About CTV's NHL coverage For the
1984–85 and
1985–86 seasons,
CTV aired regular season games on Friday nights (and some Sunday afternoons) as well as partial coverage of the playoffs and
Stanley Cup Final. While
Molson continued to present
Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights on
CBC, rival brewery
Carling O'Keefe began airing
Friday Night Hockey on CTV. This marked the first time since
1974–75 that CBC was not the lone
over-the-air network broadcaster of the National Hockey League in Canada. CTV's 1965-75 NHL package consisted of Wednesday night games produced by the McLaren advertising agency, which also produced CBC's Saturday night
Hockey Night in Canada telecasts. The deal with CTV was arranged by the
Quebec Nordiques (who were owned by Carling O'Keefe) and all 14 U.S.-based NHL clubs, who sought to break Molson's monopoly on NHL broadcasting in Canada. All of the CTV's regular-season telecasts originated from
Quebec City or the
United States, as Molson shut them out of the other six Canadian buildings (as Carling did to them in Québec City). The deal ended following the 1985–86 season. CTV's limited access to Canadian-based teams (other than Québec, whose English-speaking fan base was quite small) translated into poor
ratings. on the venture.
''Stanley Cup '87 and Stanley Cup '88'' Despite CTV pulling the plug on their two-year-long venture with the NHL, Carling O'Keefe retained their rights (two years were remaining on the contract with or without CTV). Things became problematic when the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs opened with Carling O'Keefe still without a network of some sort. The problems arguably peaked when the
Montréal-Québec second-round playoff series opened without Molson being allowed to broadcast from
Quebec City, leaving Games 3 and 4 off of English-language television altogether. This led to a hastily arranged syndicated package on a chain of stations that would one day form the basis of the
Global Television Network. The deal between Carling O'Keefe and the
Canwest/Global consortium (with a few
CBC and CTV affiliates sprinkled in for good measure) came just in time for game six of this series on April 30. It must be stressed that Global, technically, didn't become a national network until
1997. During the 1980s, Global consisted of a
single station in Toronto with numerous rebroadcast transmitters throughout Ontario, CanWest was a chain of independent stations in Western Canada (and at the time a part-owner of Global), and the two often combined to carry syndicated programming, such as this NHL package and the
Canadian Football Network, which would also begin in 1987. These NHL broadcasts were aired under the names ''Stanley Cup '87
and Stanley Cup '88'', before a merger between Carling O'Keefe and
Molson (the presenters of
Hockey Night in Canada on
CBC as previously mentioned) put an end to the competition. In 1987, coverage also included all five games of the
Campbell Conference Final between the
Edmonton Oilers and
Detroit Red Wings, and Games 3–5 of the
1987 Stanley Cup Final between the Oilers and
Philadelphia Flyers. In 1988, coverage included select regular season games on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons from January 31 to the end of the regular season, the
Smythe Division Final between the
Edmonton Oilers and
Calgary Flames (which Global carried nationally, except for the Edmonton and Calgary markets, where the CBC retained exclusive rights), game five of the
Norris Division Final between the
Detroit Red Wings and
St. Louis Blues, the Campbell Conference Final between the Oilers and Red Wings, and the first two games of the
Final between the Oilers and
Boston Bruins. They also had the rights to games six and seven of the Final, which were not necessary. Unlike the split CTV/CBC coverage of and , the Canwest-Global telecasts were network exclusive, except for game seven of the Stanley Cup Final if it was necessary. When CBC and Global televised game seven of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, they used separate production facilities and separate on-air talent. ==Commentators==