''NHL on CTV'' is the name of a former

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

that broadcast

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

games on the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

Regular season coverage

CTV's involvement with the NHL began in the season with a series of Wednesday-night regular season games. These were produced by the McLaren ad agency, which also produced the Saturday night ''

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 ...

'' games for the CBC. As was the case with the Saturday games, they were contests (usually at home) of 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 ...

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 ...

, and after 1970, the

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 ...

. CTV decided to pull out of midweek NHL coverage in 1975, opening the way for local TV stations in the three Canadian cities which had NHL clubs to carry mid-week telecasts of their hometown NHL clubs. On March 16, 1966, CTV's coverage of the game between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs was frequently interrupted for news updates on the

Gemini 8 Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the sixth crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was launched on March 16, 1966, and was the 14th crewed American fli ...

space mission, which had run into serious trouble after being successfully launched that morning; when the game ended, CTV joined a simulcast of

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...

coverage in time for the capsule's re-entry and splashdown. Ironically, CTV affiliate

CFCF-TV CFCF-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Noovo flagship CFJP-DT (channel 35). Both stations share studios at ...

in Montreal carried some local Canadiens' telecasts starting in the 1975–76 season. In the and seasons, the NHL returned to

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

, with regular season games on Friday nights (and some Sunday afternoons) as well as partial coverage of the playoffs and

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

. CTV/Carling O'Keefe initially signed a contract well into the 1984–85 season. As a result, they wanted to cram as many games as possible (beginning in February) in the brief window they had. 1985–86's coverage didn't begin until November, so to avoid conflicts with CTV's coverage of the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

postseason. While

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 C ...

continued to present ''Hockey Night in Canada'' on Saturday nights on the CBC, rival brewery

Carling O'Keefe Carling O'Keefe was a brewing company in Canada that is now part of Molson Coors. The company's origins can be traced to Canadian Breweries, which bought the Carling Brewery in 1930 and the O'Keefe Brewery in 1934. Canadian Breweries purchased ...

began airing ''Friday Night Hockey'' on CTV. This marked the first time in more than a decade that CBC was not the lone over-the-air network broadcaster of the National Hockey League in Canada. The deal with CTV was arranged by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

(who were owned by Carling O'Keefe) and the 14 U.S.-based NHL clubs, who sought to break Molson's monopoly on NHL broadcasting in Canada. All of CTV's regular season telecasts originated from

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

or the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, as Molson shut them out of the other six Canadian buildings (as Carling did to them in Quebec City). After the 1985–86 season, CTV decided to pull the plug on the venture. Their limited access to Canadian-based teams (other than Quebec, whose English-speaking fan base was quite small) translated into poor ratings. For the next two years, Carling O'Keefe retained their rights, and syndicated playoff telecasts on a chain of channels that would one day become the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after C ...

under the names ''Stanley Cup '87'' and ''Stanley Cup '88'', before a merger between the two breweries put an end to the competition.

Regular season schedules

1984–85

1985–86

Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...
coverage

In , Dan Kelly and

Ron Reusch Ron Reusch is a Canadian sportscaster, active mostly from the 1960s through to 2006. While living in Germany from 1959 to 1967, he worked for CBS Europe, the Canadian Forces Network, and a variety of German radio and television outlets. When he ...

called the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

Wales Conference Final series. They also called three games at the Colisée in Quebec of the Montreal-Quebec Adams Division Final and Games 2 and 5 of the Philadelphia-

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...

Patrick Division Final. In , Kelly, Reusch, and Bobby Taylor called the

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

- St. Louis Campbell Conference Final series. CTV's coverage was blacked out in Calgary, where CBC provided coverage. For 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 in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...

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, p ...

first-round series in , CBC, who initially had the rights to the series, ultimately passed as they were already maxed out with three other series ( Montreal-Boston,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

). The rights to the Calgary-Winnipeg series were eventually sold to the CTV affiliates in Calgary ( CFCN) and Winnipeg (

CKY CKY may refer to: *CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manitob ...

) as well as Carling O'Keefe. CBC and Molson Brewery used a loophole in that games involving Canadian based teams (excluding the

) in the playoffs could be televised locally by CBC.

