Hockey Night in Canada will no longer air on CBC beginning this season, ending a nearly 75-year television run on the public broadcaster.
For decades, Hockey Night in Canada was a staple of Canadian culture. Families used to gather around the TV set and watch the CBC with the hopes of their favorite team taking home a win.
However, after that historic run, Sportsnet has decided not to renew its TV rights partnership with the public broadcaster. This has left the door open for someone else to swoop in and create something new on Saturday nights.
One name from the same trademark batch has already become an official NHL broadcast brand
“Saturday Night Hockey” was filed in Canada on June 15, 2026 by 1001637467 Ontario Inc. The filing is still awaiting examination. What makes it notable is that “Wednesday Night Hockey” later became the official name of Prime Video's new national NHL package.
The significance isn't simply that “Saturday Night Hockey” was trademarked. Instead, it's that another name filed beside it has already shown up on an actual NHL broadcast.
Not to mention, on the same day as the "Saturday Night Hockey" and "Wednesday Night Hockey" filings, there were applications for the other five days of the week. It suggests that someone somewhere has big plans for NHL broadcasting.
CBC kept the Hockey Night name, leaving Saturday's most valuable piece of branding behind
While Sportsnet still has rights to hockey on Saturday nights, it no longer has access to the iconic Hockey Night in Canada name.
That means more than just Sportsnet undergoing a graphics refresh and perhaps a changing of the guard on the broadcast table. Instead, Sportsnet must create a product that is unique and stands on its own.
If "Saturday Night Hockey" catches on, it would represent a deliberate move towards simplifying the branding.
Sportsnet may not have lost Saturday nights entirely, but it did lose a piece of its identity that has had an impact on Canadian households for decades.
Do you think Saturday Night Hockey is a good alternative to Hockey Night in Canada?
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