Randorf
Dave Randorf (born July 31, 1967) is a Canadian sportscaster who serves as the play-by-play announcer for the television broadcasts of the Tampa Bay Lightning professional hockey team. He is best known for his work at TSN hosting the network's Ca ...
on play-by-play, alongside Dave Reid. Bell Media declined to renew its English-language rights through the 2013–14 season, although
TSN Radio
TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.CKGM still owns English radio rights, and
Réseau des sports
Réseau des sports (RDS), is a Canadian French language specialty channel oriented towards sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. (Bell Media 80% and ESPN 20%). Its full ...
replaced its national French-language rights with regional rights for the 2014–15 season. English-language television rights to the Canadiens were acquired by Sportsnet East under a three-year contract.
Prior to the 2017–18 season, TSN announced that they had reacquired the English-language rights to broadcast Canadiens games, replacing Sportsnet, and now airing on
TSN2
TSN2 is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on August 29, 2008.
F ...
.John Bartlett, who handled play-by-play for Canadiens games on Sportsnet East, also moved to TSN, but returned to Sportsnet the following season. Soon after, long-time TSN talent
Bryan Mudryk
Bryan Mudryk ( ; born July 13, 1979) is a Canadian sportscaster for TSN. He is a frequent host of SportsCentre and a play-by-play announcer as part of TSN's curling broadcast team. He has been with TSN since October 2005.
Career
Personal ...
took over play-by-play duties.
Past coverage
National games
TSN owned the national cable rights to the NHL in Canada from
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
CTV Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was re ...
purchased the national cable rights to NHL games. Prior to this, TSN's NHL coverage was sparse as they only acquired games
a la carte
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
. From 1987–88 to 1997–98, they usually showed games twice per week through the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs they provided extensive coverage of series not involving Canadian-based teams. TSN was the first ever holder of cable rights to the NHL in Canada, although the task of acquiring these rights were complicated by contradicting statements by CBC that it did own the cable rights to the NHL, along with the involvement of competing beer company
Molson
The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.
Molson Coors maintains some of its Can ...
in Canadian NHL rights at the time (TSN was founded by its competitor,
Labatt
Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada.
In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Int ...
). With the help of a Molson employee who was a friend of TSN's founder Gordon Craig, a deal was reached between TSN, Molson, and the NHL.
TSN's most recent period as national rightsholder lasted from
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
to
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. During this period, TSN usually televised three or four games per week during the regular season, with its flagship broadcast, ''Wednesday Night Hockey'', airing on Wednesdays. In some cases, TSN took the American feed of the game (i.e. ESPN/ESPN2) if it didn't involve a Canadian team. During the
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, TSN had third, fifth, seventh, and eighth choices of first-round series, second and fourth in the second round, and second in the Conference Finals. These changes allowed TSN to broadcast playoff games involving Canadian teams, such as at the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as TSN televised the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
' first-round series against the
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
defeated the
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...
lost in four straight games to the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...
.
In January 2015, after it was announced that the NHL-organized
World Cup of Hockey
The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every 3 to 5 years from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow natio ...
would be revived in 2016, Bell Media attempted to make a bid of nearly $32 million for its Canadian broadcast rights during a blind auction. However, broadcast rights to the tournament were instead awarded to Rogers; although Bell Media representatives refused to elaborate, the company believed that Rogers' national rights to the NHL had contained provisions allowing the company to match outside offers for such events.
The
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
Canadian coverage of the
NHL All-Star Game
The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...
was to be provided by CTV. However, CTV had a prior commitment to carry a U.S. miniseries. As a result, TSN took over coverage of the game in
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
Darren Dreger
Darren Dreger (born June 13, 1968) is a Canadian sportscaster for The Sports Network, TSN, and currently serves as one of TSN's Hockey Insiders. He had previously hosted ''Leafs Lunch'' on CFMJ, CFMJ AM640 Toronto Radio.
Broadcasting career
After ...
Tessa Bonhomme
Tessa Bonhomme (born July 23, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and is a television sports reporter for The Sports Network (TSN). She was an Olympic gold medallist as a member of the Canadian national women's hockey team ...
is a secondary studio host, primarily working Canadiens games.