Stanley Cup Finals coverage

In , ''

'' moved all

playoff 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 ...

coverage from CBC to

to avoid conflict with the lengthy

NABET The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA) is a labor union representing employees in television, radio, film, and media production. A division of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), NABET represents about ...

strike against the CBC. Eventually, MacLaren Advertising, in conjunction with Molson Breweries and

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent o ...

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic ...

, who actually owned the rights to ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (not CBC) decided to give the playoff telecast rights to CTV. Initially, it was on a game by game basis in the quarterfinals (Game 1 of the Boston-Toronto series was seen on CFTO Toronto in full while other CTV affiliates, but not all joined the game in progress. Game 1 of the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

series was seen only on CFCF Montreal while Game 4 not televised due to a lockout of technicians at the

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum (french: Le Forum de Montréal) is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by '' Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as t ...

), and then the full semifinals and Stanley Cup Finals. Because CTV did not have 100% penetration in Canada at this time, they asked CBC (who ultimately refused) to allow whatever one of their

affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

were the sole network in that market to show the playoffs. As a result, the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs were not seen in some of the smaller Canadian markets unless said markets were close enough to the United States border to pick up the signal of a CBS affiliate that carried Games, 1, 4, or 6 (Games 2, 3 and 5 were not nationally broadcast in the United States). In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, some CTV affiliates (like CFTO in Toronto and CFCF in Montreal) picked up the American feed from

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

(with Tim Ryan and Ted Lindsay on the call) of Game 4 of the

playoff series. In , CBC televised Games 1 and 2 nationally while Games 3–5 were televised in

only.

televised Games 3–5 nationally while games were

blacked out ''Blacked Out'' is a studio album by American country rap duo Moonshine Bandits from California. It was released on July 17, 2015 via Average Joes Entertainment. It features guest appearances from Bubba Sparxxx, Colt Ford, Crucifix, Demun Jone ...

. Dan Kelly, Ron Reusch, and Brad Park called the games on CTV. In , CBC only televised Games 1 and 2 in

and

. CBC televised Games 3–5 nationally. When CTV televised Games 1 and 2, both games were

in Montreal and Calgary. Like in the year prior, Dan Kelly, Ron Reusch, and Brad Park called the games for CTV.

NHL-Soviet Super Series

In 1979–80, 1982–83, 1985–86, 1988–89, and 1989–90, CTV televised a handful of games of the NHL-Soviet Super Series, where touring Soviet clubs visited NHL teams in a series of exhibition games. On

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

1985, CTV broadcast one such game between the

and

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

. Although CTV aired the game (as a "Special Presentation of CTV Sports"), it was not considered an official part of ''NHL on CTV'' package. That was because the broadcast was presented by Molson instead of Carling O'Keefe. However, the regular ''NHL on CTV'' on-air talent were still utilized. Bob Cole,

, and

Dick Irvin Jr. Dick Irvin Jr. (or III), (born March 4, 1932 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian retired sports broadcaster and author. In 1988, the Hockey Hall of Fame presented him with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, for his contributions to hockey broadca ...

called the game on CTV.

CTV's later involvement with the NHL

CTV Sportsnet's coverage

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 ...

was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

" operations across the

owned 40% and was the managing partner of the new network; Rogers,

and Fox owned 20% each. The new network gained credibility before it went on the air, wrestling the NHL Canadian cable package away from long-time holder TSN. From 1998–99 until 2001–02, Sportsnet aired ''Labatt Blue Tuesday Night Hockey'' to a national audience throughout the regular season, and covered first-round playoff series not involving Canadian teams. On the day CTV Sportsnet went on the air, its first live sports event was an NHL opening-night telecast between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. The national cable rights have since returned to TSN, though Sportsnet retains English regional rights to five of the seven Canadian-based clubs (TSN, through regional feeds, holds regional rights to the remaining two.) " The Hockey Song" was used to open NHL broadcasts on CTV Sportsnet in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

''Hockey Night in Canada'' rumours

The possible movement of ''

'' to another broadcaster caused some controversy and discussion during the 2006–2007 hockey season. CTV had outbid the CBC for Canadian television rights to the

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 ...

and

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as well as the major television package for curling. The broadcast requirements would have focused on CTV-owned TSN (

The Sports Network 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 comm ...

