The NHL Network ( 1975 – 79 ) The NHL Network was an American television syndication package that broadcast National Hockey League games from the through seasons . The NHL Network was distributed by the Hughes Television Network . Conception . After being dropped by NBC after the season , the NHL had no national , network television contract in the United States . So in response to this , the league decided to put together a network of independent stations ( covering approximately , 55 % of the country ) . Coverage summary . Games typically aired on Monday nights ( beginning at 8 : 00 p . m . ET ) or Saturday afternoons . The package was offered to local stations with no rights fee . Profits would be derived from the advertising , which was about evenly split between the network and the local station . The Monday night games were often billed as The NHL Game of the Week . Only viewers in Buffalo , St . Louis , Pittsburgh , Detroit and Los Angeles got the " Game of the Week " on a different channel than their local team ' s games . Therefore , whenever a team had a “ home ” game , the NHL Network aired the home team ' s broadcast rather than their own . During the season , the NHL Network showed selected games from the NHL Super Series ( the big one in that package was Red Army at Philadelphia , but the package didn ' t include Red Army at Montreal on New Year ' s Eve 1975 , which was seen only on CBC ) as well as some playoff games . During the season , the NHL Network showed 12 regular season games on Monday nights plus the All - Star Game . By ( the final season of the NHL Network ' s existence ) , there would be 18 Monday night games and 12 Saturday afternoon games covered . 1979 Challenge Cup replaced the All - Star Game . It was a best of three series between the NHL All - Stars against the Soviet Union national squad . Only the third period of Game 2 , which was on a Saturday afternoon , was shown on CBS as part of " The CBS Sports Spectacular " . The network , the show , and their sponsors had a problem with the rink board advertising that the NHL sold at Madison Square Garden , and refused to allow them to be shown on TV . As a result , CBS ' viewers were unable to see the far boards above the yellow kickplate , and could only see players ' skates when the play moved to that side of the ice . Games 1 and 3 were shown on the NHL Network , where the advertising was no problem . Saturday afternoon coverage . When Saturday afternoon games were added , the NHL said that they would start at 1 p . m . and end by 4 p . m . Eastern Time Zone . Apparently , markets with only three stations were reluctant to give up prime time programming slots . Ultimately , the plan failed , as not only did they not gain new markets , many stations that already carried the Monday game didn ' t pick up the Saturday one . A few of the markets in the Eastern Time Zone that aired the Saturday afternoon games included Boston , Buffalo , New York City , Washington , D . C . and Springfield , Massachusetts . In addition , the NHL gave stations the option of starting the Saturday afternoon broadcasts at 1 or starting at 2 , with the full open and a first period summary preceding live action . WDCA ( the Washington , D . C . affiliate ) and WWLP ( the Springfield , Massachusetts affiliate ) took that option . WPGH in Pittsburgh and WTCG in Atlanta didn ' t pick up the Saturday package , leaving their markets without Saturday coverage . WPGH and WTCG also showed the Monday games on tape delay at midnight and 11 : 30 p . m . ET , respectively . Meanwhile , by 1978 , WUAB in Cleveland and WBFF in Baltimore dropped hockey coverage completely . Also in Buffalo , the Saturday afternoon games during the months of January and February were on WGRZ - TV . Meanwhile , the Saturday games during the month of March were on WUTV . WUTV carried the " Monday Night Hockey " package , while WGR was the over - the - air station for the Buffalo Sabres . In New York , WWOR - TV did not carry Saturday games in the months of January or February . Meanwhile , WNEW ( also in New York ) carried the March Saturday games ( at 2 p . m . ) . In both Buffalo and New York , college basketball and World Championship Tennis knocked the NHL off its usual Monday night carrier . In , KBJR in Duluth picked up the Saturday afternoon package and dropped the Monday night games . In that same season , WHMB - TV in Indianapolis joined the network with Saturday afternoon games at 2 p . m . and Monday night games at 11 p . m . In addition , the Iowa PBS stations had dropped the NHL by this point . Playoff coverage . The 1976 Stanley Cup Finals on the NHL Network marked the first time that the NHL ' s championship series was nationally televised in its entirety in the United States . Starting in the 1978 playoffs , the NHL Network began simulcasting many games with " Hockey Night in Canada " . In these games , Dan Kelly , who was the NHL Network ' s primary play - by - play broadcaster , was assigned to do play - by - play along with " HNIC " color commentators . This happened in Game 7 of the quarter - final series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders . The entire 1979 Stanley Cup Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers was simulcast as well . However , had that final went to Game 7 , then that game would have been broadcast on ABC . Affiliates . In most U . S . NHL cities , the Hughes NHL affiliate was the same one that aired the local team ' s games . About a couple of dozen other affiliates were UHF channels in the Hinterlands . The network had 47 stations for the season . Despite the presence of the Minnesota North Stars , there was no NHL Network affiliate in the Minneapolis - St . Paul area . Ratings . By the time that NBC ’ s contract with the NHL ended after the , they were getting a 3 . 8 rating . Meanwhile , the ratings for the NHL Network in its first month of existence were a 3 . 1 in New York , 1 . 9 in Los Angeles , and a 1 . 3 in Chicago . By , the Monday night games were seen by about 1 million viewers ; 300 , 000 of which were in the Boston area . Also in 1978 – 79 , the 2 p . m . ET version of the Saturday broadcasts ( with the first period cut out ) was picked up by all participating affiliates except Boston . Announcers . Play - by - play . Marv Albert was the lead play - by - play man during the first season . During this particular period , he was paired with a local guest announcer . They typically , would split play - by - play duties . Other . Dick Stockton served as host for a season . Meanwhile , Stan Fischler was on the broadcasts as an intermission analyst .