Coverage Overview
TSN usually televises three or four games per week during the regular season, with their primary night being Wednesdays, when they enjoy exclusive coverage. This means that no other NHL game may be broadcast in Canada in English while TSN's Wednesday Night Hockey is on the air.
During the playoffs, TSN has third, fifth, seventh, and eighth choices of first-round series, second and fourth in the second round, and second in the Conference Finals. This means that there is the possibility of TSN covering a Canadian team during the playoffs. This happened during the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as TSN televised the Calgary Flames' first-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks and in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals in seven games.
TSN owned the national cable rights to NHL games in Canada from 1987–88 through 1997–98, after which CTV Sportsnet 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. 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.
The 1986 Canadian coverage of the NHL All-Star Game was to be provided by CTV. However, CTV had a prior commitment to carry a U.S. mini-series. As a result, TSN took over coverage of the game in Hartford.
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