), a cable channel which already carries Canadian NHL hockey during the week as well as other NHL games throughout the season. CTV did, however, buy out the previous theme to CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada'' for use in TSN's broadcasts immediately after the

2007–08 NHL season The 2007–08 NHL season was the 91st season of operation (90th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It began on September 29, 2007, and the regular season ended April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 4, with th ...

. The CBC's deal with the NHL was set to expire after the 2013–14 season. CTV parent Bell had been expected to make a joint bid for CTV and sister network TSN for all national English-language television rights to the NHL in Canada. Under such a deal, CTV would likely have carried the Saturday-night games during the regular-season, weekend playoff games in the first three rounds, and the Stanley Cup Finals. TSN would likely have kept midweek national cable coverage of the league and gained midweek early round playoff games of Canadian-based teams now seen on CBC. Some midweek regular-season games could have been sub-leased to the various

Rogers 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 r ...

regional networks. Such a deal could also have put a few local midweek telecasts on CTV Two stations in Barrie (Toronto), Vancouver Island (Vancouver), Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton; along with

CKY-TV CKY-DT (channel 7) is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios on Graham Avenue (adjacent to the Canada Life Cent ...

Winnipeg and

Montreal. But on November 26, 2013, the league announced that

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 ...

had won all Canadian television rights to the league beginning with the 2014–15 season and extending through the 2025–26 season. While Rogers will sublease Saturday night and playoff games (including the

) to CBC, thereby keeping that network's iconic ''

'' in place until at least the 2017–18 season. However, Rogers will take over production of games. Rogers and CBC later renewed their partnership through the end of the 2025-26 season. Thus, CTV, TSN, and their parent company will be out of NHL coverage until at least 2026 once some TSN regional agreements with some Canadian-based teams expire.

Announcers

Play-by-play

* Bill Hewitt:

1972 Stanley Cup Finals The 1972 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1971–72 season, and the culmination of the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. It was ...

* Dan Kelly:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

–

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 en ...

Color commentators

Bob Goldham Robert John "Golden Boy" Goldham (May 12, 1922 – September 6, 1991) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and broadcaster. He played two seasons for the Toronto Marlboros earning the name "Golden Boy". He was later called the "Second Goalie" be ...

Brian McFarlane Brian McFarlane (born August 10, 1931) is a Canadian television sportscaster and author. He is also the Honorary President of the Society for International Hockey Research. He is the son of writer Leslie McFarlane. He is best known as a broadc ...

–

Studio hosts

* Dave Hodge:

* Dan Matheson:

–

Studio analysts

* John Garrett: 1985 playoffs (after

missed the playoffs). Garrett joined the CTV crew as studio analyst for the Canadiens-Nordiques

Adams Division The NHL's Adams Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Adams, the founder of the Boston Bruins. It is the forerunner of the ...

Final series. He retired before the start of the 1985–86 season, left CTV in October 1985, and joined CBC the following year. * Dave Maloney: 1985–86 season. Maloney joined the CTV crew as studio analyst and third-man in booth after Brad Park he was hired mid-season to replace

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 Sc ...

as head coach of the Red Wings, forcing him to leave CTV. *

Brad Park Douglas Bradford "Brad" Park (born July 6, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A defenceman, Park played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Considered to be on ...

: 1985 playoffs (after

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

was eliminated). Park retired from playing in the summer of 1985 and joined the CTV crew as a studio analyst and "third man" in the booth for the

1985 Stanley Cup Finals The 1985 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1984–85 season, and the culmination of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Edmonton Oilers (in their t ...

and the 1985–86 season. However, he was hired mid-season to replace

as head coach of the Red Wings, forcing him to leave CTV. He once again re-joined the crew for the 1986 playoffs, which

did not qualify for. * Bobby Taylor:

(whenever he is not on assignment with the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

). He joined the CTV crew as a studio analyst and "third man" in the booth midway in the 1985–86 season after Park was hired mid-season to replace

as head coach of the Red Wings. He once again re-joined the crew for the 1986 playoffs after

was eliminated.

References

External links

CTV.ca , CTV Sports
*''NHL on CTV'' - Google Search (timeline)
1984-85

1985-86

1986-87
{{Navboxes, list1= {{National Hockey League on national television {{NHL on CTV {{NHL on TSN {{NHL on RDS

CTV Television Network original programming 1980s Canadian sports television series 1984 Canadian television series debuts 1986 Canadian television series endings CTV Sports