The saga of our second national anthem, formerly known as the theme to Hockey Night in Canada, has come to a surprising end today. CTV has acquired the rights to the theme song that has played on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada for 40 years. "Beginning this fall, the song will now be heard in NHL broadcasts on TSN and RDS. CTV will also air the song as part of its hockey coverage during the 2010 Olympic winter games."
Until I heard this twist in the story, I just assumed the CBC would get a clue and strike a deal with Copyright Music & Visuals. As I expressed here yesterday, here in Canada we're heavily taxed, we endure long, cold, snowy winters and, here in Toronto at least, we spend the entire winter watching and rooting for a team that hasn't won in over 40 years. We just want our damn song.
This begs the question, was the song all about Saturday nights on CBC or was it about hockey. I think it was about watching your hockey team on the tube with friends and family. In that vein, our song has been saved. The CBC has made CTV look pretty darn good here. I'll take our song on TSN and I'll enjoy it prior to Team Canada games in Vancouver as an added bonus.
And CBC, you can take your contest and shove it. You've got three good options when it comes to opening your Hockey Night in Canada telecast next year.
- 50 Mission Cap - The Tragically Hip
- The Hockey Song - Stompin' Tom Connors
- The Lonely End of the Rink - The Tragically Hip
Hell, here's your opening right here. Just update the imagery a little and you're good to go. It won't be the same, but we've still got our second national anthem. It'll just be a little higher up the dial.
