![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774941971_445_indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\n\u201cYou have to buy into something. And if your cable provider is feeling generous or competitive they might provide it for you but if they\u2019re not, then it\u2019s on you. But I really think that that\u2019s how it\u2019s going to roll from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
In addition, TVA Sports secured French-language rights for 12 years via a sub-licensing deal between Rogers and Quebecor. Sportsnet also cancelled \u201cHockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition\u201d after an 18-year run.<\/p>\n
The headline of Sportsnet\u2019s news release announcing its 2026-27 season plans trumpeted the lifting of 150 regional blackouts to \u201cdeliver more national NHL games than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
That no doubt pleased many fans who long griped about the issue, but other plans may have given them pause.<\/p>\n
Monday Night Hockey games will stream exclusively on Sportsnet+ this season, the network said, noting service subscribers would get that content as part of their package.<\/p>\n
However, for those who subscribe to Sportsnet through a TV provider, they\u2019ll have to shell out an additional $12.99 per month for an add-on package.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to pay extra now and that\u2019s just where things are headed,\u201d said Mike Naraine, an associate sports management professor at Brock University. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty unfortunate for the end consumer. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s just kind of the oligopoly landscape that we\u2019ve got these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notable Sportsnet on-air personalities Kelly Hrudey and Jennifer Botterill will not be returning to the network. <\/p>\n
With Botterill\u2019s departure, Saturday Night Hockey \u2014 the replacement title for Hockey Night in Canada \u2014 will now have a male-only panel of Kevin Bieksa, Elliotte Friedman, Colby Armstrong and host Ron MacLean. <\/p>\n
Sportsnet declined an interview request to discuss the many changes for the upcoming season. In an email, a spokesperson said everything the network had to share was included in its news release. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a media approach that\u2019s markedly different than the ones used by Canadian sports broadcasting peers CBC and TSN, who frequently make decision-makers available for interviews. <\/p>\n
For several years, Sportsnet has repeatedly declined requests to interview top brass on newsmaking developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cRogers knows what it\u2019s doing, it\u2019s got its strategy,\u201d Naraine said. \u201cBut is it best for publicly facing transparency? No.\u201d<\/p>\n
CBC has yet to announce its full lineup of programming for the fall and winter months. The PWHL \u2014 which aired games on CBC, Sportsnet, TSN and Prime last season \u2014 is expected to announce its Canadian broadcasting plans over the coming days.<\/p>\n
The CBC aired PWHL Saturday games of the week last season and that\u2019s a good bet to continue with the NHL\u2019s departure. Curling will also fill part of the network\u2019s weekend schedule.<\/p>\n
The 2026-27 season will be the first time since Hockey Night\u2019s television debut in 1952 that NHL games won\u2019t be available to Canadian viewers via the public broadcaster. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe nostalgic side of me says that\u2019s unfortunate,\u201d NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said at the recent NHL\/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. \u201cBut the reality side of me says that\u2019s the nature of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t stop and shouldn\u2019t stop evolution, and that\u2019s the way the world\u2019s evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n
With files from Canadian Press sports reporter Joshua Clipperton.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2026. <\/p>\n
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou have to buy into something. And if your cable provider is feeling generous or competitive they might…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[967,966,5,960,968,959,961,962,40,4,963,964,965,43],"class_list":["post-672840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-breaking-news","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-hockey","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-nhl","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117343688372312760","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}