A near-century-long Saturday night staple for hockey fans of Hockey Night in Canada has come to an end.

Sportsnet and CBC released a joint statement revealing that the public broadcaster will no longer be airing NHL games on Saturday night. While the Hockey Night in Canada moniker will come to an end, Sportsnet will continue airing games on Saturday night.

In April, Sportsnet and the NHL signed a 12-year rights extension, carrying an $11 billion value, beginning in 2026-27.

“Watching hockey on Saturday night is a time-honoured tradition for Canadians, and Sportsnet is privileged to continue delivering that tradition,” the statement read. “This has been a terrific partnership, and both parties look forward to continued opportunities to collaborate in the future.”

Saturday night hockey broadcasts first got their start in November 1931 on CNR Radio (Canadian National Railways Radio Department), the first national radio network in North America, owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway. The original broadcasts were sponsored by General Motors, which dubbed the show “the GM Hockey Broadcast,” with the first being heard on only a few Ontario stations and a Montreal station, according to the History of Canadian Broadcasting.

But radio broadcasts of hockey games had occurred for years prior, dating back to 1923. Those early broadcasts would only begin in the second period, however, as NHL teams were concerned that if the complete game was covered, fans would be less willing to come to the rink and buy a ticket. Imperial Oil would take over the Saturday night broadcasts ahead of the 1934-35 season, dubbed “The Imperial Esso Hockey Broadcast.”

Foster Hewitt was the voice of the games, known for his sign-on at the beginning of the broadcasts, “Hello, Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland,” which later became the start of Hockey Night in Canada television broadcasts starting in 2007. Newfoundland wouldn’t join the Canadian Confederation until 1949.

With televisions entering homes across North America in the late 1940s and into the 1950s, people got to work on creating the first editions of televised hockey broadcasts. Canada’s first televised NHL game aired on Oct. 11, 1952, when René Lecavalier had the French play-by-play call of a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings.

It was in 1952 when Hockey Night in Canada as we’ve known it came to be, with Hewitt calling the first English-language HNIC broadcast between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins on Nov. 1, 1952, joining the game midway, as they would for the next 16 years.

Sixteen years later, on Oct. 11, 1958, Foster Hewitt passed along the play-by-play duties to his son, Bill, becoming his colour commentator on the broadcasts. While 1966 would mark the beginning of CBC airing games in colour, the 1968 season saw games airing in full, also moving from 8 p.m. EST to 8:30 p.m. EST. Bob Cole, who became a pivotal part of Hockey Night in Canada, was hired on CBC Radio in 1969, making his move to television in 1973 and being the lead play-by-play announcer from 1980 to 2008.

The Edmonton Oilers, meanwhile, would enter the league in 1979, immediately getting Saturday night games.

In the 1960s and ’70s, intermissions would feature reporters donning skates conducting interviews on-ice with players, but that coverage expanded in 1980 when Don Cherry was hired. It wouldn’t take long for his infamous Coach’s Corner segment to take off, and in 1987, first with Dave Hodge in 1982, and later with Ron MacLean, who was hired in 1987, to work as a Hockey Night host.

Rogers Communications acquired the Canadian national broadcasting rights for NHL games in November 2013, signing a four-year sublicensing agreement that allowed Hockey Night in Canada to continue, later signing a seven-year extension in December 2017. Rogers brought forth some big changes in 2014, making George Stroumboulopoulos the Hockey Night in Canada host — a controversial move that would last two seasons before it was reversed, bringing back MacLean.

Time will tell what comes of the Hockey Night in Canada moniker, but CBC owns the trademark for the branding, leading some to speculate about it licensing it out.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.