Canadian broadcast workers feel burned by the NHL and federal government
Many in the sports broadcasting industry in Canada aren't happy with a decision by the NHL that will mean Hockey Night in Canada will be produced by American workers for the first time in its history. According to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, despite the fact that both hub cities are in Canada for the NHL's Return to Play format (Toronto and Edmonton), only NBC broadcast workers will be allowed in the building in Toronto. This includes producers, directors, camera people, technicians and more.
"It's a travesty,” said one longtime Canadian broadcast worker, who asked not to be identified for obvious reasons, told Simmons. “The NHL sold us out. Our own government sold us out. All we want to do is work and this is our job."
The NHL's decision to have both hub cities in Canada required approval from the federal government. It isn't known if government officials were aware that production in Toronto would be handled solely by American workers. Simmons quotes sources as telling him NBC was not happy with the decision to have the hubs in Canada and seemingly managed to convince the NHL to only allow its team into the arena in one of the cities. NBC will produce what is known as the "world feed" for all games happening in Toronto, while Sportsnet will handle those duties for games in Edmonton. The Stanley Cup final in Edmonton will see both Sportsnet and NBC handling feeds.
To be clear, this will not impact announcing. Networks will have their own broadcasters call the games, although they'll be doing it remotely, meaning they will not be in arenas.
“I think the federal government was sold a bill of goods by the NHL,” said another anonymous disgruntled Canadian broadcast worker.
Source: Toronto Sun
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YESTERDAY
MAY 10, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Cutter Gauthier | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Alex Newhook | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alexander Killorn | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ian Moore | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||