Craig Button
Craig J. Button (born January 3, 1963) is currently a ice hockey analyst for TSN and a former National Hockey League (NHL) executive.
Early life and hockey family
Born in Rochester, New York, Button entered the world of hockey at birth. His fa ...
,
Dave Poulin
David James Poulin (born December 17, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals.
P ...
, Mike Johnson, Glenn Schiiler and Aaron Ward also contribute periodically in the studio. Mark Masters (Maple Leafs), John Lu (Jets) and Kenzie Lalonde (Canadiens) serve as in-arena hosts.
Gord Miller does
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
for both Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators regional games. Mike Johnson primarily works Maple Leafs games while
Jamie McLennan
Jamie McLennan (born June 30, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who is now an analyst for TSN, TSN Radio 1050, NBC Sports and NHL Network. He spent eleven seasons in the National Hockey League with the New York Isl ...
and
Dave Poulin
David James Poulin (born December 17, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals.
P ...
serve as colour commentators for a majority of Sens games. In some instances where both the Maple Leafs and Senators either play each other or were assigned a game on TSN on the same day, Miller would call the Maple Leafs game while Jon Abbott would fill in during Senators broadcasts. On Winnipeg Jets broadcasts, Dan Robertson does play-by-play and
Kevin Sawyer
Kevin John Sawyer (born February 18, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes, and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim between 1995 ...
provides colour commentary. For Montreal Canadiens regional games,
Bryan Mudryk
Bryan Mudryk ( ; born July 13, 1979) is a Canadian sportscaster for TSN. He is a frequent host of SportsCentre and a play-by-play announcer as part of TSN's curling broadcast team. He has been with TSN since October 2005.
Career
Personal ...
work play-by-play duties while colour commentary is rotated between Dave Poulin, Mike Johnson, and Craig Button.
Miller, Beyak, Johnson, and Button are also assigned to work the World Junior Championships in January. During their absences, McLennan and an alternate play-by-play announcer would work both Maple Leafs and Senators games, with Mudryk substituting on occasional Senators games. Then-Canadiens radio voice Dan Robertson would replace Mudryk on its television broadcasts, and
Brian Munz Brian Munz is a Canadian broadcaster formerly employed by Bell Media, working on TSN 1290 and TSN, primarily on Winnipeg Jets broadcasts and Hockey Canada events. He is currently the director of communications for Golf Manitoba.
Hockey announcing ...
would substitute on Jets broadcasts.
Former staff
The studio hosts were
Jim Van Horne
David Melnyk (born December 15, 1950), known professionally as Jim Van Horne, is a Canadian former sports anchor.
Broadcasting career Radio
Melnyk began his broadcasting career on CKMP in Midland, Ontario, in 1971.
From 1972 to 1980, Van Horne w ...
(–), John Wells (–), and Gord Miller (–), with Bob McKenzie providing studio analysis. Lead play-by-play broadcasters were Wells (1985–86),
Jim Hughson
Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the ''NHL on Sportsnet'' from 2014 to 2021 and ''Hockey Night in Ca ...
(–), and
Paul Romanuk
Paul Romanuk (born October 31, 1961) is a Toronto sportscaster and writer. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Romanuk did television play-by-play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the ''NHL on Sportsnet''.
Early life
Raised in Oshawa, Roman ...
(1994–1998). Color commentators were Meeker and
Bobby Orr
Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the pos ...
(1985–86),
Roger Neilson
Roger Paul Neilson, (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams in a checkered career. Known as Captain Video because of his technological contributi ...
(–), and Gary Green (–). Howie Meeker was also often part of the game-night crew, providing highlights and analysis with the
telestrator
A telestrator is a device that allows its operator to draw a freehand sketch over a moving or still video image. Also known as a video marker, this device is often used in sports and weather broadcasts to diagram and analyze sports plays or inco ...
.
When TSN re-acquired the national cable rights to the NHL in 2002,
Pierre McGuire
Regis Pierre McGuire (born August 8, 1961) is an American-Canadian ice hockey executive who last served as senior vice-president of player development for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as a televis ...
was hired as its lead hockey analyst. After the
2011 NHL Draft
The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was the 49th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the Draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars hoste ...
