HNIC

A highly controversial news story, published early this afternoon by CBC.ca, revealed to hockey fans across the country CBC's intentions not to renew licensing for the much-loved Hockey Night in Canada theme song. This shock came a day after the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup. Thousands of Canadians watched what turned out to be the last broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada for this season and, apparently, the last time the popular theme song could air with the program. As of right now, the online story has 415 comments, almost all of them very negative about CBC's decision to drop the current theme that, for so many Canadians, is considered to be a second national anthem. Only hours after the first story, CBC.ca published a contradictory article to the first one, reporting that a new deal with the theme's composer is still possible. It will be interesting to see whether next season's first HNIC broadcast will use the traditional theme or feature a new, and highly unwanted, one. I, of course, can't imagine tuning in to watch HNIC on a Saturday night without hearing the old, familiar tune.

Watch a HNIC intro that first interviews star Canadian players from the six Canadian teams and then goes into the highly-revered song.