NHL on USA The NHL on USA is the name of a former television show that broadcast NHL games . It was shown from 1979 to 1985 on the USA Network , a cable television network in the United States . The network last broadcast regular - season games in 1985 , but as part of current parent company NBCUniversal ' s contract to cover the NHL , the network resumed broadcasting a handful of games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs , by serving as an overflow channel for NHL playoff games that cannot air on sister networks NBC or NBCSN through 2021 . History . Before the USA Network ( 1969 - 1980 ) . Manhattan Cable and HBO ( 1969 – 1977 ) . Manhattan Cable ( subsequently referred to as the MSG Network ) debuted in the spring of 1969 and did all home events from the Madison Square Garden : New York Knicks basketball , New York Rangers hockey , college basketball , horse shows , Golden Gloves boxing , tennis , the Westminster Dog Show , ice capades , professional wrestling , etc . The first reference to the channel as “ MSG Network ” was sometime around 1971 – 72 , although the name did not become official until 1977 . The first televised events were NHL and NBA playoffs in the spring of 1969 ; in those playoffs Marty Glickman did play - by - play for the Knicks broadcasts while Win Elliott did play - by - play for the Rangers . Meanwhile , HBO began simulcasting some MSG games in 1972 beginning with the Rangers / Vancouver Canucks game on November 8 , 1972 ( the first ever program televised on HBO , to a few subscribers in Wilkes - Barre , PA ) . 1974 – 75 marked the only year in which HBO used MSG announcers for their feed . Because HBO is a premium cable service , this created a burden on announcers to fill in dead airtime on HBO while commercials aired on MSG Network . HBO did not broadcast Knicks or Rangers games after the 1976 – 77 season . See also : List of New York Rangers broadcasters UA - Columbia ( 1977 – 1980 ) . When the MSG / HBO marriage ended in 1977 , Madison Square Garden proceeded to seek a new partner to launch a national network to show off its events . So for several years , beginning with the 1977 – 78 season , all MSG home events ( such as those involving the Knicks , Rangers , etc . ) were then televised on a fledgling network that would eventually become known as the USA Network . This channel , which debuted on September 22 , 1977 , was basically a continuation of the existing MSG Network . The key difference however , was that it was now nationally syndicated via satellite rather than terrestrially . It was also the first cable channel to be supported by advertising revenues . By this time ( as previously alluded to ) , the channel was officially called the “ Madison Square Garden Network ” or MSG Network . In 1979 – 80 , the National Hockey League replaced their syndicated coverage package The NHL Network with a package on USA . At the time , the USA Network was called UA - Columbia . As the immediate forerunner for the USA Network , UA - Columbia , served as the cable syndicated arm of not only MSG Network in New York , but also PRISM channel in Philadelphia , and whatever pay / cable outlets were around in 1979 . The formation of the USA Network . On April 9 , 1980 , the Madison Square Garden Network changed its name to the USA Network . This occurred when the ownership structure was reorganized under a joint operating agreement by the UA - Columbia Cablevision cable system ( now known as CablevisionSystems Corporation ) and MCA ( then the parent of Universal Studios , now owned by NBC Universal ) . Things took a step further one year later when , Time Inc . ( which eventually merged with Warner Communications to form Time Warner ) and Paramount Pictures Corp . ( then a division of Gulf + Western , now owned by Viacom ) took minority ownership stakes in USA . G + W also owned the New York Rangers and the MSG regional sports television network ( both later owned by Cablevision , but spun off in 2010 ) . Coverage overview ( 1979 – 1985 ) . As previously mentioned USA ' s ( or UA - Columbia as it was known at the time ) coverage begin in the 1979 – 80 season as a Monday night series with Dan Kelly doing play - by - play alongside a variety of color commentators including Gary Green and Lou Nanne . Scott Wahle was the intermission host . 