, it was announced McGuire had taken a full-time position as a reporter for
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
, effective as of the 2011–12 season. Pierre still makes occasional appearances as an analyst during TSN's hockey coverage and on
TSN Radio
TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.Dan Shulman
Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN.
Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-the ...
(1994–1998),
Pierre Houde
Pierre Houde (born July 14, 1957) is a Canadian play-by-play sports announcer for RDS. He has announced broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games since 1989. Over the years he was partnered with Pierre Bouchard and Yvon Pedneault. From 2007 to 201 ...
(1996–97),
Vic Rauter
Victor "Vic" Rauter (born 1955) is a Canadian sportscaster for TSN, having joined the network in 1985. Rauter has anchored TSN's curling coverage for more than 25 years, providing play-by-play curling commentary for the Season of Champions on ...
(2002–2003),
Dave Randorf
Dave Randorf (born July 31, 1967) is a Canadian sportscaster who serves as the play-by-play announcer for the television broadcasts of the Tampa Bay Lightning professional hockey team. He is best known for his work at TSN hosting the network's Ca ...
(2002–2014) and
Chris Cuthbert
Chris Cuthbert (born September 20, 1957) is a Canadian sportscaster. He is the lead play-by-play commentator for ''NHL on Sportsnet'' and ''Hockey Night in Canada'', since 2021. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of ...
(2005–2020); and colour commentators
Ryan Walter
Ryan William Walter (born April 23, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League. He was also an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, head coach of the Canadian National Wo ...
Glenn Healy
Glenn Healy (born August 23, 1962) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender who played for 15 years in the National Hockey League. Prior to that, he was a member of the Western Michigan University hockey team, and 1985 graduate of the school. H ...
(2003–08), and
Ray Ferraro
Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently sports commentator, broadcaster for NHL on ESPN, ESPN/NHL on ABC, ABC and formerly of TSN Hockey, TSN. He played for 21 se ...
(2008–2022).
Staff changes after losing national rights to Rogers
After the NHL announced that it had accepted Rogers' bid over TSN's to take over national cable rights, news sources such as the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' and the ''
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' speculated on where TSN's hockey personalities (such as James Duthie, Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Chris Cuthbert, and Gord Miller) would end up. Initially, Rogers was only able to lure Dave Randorf and Mike Johnson among TSN's major personalities. However, Mike Johnson re-joined TSN in September 2017 after being terminated by Rogers Media on August 10, 2016, and would later make appearances on American television for NHL Network and NBC Sports. Despite getting offers from Rogers, Duthie instead signed a long-term contract with TSN. In addition, not only did McKenzie, Dreger, Cuthbert, and Miller also decide to stay with TSN, but all four started to appear on a regular basis south of the border on NBC's hockey coverage (McKenzie, Dreger, and Cuthbert officially joined NBC, while Miller, who did occasional play-by-play work for NBC since 2011, saw an increased role). Cuthbert moved to Sportsnet in 2020.
After
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
(a part-owner of TSN) reacquired the American NHL national rights in 2021, the network added Ray Ferraro as one of its lead analysts (alongside former NBC talent
Brian Boucher
Brian Boucher ( ; born January 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a game and studio analyst on national ESPN and ABC games and also Philadelphia Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He played 13 season ...
). Ferraro continued to work on TSN's Maple Leafs broadcasts while appearing concurrently on ESPN until 2022.
Theme song
In June 2008, CTVglobemedia acquired the rights to "
The Hockey Theme
"The Hockey Theme" is a Canadian piece of instrumental theme music composed in 1968 by Dolores Claman and orchestrated by Jerry Toth. It was widely recognized as Canada's unofficial second national anthem.
The theme was associated with CBC Te ...
" after the CBC failed to renew its rights to the theme song. A re-orchestrated version of the tune, which had been the
theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
of ''
Hockey Night in Canada
CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...
'' for forty years, has been used for hockey broadcasts on TSN and RDS since the fall of 2008."CTV acquires rights to hockey theme song" ''CTV News'', June 9, 2008
TSN announced on the September 24, 2008 edition of '' SportsCentre'' the debut date for the song. It began on October 14, when the
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
visited the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...