1980 - 81 season . For the 1980 – 81 season , some Sunday night games were added . Dan Kelly once again , did most of the play - by - play alongside Mike Eruzione . Dick Carlson and Jiggs McDonald also did play - by - play work on occasion . In addition , Don Cherry was a commentator for at least one game . Meanwhile , Jim West was the host for most games . With USA ' s coverage of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs , it marked the first time that there was " blanket " American television coverage of the NHL playoffs . In other words , more often than not that , whenever a game was played it was televised on a national outlet ( whether it was broadcast or cable ) . USA however , didn ' t televise Game 1 of the playoff series between Philadelphia Flyers and Calgary Flames ( April 16 ) because they were instead broadcasting a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies . Meanwhile , they also skipped Games 2 – 6 ( on April 17 , 22 and 24 ) of the Philadelphia – Calgary series because of their coverage of the NBA playoffs . USA also didn ' t televise Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series between the Calgary Flames and Minnesota North Stars ( April 30 and May 7 respectively ) because of baseball games involving the Minnesota Twins vs . the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers vs . the Philadelphia Phillies respectively . 1981 - 82 season . In the 1981 – 82 season , Al Trautwig took over as studio host . Dan Kelly did play - by - play with Gary Green on color commentary . For the playoffs , Dick Carlson and Al Albert were added as play - by - play voices of some games . Meanwhile , Jim Van Horne hosted Stanley Cup Finals games played in Vancouver . In April 1982 , USA outbid ESPN for the NHL ' s American national television cable package with $ 8 million ( at least $ 2 million more than what ESPN was offering ) . 1982 - 83 and 1983 - 84 seasons . Things pretty much remained the same for USA during the 1982 – 83 season . Dan Kelly and Gary Green called all games . USA didn ' t cover any playoff games on April 7 , 1983 because they were broadcasting second round highlights of The Masters . This was followed by a West Coast NBA telecast . In the 1983 – 84 season , USA covered over 40 games including the playoffs . While Dan Kelly and Gary Green did all the games . Meanwhile , Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall helped broadcast one game . Because USA was airing Masters highlights , Game 1 of the 1984 playoff series between Minnesota North Stars and St . Louis Blues ( April 12 ) and Game 2 of the playoff series between New York Islanders and Washington Capitals ( April 13 ) were aired on tape delay at 10 : 00 p . m . Eastern Time . 1984 - 85 season . For USA ' s final full season of NHL coverage in 1984 – 85 , Dan Kelly and Gary Green once again , did all games . In all , USA covered about 55 games , including 33 in the regular season . Also , Hartford Whalers goaltender Mike Liut was added as an intermission analyst for the Stanley Cup Finals . Meanwhile , for increased publicity opportunities , the Stroh Brewing Company turned to such sports as hockey — which had been overlooked by Anheuser and Miller — and sponsored broadcasts of National Hockey League games on the USA cable network . Seldom during the early rounds of the playoffs did USA carry an away game of one of the three New York - area teams ( New York Rangers , New York Islanders , or New Jersey Devils ) since WOR - TV New York , at the time available on most of the nation ' s cable television systems , often carried that away game of the New York - area team both locally in New York and on its " super station " feed . One exception was a playoff game between two of the New York - area clubs , since WOR was usually barred from carrying it since the home team ' s cable - television contract superseded the visiting club ' s over - the - air television deal . Between 1985 and 2015 . USA Network lost the rights to the NHL to ESPN in 1985 and largely abandoned sports after the early 1990s as the channel shifted almost exclusively to scripted entertainment . Beginning in 2006 , USA began carrying some coverage of top level hockey by cooperating with NBC ' s coverage of ice hockey at the Winter Olympics in 2006 , 2010 and 2014 ; these games were mostly daytime contests that would not preempt the network ' s increasingly popular prime time programs . Selected early - round playoff games , 2015 - . As part of a 2011 contract renewal , Comcast ' s properties earned exclusive national rights for all Stanley Cup playoffs through 2021 . Because NBC and NBCSN could not carry all of the games on those two outlets alone , other Comcast properties would need to be used ; USA was initially not used , due to the risk of preempting its popular prime time lineup , and the company instead used CNBC and NHL Network as the overflow channels for the first four years of the contract . In 2015 , after NHL Network was transferred out of Comcast ' s control and to MLB Advanced Media ' s , Comcast announced that USA would carry some games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs , mainly on Tuesday and Wednesday nights , returning the NHL to USA for the first time since 1985 .